Posted on 07/20/2008 9:30:34 AM PDT by Coffee200am
Oops ! He forgot your birthday again. Well do not blame his memory for this innocent forgetfulness as the the reason behind it is down in the genes.
While men may fail to match a woman's ability to remember the date of an anniversary, they are better at storing a seemingly endless cache of facts and figures and all this is because of genetic differences.
Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, have found that males use different genes from females when making the new connections in the brain that are needed to create long-term memories. They believe this might explain why men are far better at remembering ''tactical'' memories, such as travel directions and trivia, while women form more ''emotional'' memories such as birthdays, wedding anniversaries and details about the world around them. Professor Peter Giese, who led the Medical Research Council- funded research , said they had identified two genes that seemed to be important for learning and making memories in males but not females. ''It is unexpected that there should be such a difference within a species, but then we have to remember that males and females are far from identical at the genetic level as males have an X and Y chromosome while females have two X chromosomes. It is conceivable that the differences we found do account for the differences in the way the memories of men and women perform in different circumstances, '' he said.
The researchers used mice to study the role that certain genes play in how long-term memories are made in males and females. Using a series of tests such as a maze they were able to show that male mice were faster at making the spatial memories that allowed them to learn a route out of the maze. ''We see these sex differences in humans too as males and females use different strategies when it comes to remembering a route through a city, for example. In some tasks males are better than females and in other occasions females are better than males, '' Professor Giese said.
''These genetic differences could be very important in studying diseases like Alzheimer's, where memory is affected. Females are affected by Alzheimer's more than males, so it could mean the way females make memories is more vulnerable to disease.''
I’d forget my own name if people(females) weren’t yelling it at me all the time. I can go to Anytown USA one time and find my way around years later though.
Anniversaries are much over-rated. Live your life the best you can, be grateful for that which you have or have had, and go on.
Something that marks something on a yearly basis has very little meaning. Why tie yourself only to a day of memories or thanks?
Thanks
I *do* remember days and months. It’s just that I never know what day I live on.
My husband never forgets.
And I don’t even have to remind him.
I picked Ground Hog’s day to get married. The husband gets reminded of it when he gets up that morning and the ground hog sees his shadow. He never forgets.
Maybe he signed up for the florist that calls two weeks before any big event. :)
It’s a real life saver. They call and I still have time to look like a nice guy.
We both laughed because our wedding anniversary, Nov. 10, had come and gone and BOTH of us had forgotten it. I must be some sort of genetic freak, because I think I'm the only female I know that could care less about dates and greeting-card holidays.
A strong marriage all year long, imho, trumps a card and flowers one day a year. But that's just me. I could be wrong.
"My husband never forgets."
"And I don’t even have to remind him."
Mine doesn't ever forget either. And it's those little things like that make me love him just that much more.
Well said and right on the button. I’ve been trying to convince my wife that “An anniversary day is not inherently important”, but as expected that effort has been completely unsuccessful. As such, in 3 days I’ll be attempting to come up with yet another creative way to celebrate a day that I have to look up every year to make sure I get the right day.
In fact I’m not certain it’s 3 days from now. *sigh*
I majored in accounting. I have no excuse to forget a date. And I normally don’t.
Heck, order some flowers online and the company will remind you of the date and occasion.
We have a freind who did a very IMO smart thing he married his lifelong woman on his Birthday.
Great plan.
That wouldn’t have helped me. I completely forgot it was my birthday this year, until my sister called to nag about my still being older than her.
Puzzled, the boys looked at the area near the clock only to notice a commemorative plate next to it. On the plate was the couple's anniversary date--which was the next day.
I picked Christmas to get engaged and Valentine’s day to get married.
And, our birthdays are only days apart in April, so we celebrate those together.
So, I got all the important dates covered and won’t forget. I won’t be able to forget. Hmmm, wonder if I forgot something already?
The best present my wife ever gave me was forgetting my Birthday two years ago. I was on pins and needles all day, fearful she'd remember.
The gift that keeps on giving... !
: )
Luck you, I've been trying to get people to forget my birthday for the last 20 years with no luck.
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