Author: Lindsay Rogers

 

CHOOSE YOUR POKÉMON!

I still remember the first time I booted up my brother’s GameBoy Color and saw that iconic title screen of Pokémon Red where each of the starters would flash by. The hardest choice as a kid (and still a difficult one now) was picking which of the three starters you wanted as your main partner. Would you choose the Fire-type, the Water-type, or the Grass-type? The one thing you knew going into this choice though was that most starter Pokémon were based off real life animals, plants, or objects. For example, in Pokémon Red, the Grass-type starter Bulbasaur is based off a mixture of frogs and onions, while the Fire-type Charmander is based off a salamander, and Water-type Squirtle is based off, well, turtles.  

 

So I thought, well why not take up this trend and create my own set of starter Pokémon based on some real world counterparts! I’ll be taking three real plants/animals, designing them as Pokémon and crafting a move set based on some of their coolest ecological adaptations. Then you can choose who you’d like to start your Pokémon journey with! Welcome to the next generation of Pokémon: Generation Earth!

Generation Earth Starters

Water-Type Starter: Stomato (Stomatopods or Mantis Shrimp)

Dual Type: Water/Steel

Move set:

• Mantis Punch – releases an intense punch that stuns the foe for a turn.
  • Power: 120, Accuracy: 70  
• Bubble Punch – punches the foe with a beam of bubbles.
  • Power: 90, Accuracy: 80

• Triple Sight – increases accuracy by focusing on three different objects.
  • Power: —, Accuracy: 100

• Color Burst – increases attack by allowing the user to identify more colors.
  • Power: —, Accuracy: 100

The fierce Water/Steel hybrid, Stomato, is based on its just as fierce real world counterpart, the stomatopod, or more commonly known as the Mantis Shrimp. These carnivorous crustaceans live in most shallow, tropical regions and can be broken into two main groups based on how they catch prey: spearing and smashing. Stomato is based on the smashing group as you can see from his punching moveset. Let’s breakdown these moves:

 

Mantis Punch: The Mantis Shrimp’s main claim to fame is its fantastic punch, which can reach a force over 1,500 newtons and possess an acceleration of 102,000 m/s2, which is basically as if they were shooting a .22 caliber rifle! These punches can tear through crab shells with ease, allowing the Mantis Shrimp a delicious meal. As such, Stomato’s Mantis Punch is his fiercest attack and can absolutely decimate an opponent if he lands a hit.

Double Bubble Punch: The Mantis Shrimp doesn’t just attack in ones though. Because of how fast their punch is, they create a ‘cavitation’ of bubbles that follows their initial punch and hits their prey a second time. This cavitation of bubbles is also burning hot (almost 4,400C). If their prey isn’t killed by the first attack, they sure are killed with the second round. To only make things fair, I separated this bubble punch into a new move for Stomato, but it still delivers quite the hit! 

Triple Sight: While the Mantis Shrimp’s eyes might look creepy to us, they have a ton of unique abilities! Mantis Shrimp possess trinocular vision, meaning that they analyze distance and depth by focusing on objects in three separate regions. This helps them get an extremely accurate understanding of the space around them and where their prey is. For Stomato, his trinocular vision allows him to easily lock onto his foe and increase the accuracy of his attacks.

Color Burst: The Mantis Shrimp’s eyes possess another interesting feature; they contain twelve types of different photoreceptors (the part of the eye that responds to light and helps distinguish colors). That might not seem like a big deal at first but just compare that to humans who only have three types! Because of the large number of photoreceptors, the Mantis Shrimp can see a wider range of colors than a human (and most other animals on the planet). Scientists are still trying to figure out exactly why and how the Mantis Shrimp has so many, but many hypothesize the Mantis Shrimp utilizes each photoreceptor to identify and process the color (while humans need other parts of their brain besides their eyes to process colors) which is extremely helpful in the colorful coral environments the Mantis Shrimp can live in where they need to spot prey quickly. Stomato takes after this with his move, Color Burst, which lets him identify multiple colors at once to better find his target on the battlefield.

 

Grass-Type: Lithop (Lithops or living stones)

Dual Type: Grass/Ground 

Move set:

• Camouflage – hide as a rock to lower a foe’s accuracy.
  • Power: —, Accuracy: 100 
• Aqua Retain – stores water for the next three turns to replenish HP.
  • Power: —, Accuracy: 100
• Metabolic Cooling – darkens the battlefield and releases chemicals.
  • Power: 90, Accuracy: 100
• Leaf Shield – tightens its leaf window to raise its special defense.
  • Power: —, Accuracy: 100

Our lovely little Lithop has its name taken straight from its real world counterpart’s scientific one. Living stones, as they are more commonly known, are plants that typically reside in the drier, warmer areas of southern Africa. They’ve gained this nickname due to their appearance of stones of pebbles. To thrive in such xeric environments, lithops have forged numerous adaptations to help them conserve water and protect themselves from overheating and radiation. Let’s take a look at these adaptations and how they’ve formed Lithop’s moveset:

 

Camouflage: The most obvious one; living stones keep their stems underground, only revealing two succulent leaves above the surface. Without close inspection, this pair of leaves adorned with graveled patterns give a rock-like appearance to the lithops. This appearance can fool nearby grazers to move past them. As such, Lithop utilizes its move Camouflage to hide itself from its opponents, making it harder to see within the landscape and harder for the foe to hit!

Aqua Retrain: The two succulent leaves and below ground stem of the living stone have other benefits too. If you’ve ever seen a succulent leaf, you know it’s much fatter than most traditional green leaves you see on bushes or flowers. This is because these leaves store water in them for the plant to use during periods of drought. Living stones are especially great at this since by design, they have a low surface area to volume ratio, meaning they can store a lot of water while minimizing the amount of exposed plant surface area. Lower exposed plant surface means less water will be lost during the day due to transpiration. Because of their great water retention mechanics, our Pokemon Lithop can also store water for multiple turns and use that water bit by bit to help heal and regrow itself after damage.

Metabolic Cooling: Lithops, like many plants found in arid environments, have to adjust their process of photosynthesis to not lose too much water. One of the ways they do this is through Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM), where only at night will the plant open its stomata (think of these as plants’ pores) to collect carbon dioxide from the air. Without the sun present, the plant is less likely to lose water vapor when it opens its stomata which helps it conserve its water supply. For our Pokemon Lithop, I did a bit of a flip to make the move an attack, so instead of collecting the chemicals from the night air, it releases them to harm its foe. Sometimes in art you have to make a few adjustments for things to work!

Leaf Shield: As you know, most of the living stone is hidden within the succulent leaves or beneath ground. To bring sunlight into the plant for photosynthesis, lithops possess a small leaf window. The exact purpose of this window mystified biologists for years (was it to directly channel sunlight into the areas for photosynthesis?) until a few studies revealed its reasoning. Within the harsh sunlight of the desert, it’s very easy for the internal parts of lithops to overheat and be damaged by UV radiation, which can dramatically reduce photosynthesis. This leaf window then shields the internal portions of the plant from sunlight and keeps its internal temperature from rising too much. Because of this, our Pokemon Lithop utilizes its leaf window as a defense mechanism to special attacks that could cause damage or status effects to it.

 

Fire-Type Starter: Flameingo (Lesser flamingos)

Type: Fire-Flying

Move set:

• Boil Spout – Squirts boiling water at foe.
  • Power: 90, Accuracy: 90
• Purify – removes salt from water to heal the user’s HP. Effect doubled if attacked by a Water-type move the previous turn.
  • Power: —, Accuracy: —
• Harden – raises defense; no status effect can be imposed on the user.
  • Power: —, Accuracy: 100
• Volcanic Ash – uses wings and legs to scatter burning ash and mud at foe.
  • Power: 70, Accuracy: 100

While a bit more of a stretch than the other two, let’s not forget our Dual Fire/Flying type, Flameingo! Flameingo is based on the phoenicoparrus minor, or more commonly known as lesser flamingos, which make their home in the volcanic waters and pockets of places such as the African Rift Valley, the Galápagos Islands, and the high Andean plateaus. These animals are extremely sturdy and have adapted to living in some of the hottest and most dangerous places on Earth, which is why Flameingo takes the spot of our fire starter. Let’s check out her moveset:

 

Boil Spout: Since the lesser flamingo utilizes alkaline volcanic lakes for sustenance, they have adapted to be able to drink near boiling water without causing serious burns. Flameingo takes after this trait (with a bit of a stretch to just say boiling) and can attack her enemies through spitting boiling water back at them. Let’s see if her foes can handle the heat!

Purify: The lesser flamingo often takes up residence in hypersaline lakes or geysers, so they must utilize different glands in their head to remove the salt from the water they drink. Once the salt is removed from the water, it drains out their nasal cavity. Our Pokemon Flameingo has this ability too, allowing her to restore her HP by making freshwater to drink. If attacked by a foe’s water-type move the previous turn, she’ll just have more to heal herself with!

Harden: To stand in the near boiling volcanic lakes, the lesser flamingo would need to have tough skin and thankfully it does! The lesser flamingo has developed extremely scaly and leathery skin on their legs which allows them to stand in the hot salt water of their homes without getting burned. Flameingo’s move, Harden, comes from this thick skin adaptation. She can increase her defense by hardening the skin on her legs so it’s harder for other Pokemon to attack her, especially with Special Attacks!

Volcanic Ash: The harsh volcanic environments with their deep saline mud pits keep almost all predators away from lesser flamingos’ and their eggs. While the lesser flamingo might not often get into fights, I’ve honored their habitat and its deadly effect on others in this move. Flameingo can use her leathery legs and powerful wings to kick and spray fiery ash and mud into the faces of her foes.

 

Choose Wisely!

Now that you’ve seen these three Pokemon and their basic moveset, which one will you choose on your Pokemon journey? Which real life counterpart do you think has the coolest ecological adaptations? 

I hope you enjoyed this crossover of biology and Pokemon! 

 

Sources:

14 incredible mantis shrimp facts. Fact Animal. (2019, January 22). https://factanimal.com/mantis-shrimp/   

Campbell, V., & Moslemi, J. (2015, June 3). Flamingos of the Altiplano, high in the Bolivian andes. All About Birds. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/flamingos-of-the-altiplano-high-in-the-bolivian-andes/ 

Candeias, M. (2021, February 28). A surprising realization about leaf windows. In Defense of Plants. https://www.indefenseofplants.com/blog/2017/12/21/a-surprisng-realization-about-leaf-windows 

Egbert, K.J., & Martin, C.E. (2002). The Influence of Leaf Windows on the Utilization and Absorption of Radiant Energy in Seven Desert Succulents. Photosynthetica, 40(1), 35-39. doi: 10.1023/A:1020129820295

Field, KJ, George, R, Fearn, B et al. (2 more authors) (2013) Best of Both Worlds: Simultaneous High-Light and Shade-Tolerance Adaptations within Individual Leaves of the Living Stone Lithops aucampiae. PLoS ONE, 8 (10). e75671. ISSN 1932-6203

Martin, Brandmeyer, E. A., & Ross, R. D. (2013). Ecophysiological function of leaf ‘windows’ in Lithops species – ‘Living Stones’ that grow underground. Plant Biology (Stuttgart, Germany), 15(1), 243–247. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1438-8677.2012.00672.x

Physical characteristics of Flamingos. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. (2022). https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/flamingos/characteristics/ 

Rose, P. (2021, November 15). Africa’s most toxic lakes are a paradise for Fearless Flamingos. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/africas-most-toxic-lakes-are-a-paradise-for-fearless-flamin os-70817 

Yong, E. (2021, May 3). The mantis shrimp sees like a satellite. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/the-mantis-shrimp-sees-like-a-satellite 

I remember the first time I played a Sonic the Hedgehog game. I was 8 years-old and had just bought Sonic Unleashed with my Toys R Us gift card (what a throwback). Coming home, I slapped on the Wii and was thrusted alongside the blue blur himself. As he dashed through levels, I was amazed at his speed and agility, but what really drew my attention was when he ran through one of his signature loops. By all accounts of my 8 year-old logic, that should not have been possible. Sonic should have plummeted straight to the ground at the top of the loop, yet there he was coasting through it.

So what gives? We all know of gravity, the force of attraction, and how Earth’s gravitational pull keeps us on the surface and gives us weight. Why does it seem like Sonic is ignoring gravity through his loops? 

The answer to that lies in another force Sonic experiences as he travels through loops, a force called the centripetal force.

 

How Does Sonic Not Fall Out of a Loop?

Even if you haven’t taken a physics class in a very long time, I’m sure you’ve at least heard of Newton and his iconic three laws of motion, especially the first one about how an object’s direction changes due to forces acting on it. In other words, by Newton’s first law, objects stay moving in one direction until another force acts on them to change their direction, which in technical terms is called inertia. This is what’s happening to Sonic. Sonic enters the loop in a straight path, and as he goes farther into it, his direction begins to change (i.e. he’s moving along the track of the loop now). A force had to have been applied to Sonic to change his direction, this altering force being the normal force. Let’s take a closer look. 

Before Sonic dashes into the loop he builds up momentum, which is basically the energy that he’s been accumulating that keeps him moving in the same direction. Thus, as Sonic enters the loop, this momentum stays with him and the inertia causes him to continue forward. However, because the loop is curved, Sonic experiences a change in the direction of the normal force being applied to his feet causing him to also change direction. This normal force is the perpendicular component of the contact force that any object experiences when placed against the surface of another object. No matter where Sonic is in the loop, the normal force will face perpendicular from the track and point towards the center of the loop which leads to the circular path that he follows. This force is the centripetal force, and it allows our blue friend to stay on the track because of the enormous momentum that he built up before entering the loop. From Sonic’s frame of reference, he’s being pushed outwards into the track because it is rising in front of him as he is running causing him to experience what is known as the centrifugal force. But since we are not focusing on Sonic’s frame of reference, rather an outside one viewing him running in the circle, we’ll be referring to this net force causing Sonic to stray from his original path to this circular one as just the previously mentioned centripetal force (Fc).

Centripetal force is generally defined as the force that allows objects to follow curved paths, and it depends on a few things as you can see from the equation above. The mass of the moving object (m), the velocity at which the object moves at the top of the loop (v), and the size of the radius of the circular path that the object is making (r) all play a role in determining how large the centripetal force is. In our case, the moving object of interest is Sonic and the radius of the circular path is the radius of the loop he’s travelling through. Let’s do a simple calculation to see if we can get an idea of the magnitude of centripetal force that might be acting on Sonic during a loop.

Let’s start off with defining the various variables we talked about above. Sonic’s trade calling card is his ability to travel the speed of sound and cause sonic booms, so for velocity (v), we’ll assume Sonic is running at the speed of sound or 343 m/s. For mass (m), this information was a little bit more tricky to find, but after scavenging through a few various video game guides, I found Sonic’s mass to be approximately 35 kg (or 77.1618 pounds). Now onto the radius of the circular path (r).  We’ll take a few liberties with deciding the radius of the loops he travels through since they vary heavily from game to game. If we take a look at the original Sonic the Hedgehog game (the image at the very top if you want to follow along!), Sonic’s height is said to be around 100 cm (3’3”ft). If you superpose him multiple times over the loop, the loop appears to be 5 Sonics or 500 cm tall. That means that the radius for this loop would be 250 cm or 2.5 m. If we wanted to get really technical, the radius (r) is from the center of the circular path to the center of mass of the object. Since Sonic isn’t a point mass, we would need to calculate where his center of mass is if we want to be completely accurate. However, since the distance between Sonic’s center of mass and his feet is relatively much smaller than the entire radius of the loop, we will be assuming that Sonic is sufficiently small enough to just be a point mass to make our estimation simpler.

If we take these numbers and plug them into the equation for centripetal force, we get:

Woah! Looks like it’ll take a lot of force for the speedy blue hedgehog to clear this small loop at the speed of sound. 

 

Now, we did the calculations and found a force, but is there a way for us to find the maximum radius of a loop Sonic can travel even if we don’t know the centripetal force? In fact, there is! We’ll just need a little extra help from another concept from our friend Newton.

Gotta Go Fast

We mentioned Newton’s First Law earlier, but now we’re going to need his second one and the very famous equation attached to it: F=ma. This equation simply means that when an object with a mass (m) experiences a net external force acting on it (F), the object will accelerate proportionally to the force applied, where acceleration (a) is just the change in velocity (the direction and speed of the object) over a set time. Let’s look at our case with Sonic. If we say the force applied to him in the loop is the centripetal force, we’ll see a proportional change in Sonic’s acceleration to match. The change in acceleration comes from the change in Sonic’s direction and speed as he’s going around the loop. Therefore, we’ll get this:

So now we have two equations that can describe centripetal force: the one we originally mentioned and now this one from Newton’s Second Law. Since they both describe the same force, we can set them equal to one another and simplify:

As you can see the mass of the object does not matter, as it is cancelled out since it’s on both sides of the equation. We can then rearrange to solve for the radius of the loop in terms of the acceleration on the object and the velocity of the object at the top of the loop. Now, let’s find some values!

Since we (and assuming Sonic) are on Earth, acceleration acting on Sonic  is going to be equal to the force of gravity (9.81 m/s2). If we once again say Sonic’s max speed clocks out at the speed of sound (343 m/s), we then have everything we need to solve for the maximum radius of a loop Sonic can travel through! 

That means that Sonic can clear a loop that has a radius of 11,993 meters aka one that is 23,986 meters (or 78,694 feet) tall! Insane that this tiny blue hedgehog could do that, right? Remember that the next time you see Sonic clearing a loop in one of his games.

 

Blue Blur Speeds On

Sonic has always been one of my favorite video game characters and getting to calculate how parts of his game would work in real life is a great way to honor both him and my love for physics. You can do this with anything topic though! I implore you to pick your favorite video game, comic book, or TV character and see if you can use physics or another scientific discipline to better understand how it might be possible for that character to do what they do. Bridge the gap between your interests, and you’ll see just how fun science can be.  

 

Citations

“Sonic the Hedgehog.” Sonic News Network, sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog#Heroes.

“What Is a Centripetal Force? (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, 2016, www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/centripetal-force-and-gravitation/centripetal-forces/a/what-is-centripetal-force.

“What Is Centripetal Acceleration? (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, 2016, www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/centripetal-force-and-gravitation/centripetal-acceleration-tutoria/a/what-is-centripetal-acceleration. 

A ‘Cool’ Way to Transport or Not? 

Since their successful conception in 1967 by Dr. Christiaan Barnard, heart transplants have been a staple in the transplant world. They have provided many individuals with end stage cardiomyopathy (weakening of the heart muscles), heart valve disease, coronary artery disease, or other cardiovascular diseases a second chance at life. However, even as medical technology rapidly progressed over the years, one part of the heart transplant procedure remained relatively the same: the process of transporting a donor heart.

Traditionally, once a donor heart becomes available, it is removed from the donor’s body, sealed in a plastic bag, and then placed in an ice cooler. The cooler is then transported to the hospital where the heart transplant surgery will occur. While this might be the most common method for transportation, it is definitely not the most effective. On average, 8 out of 10 donor hearts don’t make it to transplant surgery. This can be due to the limited amount of time a heart can remain outside of the body, formally known as ischemic time. A heart can ideally last outside of the body for 4-6 hours. If the time goes longer than that, then the ice surrounding the heart can begin to cause irreversible damage to the heart cells, leaving it unable to be restarted. Because of this short transport time period and possibility of cellular damage, it’s very difficult to transport a heart successfully, even if the donor is a perfect match. In 2017 alone, only 3,244 hearts were transplanted when an estimated 100,000 patients needed a new heart.  

However, a new solution to this problem is currently in the works thanks to a company called Transmedics.

Transmedics: Heart in a Box

In the early 2010s, Transmedics brought a new method of donor heart transportation to the table, and it came in the form of a mechanical box. Heart in a Box or the Organ Care System (OSC) Heart served a radical idea: what if we could keep a heart beating during transport? 

And they accomplished just that! Once a donor’s heart becomes available for transport, it is placed inside the (OSC) Heart, where doctors will hook tubes into the aorta (the main artery that pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body) and the pulmonary vein (which transfers oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart). These tubes are used to pump oxygenated blood sourced from the donor through the heart by mimicking the changes in pressures inside the left ventricle and left atria. From this process, the heart receives the necessary nutrients and oxygen needed to function properly, meaning that it can basically be kept alive outside of the body thus eliminating ischemic time. The OSC even comes with a portable tablet that monitors the vitals of the heart (such as rhythm and heartbeat) and allows for direct changes to be made to pump flow rate or nutrient levels to keep the heart functioning properly throughout the transport process.

With the heart kept alive and beating, the time limit for transport is vastly increased. Current trials have shown that with OSC, donor hearts can remain viable for up to 12 hours, double what could be achieved with the cooler! With the heart being constantly monitored to maintain proper function instead of being iced and not beating, it also eases the process of restarting the heart in the recipient’s body. These changes could mean huge advancements in the number of patients that successfully receive a donor heart for transplant. The OSC Heart is still undergoing FDA clinical trials to prove its safety and benefit to heart transplant recipients before it becomes a wide scale method of transport, but so far many transplants that have occurred with the device have been successful. Transmedics is even branching out to using similar OSC for other organ transplants, such as lungs and kidneys. As of now, we’re on track for a brighter future for transportation of donor organs.  

The Heart Beats On

The story of Transmedics reminds us of a valuable lesson: just because a medical procedure or device is widespread doesn’t mean that it is most effective. Current methodology needs to be questioned to look for ways of improvement. Nothing is perfect. Sometimes creativity and innovation are needed to cause a paradigm shift that can completely change how the world handles a medical issue. Never stop looking for scientific improvement! You never know if your idea might end up saving someone’s life.

 

Citations

Breining, Greg. “Heart in a Box.” Medical School – University of Minnesota, 28 Mar. 2017, med.umn.edu/news-events/medical-bulletin/heart-box.

Breining, Greg. “Transplant Transport.” Legacy, 11 Sept. 2018, discoverymag.umn.edu/stories/transplant-transport.

“Heart Transplant.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 16 Nov. 2019, www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/heart-transplant/about/pac-20384750.

“OCS Heart for Patients and Families.” Transmedics, www.transmedics.com/ocs-heart/.

A Tale of Binge-Watching and You

After years of saying ‘I don’t need it’ or ‘it will waste my time,’ I finally caved last year and started using Netflix. My friend decided to celebrate the occasion by trying to hook me on the show, You. We huddled on her couch and watched the first two episodes together. Afterwards, she left it up to me to finish the season. However, like I tend to do with many things, I put it off. Over a month passed before I finally decided to finish the show. I sat down the following Saturday afternoon to begin episode three and came to my senses hours later when I realized I had finished the entire series. I had been so eager to feel the rush of the story and not be left on cliffhangers that I gave up my entire afternoon to gain some closure. While part of me felt a little empty inside due to forking over so much continuous time to the show, I did actually enjoy its contents and was eager to discuss it with my friend. However, I was not able to see her until 2 weeks later. When this chance finally arose for me to devour every detail of the show and its story, I suddenly started drawing up blanks. I could remember those first two episodes fairly well, but when it came to the nine episodes I watched in the same day, I could really only remember the ending and a few select events in detail. Everything else blurred together. He did what in which episode? Wait, did she actually do that? My memory was foggy and nothing stood out clearly but those first two episodes. Why did I remember those so well even though it had been well over a month since I had seen them and yet all the more recent episodes I watched were already well-faded in my memories? Besides just wasting my time, did binge-watching have some unforeseen consequences on me?

The answer is yes. A recent study has linked binge-watching to the reduction of long-term memories of basic details related to watched shows (Hattie, Horto, Horvath & Lodge, 2017). When compared to normal television viewers who tend to watch one new episode per week, binge-watchers scored lower on basic assessments regarding common details of specific episodes and characters of the shows they’ve seen. Why though does binge-watching have this effect on individuals? The science behind this is connected with memory consolidation and a little phenomenon called the temporal distinctiveness theory.

Memory Consolidation and Your Brain

Memory consolidation refers to the process of converting a temporary memory into a long-lasting one. For a memory to become permanent, the memory must be transported from the hippocampus (the part of the brain related to short-term gains and instinct) to the neocortex (part of the brain connected to rational thought/deeper thinking)(Squire, Genzel, Wixted & Morris, 2015).During this transfer, the long-term memory is established by increasing the complexity, distribution, and connectivity of the neocortex with respect to the other parts of the brain. Without this transfer and shifts in the neocortex, the initial memory becomes lost to the person within a short period of time. 

A couple of different factors can influence how well someone can consolidate a memory. For example, the amount of prior knowledge one has on a topic can influence the strength of one’s ability to make these long-term memories. Another factor that affects this process of consolidation is time, and this time factor can be explained by the temporal distinctness theory.

Temporal Distinctiveness Theory: The Gap Between Memories

Temporal distinctiveness theory essentially states that by increasing the time gap between solidifying new long-term memories, you can better recall them more distinctly at a later time (Cowan, 2008). When a single item/event has been given time to be isolated by itself, then that memory can be transferred into the neocortex as a much more distinct and identifiable memory versus if multiple consecutive memories are trying to be stored in the neocortex at once. This “downtime” for memories to be installed into the neocortex is called neutral memory consolidation (Brown, Ecker & Lewandowsky, 2014). During neutral consolidation, the brain is either doing low mental activities or sleep, giving it a chance to successfully transfer the memories from the hippocampus to the neocortex. When I watched the first two episodes of You and then gave myself time to absorb what occurred in those episodes, I was able to better create distinct long-term memories from those experiences and recall more specific details from the show. However, when I binged-watched the other nine episodes, I did not give myself time between each episode to consolidate my memories, which is why all of my memories regarding those episodes (barring the very end) were foggy and jumbled together. Binge-watching my show, while enjoyable at the time, stripped me away from my ability to better remember what happened in it in the future. 

So Netflix or TV?

We all hate that feeling of watching a captivating show on TV and then being forced to wait a week or month for its conclusion. It feels so rewarding to just get that immediate answer to a question without being forced to suffer and mull over all the possibilities of what’s going to happen to your favorite character. However, for this quick satisfaction, we relinquish part of our ability to better remember the content that we witness. Binge-watching does not give you brain the chance to transfer that event into long-term memory. Though, at the end of the day, it is still up to you to decide your viewing experience. Which part of the trade-off will you accept: binge-watching’s instantaneous enjoyment but long-term haziness, or TV’s long-lasting remembrance but painful wait time? I’ve already decided my choice for the next series on my Netflix list: Bojack Horseman season 6. I’ll be taking it one episode at a time, so I can make distinct memories to stay with me well after I finish the show. What about you?  

 

Citations

• Brown, G. D. A., Ecker, U. K. H. & Lewandowsky, S. (2014). Memory Without Consolidation: Temporal Distinctiveness Explains Retroactive Interference. Cognitive Science. Volume 39. Issue 7. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12214 
• Cowan N. (2008). What are the differences between long-term, short-term, and working memory?. Progress in brain research, 169, 323–338. doi:10.1016/S0079-6123(07)00020-9
• Hattie, J.A.C., Horto, A. J., Horvath, J.C., & Lodge, J. M. (2017). The impact of binge-watching on memory and perceived comprehension. First Monday. Volume 22. Number 9. https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/7729/6532 
• Squire, L. R., Genzel, L., Wixted, J. T., & Morris, R. G. (2015). Memory consolidation. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology, 7(8), a021766. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a021766