10/12/2026
What happens when a memory survives—even as so much else begins to fade?
Near the end of his life, the father of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ellen Barry unexpectedly recalled a childhood memory from 1941: a beloved canary escaping during a train transfer in Chicago.
The memory was vivid, emotionally rich, and almost cinematic. And Barry couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Her questions eventually led her to the work of neuroscientist Dr. Priya Rajasethupathy at The Rockefeller University, whose research into how memories are formed offered Barry a new way to understand what her family had experienced during her father’s years with vascular dementia.
The science couldn’t change what had happened. But it helped give biological logic to behaviors that once seemed baffling—and changed the way Barry thought about caregiving, frustration, and what families expect from someone whose brain is changing.
In our fall cover story, Barry reflects on memory, grief, caregiving, and what science can—and cannot—tell us about the people we love.
Read “Following Memory Home” in the fall issue of Preserving Your Memory®: ALZinfo.org/pym/?utm_source=FB&utm_medium=PostLink&utm_campaign=PYMFall2026
