Monsters, Memories and the Stories We Keep

Have you ever wondered why some experiences lodge themselves in our memories while others slip away?

Neuroscientist Leslie Sibener, a Junior Fellow in the Simons Society of Fellows and a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University, studies why specific memories are selected for long-term storage. Her work investigates how salience, like an emotionally charged experience, can highlight specific events and make memories more vivid and enduring.

Mathias Clasen, co-director of the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University, explores the emerging field of recreational fear. His work looks at how scary experiences — such as haunted houses and horror films — can be not only thrilling but also beneficial, helping people bond, build resilience and create lasting positive memories.

Join Sibener and Clasen for a conversation with Quanta Magazine Editor-in-Chief Samir Patel that will dive into the psychology and neuroscience behind our fascination with fear and how emotionally charged experiences — from the thrilling to the terrifying — shape the memories that stick with us.

About the Speakers:

Sibener is a postdoctoral fellow in Priya Rajasethupathy’s lab at Rockefeller University. She earned her Ph.D. in neurobiology and behavior at Columbia University with Rui Costa, and her B.S. in neuroscience and B.A. in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University. Sibener is interested in studying why specific memories are selected for long-term storage, while others are forgotten.

During her doctoral studies, Leslie investigated the neural mechanisms underlying the learning of skilled motor action. Her work focused on how the thalamus, an often-overlooked motor area of the brain, contributes to the learning and refinement reaching actions in mice. Currently, her postdoctoral research focuses on how the saliency of events is reported to memory centers of the brain, and how that saliency gates the selection of memories for long-term storage. During her graduate studies at Columbia, Leslie was awarded the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. In the broader scientific community, she has worked closely with groups dedicated to transparent scientific communication, advocacy and education, such as Stories of Women in Neuroscience, BioBus and co-founded Scientist on the Subway.

Clasen researches horror fiction and recreational fear, focusing on the psychological mechanisms that drive human fascination with the frightening. He is the co-director of the Recreational Fear Lab, an interdisciplinary research group that studies the mental and physical effects of recreational fear, exploring how scary experiences can have surprisingly positive outcomes. The lab’s work has been supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark and Innovation Fund Denmark.

Clasen has published widely on the horror genre. His 2017 book, Why Horror Seduces, offers a biocultural exploration of why people are drawn to horror fiction, while his 2021 book, A Very Nervous Person’s Guide to Horror Movies, is a research-based introduction to horror films and their psychological impact. He is currently working on a book about Stephen King’s enduring popularity, with support from the Carlsberg Foundation.