What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a man cave? Large TV set combined with a bulky couch? Hunting trophies displayed above a mantle? Sports paraphernalia in every corner? It doesn’t have to be that way. You can easily achieve the quintessential masculine look without using any worn-out clichés. Here are three elegant but unorthodox ideas you should consider.

Retro Home Cinema

Convert your man cave into a multi-level old-fashioned cinema where you, your family, and your friends can enjoy your favorite movies. Instead of hanging a large TV, install a projector and screen. Build an elevated banquette on the opposing side of the screen and place comfortable chairs on it. Arrange chic furniture on the floor so that everybody can see the film and have a memorable movie night. Add a professional popcorn maker and a retro soda dispenser for the perfect finishing touch.

Musical Man Cave

If music is your soft spot, you should definitely consider creating your own musical haven. Install a quality stereo system in your home-base hideout so you can enjoy your favorite bands and artists in high fidelity. You can also hang several stylish guitars on your walls and set up a drum set in a corner so you and your friends can enjoy jamming sessions when you gather.

Contemporary Multimedia Hideout

Go with a minimalist design by arranging couches or armchairs around an assortment of elevated TV dinner-style tables. Install a large-screen television, a gaming console, and hi-fi soundbar for the ultimate multimedia experience. Take your hi-tech hideout to the next level by setting up a virtual assistant and connecting it with the different devices in the room.

When designing your man cave, make sure to come up with an enjoyable concept that will enable you to enjoy your hobbies while forgetting about your day-to-day worries and obligations.

It’s a well-known fact that as we age, we start to lose our memory. But what if this decay of memories is actually useful? According to scientists from the University of Toronto and Trinity College Dublin, forgetting is a unique and active form of learning, which helps our brain to access the more important and current information. They also argue that the forgotten memories are not really lost, just inaccessible, and can possibly be retrieved and restored. So, Sherlock’s mind palace may not be so out of reach anymore.

The Explanation for Memory Loss

As the scientists explained, memories are stored permanently in neurons called engram cells. Our brains can decide which memories to keep and which ones to be locked away. This action gives our cognition behavioral flexibility by letting us ditch unimportant information and irrelevant experiences. These choices, as per the scientists, are largely based on our environmental feedback. Theoretically, this flexible process helps us cope in the face of change and enables us to make better decisions as a result. These findings can also lead to new ways to better understand and treat disease-caused memory loss, like what happens in patients with Alzheimer’s.

The Possible Memory Retraction

This path-breaking study was undertaken by neurology scientists Paul Frankland of the University of Toronto and Thomas Ryan of Trinity College Dublin. The full study was published in the Nature Reviews Neuroscience journal. Their new findings on memory can lead to revolutionary treatments for pathological memory loss. According to this researcher duo, natural forgetting is reversible in certain circumstances, where the old irrelevant memories can be retracted into a more important light. In the case of people suffering from any memory-loss symptoms, the mechanism of forgetting becomes complex. Even then, memories can be recovered with different and harder methods based on the natural memory restoration process.