A nasty little mystery of the mind

I just read an editorial in Science authored by the NIH Director and a couple of other NIH bigwigs plugging the new NIH BRAIN (yes, all caps) Initiative. The plan is to develop new technologies to figure out how our brains work. I have no opinion about the project in general, but there is one question I would very much like to see answered: why, as I grow older and my mind becomes less agile and my memory not as reliable, am I nevertheless able to recall every awkward or embarrassing moment, every uncomfortable instance, in my life as vividly as ever? It's as if the synaptic connections comprising these memories are super-glued together. The rest of my mind is held together by Elmer's.