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HowHumanMemoryWorksHowStuffWorks
HowHumanMemoryWorks
[Link],PhD
BrowsethearticleHowHumanMemoryWorks
BrainImageGallery
HowHumanMemoryWorksOverview
Themoreyouknowaboutyourmemory,thebetteryou'[Link]'sabasicoverviewofhow
yourmemoryworksandhowagingaffectsyourabilitytoremember.
Yourbaby'sfirstcry...thetasteofyourgrandmother'smolassescookies...[Link]
[Link]'rewhatmakeyoufeel
comfortablewithfamiliarpeopleandsurroundings,tieyourpastwithyourpresent,[Link]
profoundway,itisourcollectivesetofmemoriesour"memory"asawholethatmakesuswhoweare.
Mostpeopletalkaboutmemoryasifitwereathingtheyhave,[Link]'t
existinthewayapartofyourbodyexistsit'snota"thing"[Link]'saconceptthatreferstotheprocessof
remembering.
Inthepast,manyexpertswerefondofdescribingmemoryasasortoftinyfilingcabinetfullofindividualmemoryfoldersin
[Link],
Humanmemoryisacomplex,brain
wideprocessthatisessentialto
[Link],
thebrain,andshortandlongterm
[Link].
PublicationsInternational,Ltd.
expertsbelievethatmemoryisfarmorecomplexandelusivethanthatandthatitislocatednotinoneparticularplaceinthe
brainbutisinsteadabrainwideprocess.
Doyourememberwhatyouhadforbreakfastthismorning?Iftheimageofabigplateoffriedeggsandbaconpoppedintoyour
mind,youdidn'[Link],thatmemorywastheresultofanincredibly
complexconstructivepoweronethateachofuspossessesthatreassembleddisparatememoryimpressionsfromaweb
[Link]"memory"isreallymadeupofagroupofsystemsthateachplaya
differentroleincreating,storing,[Link],allofthesedifferentsystemsworktogetherperfectly
toprovidecohesivethought.
[Link],apenyourbrainretrievestheobject'sname,itsshape,its
function,[Link]"pen"[Link]
"pen"[Link]
whole.
Ifyou'reridingabike,thememoryofhowtooperatethebikecomesfromonesetofbraincellsthememoryofhowtogetfromheretotheendoftheblockcomes
fromanotherthememoryofbikingsafetyrulesfromanotherandthatnervousfeelingyougetwhenacarveersdangerouslyclose,[Link]'re
neverawareoftheseseparatementalexperiences,northatthey'recomingfromalldifferentpartsofyourbrain,[Link],
expertstellusthereisnofirmdistinctionbetweenhowyourememberandhowyouthink.
Thisdoesn'[Link]'tfullyunderstandexactlyhowyourememberorwhatoccursduring
[Link]
[Link],[Link],thenproceedstostorageand,
eventually,retrieval.
Onthenextpage,you'lllearnhowencodingworksandthebrainactivityinvolvedinretrievingamemory.
LaunchVideo
MemoryEncoding
[Link]
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[Link]'sabiologicalphenomenon,rootedinthe
senses,[Link],forexample,thememoryofthefirstpersonyou
[Link],yourvisualsystemlikelyregisteredphysical
features,[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
braincalledthehippocampus,whichintegratedtheseperceptionsastheywereoccurringintoone
singleexperienceyourexperienceofthatspecificperson.
Expertsbelievethatthehippocampus,alongwithanotherpartofthebraincalledthefrontal
cortex,isresponsibleforanalyzingthesevarioussensoryinputsanddecidingifthey'reworth
Thetypicalbrainhasabout100trillionsynapses,whicharethe
pointswherenervecellsinthehumanbrainconnectwithothercells.
PublicationsInternational,Ltd.
[Link],[Link],
[Link]
piecesarelateridentifiedandretrievedtoformacohesivememory,however,isnotyetknown.
Althoughamemorybeginswithperception,itisencodedandstoredusingthelanguageof
[Link]'showitworks:[Link],
whereelectricalpulsescarryingmessagesleapacrossgapsbetweencells.
[Link]
spacesbetweencells,[Link],givingatypicalbrainabout100trillion
[Link],featherytipsofbraincellsthatreachouttoneighboringbraincells.
Theconnectionsbetweenbraincellsaren'[Link],organizingthemselvesintogroupsthat
[Link],[Link]
betweenthem,[Link],witheachnewexperience,[Link],howyouuseyourbrain
[Link],whichscientistscallplasticity,thatcanhelpyourbrainrewireitselfifitiseverdamaged.
Asyoulearnandexperiencetheworldandchangesoccuratthesynapsesanddendrites,[Link]
reorganizesitselfinresponsetoyourexperiences,formingmemoriestriggeredbytheeffectsofoutsideinputpromptedbyexperience,education,ortraining.
Thesechangesarereinforcedwithuse,sothatasyoulearnandpracticenewinformation,[Link]
playapieceofmusicoverandover,forexample,[Link]
result:[Link],[Link]
forseveralweeksandthentrytoplaythepiece,[Link]
well.
Toproperlyencodeamemory,[Link],mostofwhatyouencountereverydayis
simplyfilteredout,[Link],yourmemorywouldbefull
[Link]'tsureaboutiswhetherstimuliarescreenedoutduringthesensoryinputstageoronlyafterthe
[Link]
remember.
Thenextpageprovidesdetailsonhowinformationisstoredinshorttermandlongtermmemory.
ShortandLongTermMemory
Onceamemoryiscreated,itmustbestored(nomatterhowbriefly).Manyexpertsthinktherearethreewayswestorememories:firstinthesensorystagethenin
shorttermmemoryandultimately,forsomememories,[Link],thedifferent
stagesofhumanmemoryfunctionasasortoffilterthathelpstoprotectusfromthefloodofinformationthatwe'reconfrontedwithonadailybasis.
Thecreationofamemorybeginswithitsperception:Theregistrationofinformationduringperceptionoccursinthebriefsensorystagethatusuallylastsonlya
[Link]'syoursensorymemorythatallowsaperceptionsuchasavisualpattern,asound,oratouchtolingerforabriefmomentafterthestimulation
isover.
Afterthatfirstflicker,[Link]
[Link],atendigitnumbersuchas
[Link],asinatelephonenumber,8005840392mayactuallystayinyourshort
[Link],byrepeatingthenumbertoyourself,youcankeepresettingtheshorttermmemoryclock.
[Link],themorelikelyitisto
eventuallyendupinlongtermmemory,ortobe"retained."(That'swhystudyinghelpspeopletoperformbetterontests.)Unlikesensoryandshorttermmemory,
whicharelimitedanddecayrapidly,longtermmemorycanstoreunlimitedamountsofinformationindefinitely.
Peopletendtomoreeasilystorematerialonsubjectsthattheyalreadyknowsomethingabout,sincetheinformationhasmoremeaningtothemandcanbementally
[Link]'swhysomeonewhohasanaveragememorymaybeabletoremembera
greaterdepthofinformationaboutoneparticularsubject.
[Link]
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Mostpeoplethinkoflongtermmemorywhentheythinkof"memory"itselfbutmostexpertsbelieveinformationmustfirstpassthroughsensoryandshortterm
[Link],[Link]
memoriesarerecalledandwhathappenswhenamemorycannotberetrievedaphenomenonyoumightcall"forgetting."
MemoryRetrieval
Whenyouwanttoremembersomething,youretrievetheinformationonanunconsciouslevel,[Link]
theyhaveeithera"bad"ora"good"memory,infact,[Link]
youdohavetroublerememberingsomethingassumingyoudon'thaveaphysicaldiseaseit'susuallynotthefaultofyourentirememorysystembutaninefficient
componentofonepartofyourmemorysystem.
Let'[Link],youmustregisterwhereyouplaceyoureyeglasses:Youmustpay
[Link],oryouwon'tbeabletoremembertheirlocationthefollowing
[Link],thisinformationisretained,[Link],whenyouwakeupinthemorningyouwill
rememberexactlywhereyouleftyoureyeglasses.
Ifyou'veforgottenwheretheyare,oneofseveralthingscouldhavehappened:
Youmaynothaveregisteredclearlywhereyouputthemdowntobeginwith.
Youmaynothaveretainedwhatyouregistered.
Youmaynotbeabletoretrievethememoryaccurately.
Therefore,ifyouwanttostopforgettingwhereyouleftyoureyeglasses,youwillhavetoworkonmakingsurethatallthreestagesoftherememberingprocessare
workingproperly.
Ifyou'veforgottensomething,itmaybebecauseyoudidn'tencodeitveryeffectively,becauseyouweredistractedwhileencodingshouldhavetakenplace,or
becauseyou'[Link]'ve"forgotten"whereyouputyoureyeglasses,youmaynothavereallyforgottenatallinstead,thelocationofyour
[Link],youprobablywouldsaythatyouknowwhatafivedollarbilllookslike,butmost
ofthetimesthatyou'veseenone,you'venotreallyencodeditsappearance,sothatifyoutriedtodescribeit,youprobablycouldn't.
Distractionsthatoccurwhileyou'[Link]'retryingtoreadabusinessreportinthe
middleofabusyairport,youmaythinkyou'rerememberingwhatyouread,butyoumaynothaveeffectivelysaveditinyourmemory.
Finally,youmayforgetbecauseyou'[Link]'veevertriedtoremembersomethingonetimeandcouldn't,butthenlater
yourememberthatsameitem,itcouldbethattherewasamismatchbetweenretrievalcuesandtheencodingoftheinformationyouweresearchingfor.
Aswegetolder,[Link],youwilllearnhowagingcanaffectmemory.
EffectsofAgingonMemory
[Link],yousuddenlyrealizeyoucan'tremembertheperson'[Link]
areyou'renotsuddenlydevelopingAlzheimer'sdisease,[Link]'resimplyexperiencingabreakdownoftheassembly
[Link]
functionappearsinmanyanimals,anditbeginswiththeonsetofsexualmaturity.
Wesawearlierinthischapterthatasyoulearnandremember,yourbraindoesn'tchangeitsoverallstructureorgrowwholenewbatchesofnervecellsit'sthe
[Link],[Link]
toage,thesesynapsesbegintofalter,whichbeginstoaffecthoweasilyyoucanretrievememories.
Researchershaveseveraltheoriesaboutwhat'sbehindthisdeterioration,butmostsuspectthatagingcausesmajorcelllossinatinyregioninthefrontofthebrain
[Link].
Inaddition,[Link],calledthehippocampus,loses5percentofitsnervecells
[Link],thebrainitselfshrinksandbecomeslessefficientasyouage.
Ofcourse,[Link],youmighthavebeenexposedtopoisons,
[Link].
Soyoucanseethatasyouage,[Link]'tmeanthat
[Link],[Link]
fact,researchshowsthattheaverage70yearoldperformsaswelloncertaincognitivetestsasdomany20yearolds,andmanypeopleintheir60sand70sscore
significantlybetterinverbalintelligencethandoyoungerpeople.
[Link]
[Link]
reallyimprovementalfunction.
[Link]
ratslivinginenrichedenvironmentswithlotsoftoysandchallengeshavelargerouterbrainswithlarger,[Link]
[Link]
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exercisehavemoredendrites,[Link],inourlateryears,astimulatingenvironment
encouragesthegrowthofthesedendrites,whileadullenvironmentimpedesit.
Theimportantpointtorememberisthatasyouage,youmaynotlearnorrememberasquicklyasyoudidwhenyouwereinschoolbutyouwilllikelylearnand
[Link],anolderperson'sbrainmaybelesseffectivenotbecauseofastructuralororganicproblembutsimplyasaresultoflack
ofuse.
ABOUTTHEAUTHORS:
[Link],Ph.D.,hasbeenvicechairmanoftheDepartmentofPsychiatryattheMountSinaiSchoolofMedicineandassociatechiefofstaffforresearchat
theBronxVeteransAffairsMedicalCenter.Theauthororcoauthorofmorethan300scientificpapers,[Link],
Alzheimer'sdisease,andcognitivefunction.
[Link]
theAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,shehasmorethan40bookstohercredit,includingTheMemoryandMemoryDisordersSourcebookTheEncyclopediaof
MemoryandMemoryDisordersandTheBrainEncyclopedia.
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