Harden Elkington
The process of storing and recalling memories is still not completely understood, but scientists have a good understanding of the basics.
Memories are stored as electrical impulses in various parts of the brain.
When you recall a memory, these impulses are reactivated, allowing you to relive the experience.
How memories are recalled is still being studied, but scientists believe that different parts of the brain are responsible for recalling different types of memories.
For example, memories that are associated with emotions may be recalled more easily if those emotions are triggered.
It is still not completely clear how memories are initially stored, but scientists believe that the process begins with the formation of new connections between neurons.
As you learn and experience new things, your brain creates these connections.
When you recall a memory, the neurons are activated and chemicals called neurotransmitters are released to pass messages between them.
These messages are then translated into parts of your memory that can be recalled.
As is often the case with science, this is only the beginning of understanding what actually happens when you remember something.
Continued research into the process of memory formation and recall should eventually help us to unlock all the secrets of this amazing phenomenon.
How is the memory Proceed?
When a memory is recalled, it undergoes several procedures:
Encoding
It all begins with perception, as shown by our expressions.
Consider, for example, your memory of meeting a personal hero at some point in your life.
Your visual system noted how dynamic a person they were in reality. His/her voice was heard by the auditory system.
Your olfactory system, on the other hand, is probably aware of how the individual smelled.
These sensory hints play a key role in shaping our ideas.
Every of these distinctive feelings was sent to the hippocampus in your brain, which organized them into a single experience by combining them.
Working Memory
Once we have shaped the individual memories, they are moved to your prefrontal lobe and stored there temporarily before being merged into a single memory.
The next time you think of that person, he/she comes back instantly as an image in your brain.
Sensory Memory
There are three types of memory: sensory, short-term and long-term memory.
Sensory memory functions as a way for your brain to receive information that you were just exposed to.
It only lasts for up to one second. Think of it as “seeing stars” after being hit in the head with something heavy.
Short-term memory is a more complex type of memory.
It occurs when your brain retains information for a brief period, from seconds to minutes.
In order for this to happen, the neuronal connections in different parts of the brain must overlap and release chemicals that activate memories.
Long-term memory refers to anything you remember after five minutes or longer.
Memories are created in the hippocampus, which is why it is also known as “long-term memory storage.”
This process requires more time and energy than short-term memory can provide.
From the Sensory Memory to the Working Memory and finally being stored in Long-Term Memory, it is a process that is constantly repeated and improved as time goes on.
Long Term Storage
Memories that come from long term storage can be recalled years later.
This is because the hippocampus retrieves information from the cortex, where memories are initially stored.
Different parts of your brain handle different types of memories.
Your temporal lobe stores sensory memories, while your frontal lobe recalls emotions and language-related events.
Visual memories are handled by areas in both lobes, so it’s no surprise that our memory of a person’s face is usually quite accurate.
- See also: Is it possible that consciousness evolves from the brain?
- See also: What is the highest form of human intelligence?
Recalling Memory
Your brain does not just store memories, it can also retrieve them.
This happens when the neurons in the cortex are activated and send messages to the hippocampus.
This process is known as memory consolidation, and it helps to explain why we can remember some things better than others.
The first time you saw someone “A” was perhaps when you met that person at some point. You probably remember what they look like, but may forget their name after a few weeks of not seeing them.
Your memory of meeting another person “B” might be more vivid because you meet them again often.
The first time does not consolidate as well as the second time.
The hippocampus is very important in forming and recalling memories because it helps to keep track of which areas of the cortex are associated with different memories.
This is why people with damage to this area often have difficulty forming new memories or recalling past events.
It’s amazing how our brain can store all of these individual memories and how it can bring them out so quickly and easily.
It just goes to show that we never forget the important things because the brain is such a powerful tool.
Conclusion
There’s a lot of information regarding how memory is stored and recalled, but it all comes down to this one fact: your brain remembers the important things.
Memories that are consolidated well will be easily brought up when needed, while memories that were not primarily consolidated may need more effort to recall.
If you want to make sure you remember something, try repeating it out loud or linking it to another memory.
This will help your brain to better store and recall the information.
