Memory
Memory
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Memory defines us
Memory defines us
Memory is what makes us who we are. Some memories are the ones we are aware of – the seminar you attended, that time as a child when you were publicly honored, knowing that peacock is our national bird, and the fact that the Learning321 is a great community!
These are known as explicit memories – ones we can consciously recall.
But there are also implicit memories, which may be even more important. For example, when you talk, you’re using motor memories to move your lips and tongue in a way that reproduces sounds you’ve learnt. When you play cricket, you’re using motor memories to coordinate movement of your body parts.
If we didn’t have memories we’d just be a body. We’ll be unable to communicate or identify danger much like a newborn baby. We’ll remain unaware of how to survive in the world around us.
In short, memory is crucial in transforming us from helpless newborns into capable adults.
As an analogy, memory is as integral to our brain as memory in a computer. Our brain cannot function without memory like a computer cannot work without memory.
Types of Memories
Types of Memories
There are several different types of memories, some of which are fleeting, and others that last a lifetime.
The fastest kinds of memory are sensory memory. It is the brief hold perception of sensory inputs. For example, when you hear something or see something, you can recall that perception for a moment. It sort of stays around in your head for a little bit. You might not even think of that as memory.
The other short-term memory is known as working memory, which can last just few seconds. This is like a temporary storage of computer, which we use to hold information in our head while we engage in other cognitive processes. For example, you briefly remember the mobile number as a friend recites it and you add it to your mobile’s contact list.
The other categories of memory are long-term.
What we typically think of as memory is explicit memory. This can be divided into
Episodic memories, which are events that have happened in your life
Semantic memories, which are retained facts or general knowledge.
The other type of long-term memory is unconscious, or implicit. These are memories you can’t consciously bring to mind, but which shape your behavior. The most common types are:
Procedural - this is concerned with how actions are performed, like how to ride a bike or play guitar.
Priming - refers to the influence one stimulus has on how people respond to a subsequent stimulus. For example: if people are asked to fill the gap in the group – BREAD, JUICE, MILK, SO_P, the answer would be SOUP. But if the group was – TOWEL, SHOWER, SHAMPOO, SO_P – the answer would be SOAP.
How memories are formed?
How memories are formed?
A memory isn’t something that we can find in any given neuron (brin cell). Rather memory is a result of neurons making new connections among them called Neural Pathways. The connection between neurons involves crossing over the synapse, the small gap between two neurons.
The more a neural pathway is activated, the stronger the synaptic connections along the way become. Whereas those that aren’t used get weaker and can eventually disappear entirely. This concept is known as Synaptic Plasticity.
An analogy for memory formation is the way foot traffic creates a path along a stretch of grass. The more a patch of grass is trampled as people pass along it, the clearer the path becomes and the easier it is to follow – it’s as if a ‘memory’ of all the walking has been created. The same thing happens in the brain.
Where are memories formed and stored?
Where are memories formed and stored?
Neuroscience studies so far have shown that memories aren’t stored in just one part of the brain. Different types of memories are stored across different, interconnected brain regions:
EXPLICIT MEMORY
Hippocampus – episodic memories (specific events of life)
Neocortex – semantic memories (acquired knowledge)
Amygdala - attaches emotional significance to memories making strong emotional memories (e.g. those associated with shame, joy, love or grief) are difficult to forget.
IMPLICIT MEMORY
Basal ganglia and cerebellum – procedural memories (motor activities)
The cerebellum - fine motor control
WORKING MEMORY
Prefrontal cortex – short term memory
The Need for Sleep
The Need for Sleep
The memories of our experiences during the day are stored in hippocampus. While we sleep, a process of systems consolidation takes place. During this, brain determines what is worth retaining and such memories are transferred to neocortex where they reside long-term. And the trivial ones are discarded. This happens during deep sleep, so if you aren’t getting enough sleep, you aren’t letting your brain consolidate memories.
Once A memory has been stored, how is it accessed?
Once A memory has been stored, how is it accessed?
According to one popular theory, the hippocampus serves as a memory index. As an analogy, it is like the catalog of a library of books where books are stored in different shelfs. We search for a book by first checking the catalog of the library which tells the location of the book and we go to that shelf to pick that book.
This idea of memory indexing and recollection is still only a theory.
Brain is the greatest Big Data handler!
Brain is the greatest Big Data handler!
Imagine your brain is a computer. It is receiving data every second of your life in different formats: smells, sounds, feelings, sights. All this data needs to be processed and interpreted on a continuous basis. The brain also needs to find meaning behind the received data – whether it is of any relevance to us or just needs to be discarded. This process of identifying the relevance continues all the time, so that memory is not occupied unnecessarily. Even the data collected through different events during the day is purged through a process of system consolidation when we sleep. This consolidation helps in preserving relevant memories for long term.
Some Interesting Facts about Memory
Some Interesting Facts about Memory
The brain has an astounding storage capacity. It is estimated that it can store about 2.5 petabytes of data. That’s 2,500,000 gigabytes of data or about 300 years of television.
Dolphins have the longest memories in the animal kingdom, next to humans. Bottlenose dolphins can remember whistles of other dolphins, even after 20 years of separation.
Memories start forming in the womb – as early as 4 months into a pregnancy!
Children don’t remember consistently until about the age of 4, when language skills and the hippocampus are more mature.
People tend be able to hold only 7 +/- 2 chunks of information in the short-term memory before needing to further process them for longer storage. For instance, most people would be able to remember a 7-digit phone number but would struggle to remember a 10-digit number. This led to Miller describing the number 7 +/- 2 as a “magical” number. Some studies have even indicated a higher Miller number for a person is reflective of Higher IQ!
The concept of Miller’s number is used in design of user interface. For example, presenting large numbers as chunks of four – as in Aadhar or Credit Card. Another example is OTP – which is kept between 4 to 6 digits. And password is mandated to be more than 8 characters.
Other Pointers
Other Pointers
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