Memory And How We Can Train The Brain

This study investigated which areas other than the hippocampus might be involved in memory. Historically, studies show that is the primary brain area involved in storage of memories. However, Wang, Teixeira, Wheeler , and Frankland (2012) predicted that the precision of the older memories is not dependent on the hippocampus.

Holladay, April. "How Does Human Memory Work?" How Does Human Memory Work? USATODAY.com, 15 Apr. 2007. Web. 04 October 2015.

* Consolidation- hypothetical process involving gradual conversion of information into memory codes stored in long term memory.

Do you consider yourself to have a great memory or do you consider yourself to have a bad memory? Can you remember more than four phone numbers and more than three immediate family members birthdays without using any technology? If you cannot answer those simple questions than maybe you should reconsider on working on your memorization side of your brain. Joshua Foer, the author of The End of Remembering, and Paulo Freire, author of The “Banking” Concept of Education, both write about how important memory is in the world today. In Foer’s passage he states that before paper, books, and modern technology people were expected to remember any piece of information that was given to them. Now people rely on anything that could record information so they would not have to remember it or worry about forgetting. He believes that technology is running our memory. However in Freire’s passage he states that memorizing decontextualizes and is unrelated to present conditions, but memory can concrete conditions of our daily lives. The importance of memory and its functions in the world today is that it lets a person find self-identity, prevents shallow base of knowledge, and sets values.

Some researchers hypothesize that the hippocampus is involved in some types of memory processes but not others. This particular study measured brain activity using fMRI during two types of memory tasks: remember (episodic memory) and know (familiarity). A memory was considered “episodic” if the person could recall the moment it was learned and “familiar” if they felt they recognized the word but could not retrieve the specidic moment it was learned. The a priori (pre-selected) region of interest( ROI) in the hippocampus

After a motor vehicle accident Tom was left with an acquired brain injury with damage to the frontal lobe and the left temporal lobe. As a result Tom has been experiencing many difficulties, in particular with his memory. Memory refers to the mental capacity to retain information and convert it into a form that can be stored and retrieved at a later time. Storing and retrieving memories involves passing information from one stage to the next and then retrieving that information from long-term memory. (Burton, Westen & Kowalski, 2012, p.261) Memory is an integral part of human survival and without it, learning new skills, such as the ones required by Tom to regain his loss of function, could never prevail.

I watched a Ted talk given by Joshua Foer about memory. He started off by asking that everyone visualize random things in their homes. Then he started talking about a memory contest in which people all over the world come together to memorizes hundreds of numbers, names, faces, etc. He was fascinated by it. So, he wondered how they could memorize such things.

The retrieval of a memory can initiate processes in our brain that actively consolidate and strengthen the memory trace, a process known as memory reconsolidation. Memories retrieved are thought to increase their stability once they undergo the process of consolidation. Retrieval of a memory trace may cause another liable phase to require more processing to keep the memory stable after retrieval; the brain systemically acquires cellular mechanisms to initiate a new round of protein synthesis that saves the trace from degradation. (Rudy CITE) There has been recent issues concerning the relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder and reconsolidation of fear memories brought about by individuals who experience the disorder.

Joshua Foer explains his experience at an eye-opening event he had attended which is held in New York every spring, where people gather at this event to challenge others on who has the best memory. Stepping into the event Mr. Foer believed these people were all servants, until he began to ask around. Now realizing these weren’t servants he just encountered, these were all regular beings with a regular memory nothing special about them besides the fact these individuals discovered a way to opening and maintaining their memory skills. Mr. Foer was stricken with curiosity now training to participate in the “Championship” for a year under the training of a unique individual named Ed Cook who has one of the best trained memories.

Some scientists believe that parts of long term memory are permanent while others will eventually weaken over time. (3) Long term memory can be divided into three sections: procedural memory, declarative memory, and remote memory. Procedural memory includes motor skills such as learning how to ride a bike or how to drive a car. "Such memories are slow to acquire but more resistant to change or loss." (4) Declarative memory is used to remember facts, such as names, dates and places. It is easy to learn but also easy to lose. Finally there is episodic memory, which is the record of events that a person stores throughout his or her experience. Recent studies show that these events, as soon as they occur, are sent to a temporary part of the brain called the hippocampus, and that over time they are moved to the neocortex for permanent storage. (5).

Steve Jobs once said, "You and I have memories longer he road that stretches out ahead". The brain is so detailed and holds so much information in every little area. There are so many things happening in the brain at once, and one of the most fascinating things would be memory. The memory has various abilities that make it so complex, including the memory system, how it functions, and memory retrieval, along with the capacity to memorize certain ideas easier

At one time, memory researchers believed that human memory worked like a video recorder. All one had to do was to find the right tape, play it back, and relive the memories precisely as they were originally experienced. However, subsequent research showed that this model was very inaccurate. Rather, most memories are simply forgotten and cannot be recalled. Few people have real memories of events that occurred before their 3rd birthday. For those memories that are actually remembered, the mind stores only elements of the actual events and reconstruct full memories later when the memories are recalled. The act of recalling memories can change them so that at the time of the next recall, they are somewhat modified.

Our ability to retain information from our every day experiences is due to our episodic memory (Berk, 238). This research paper examines the effects of genetics as well as the participants’ personal lifestyles in the hopes of assessing the reasons behind the stability and decline in episodic memory (Josefsson et al., 2012). The investigation is important in understanding the development of our episodic memory by knowing what effects our ability to retain every day experiences. It may also help our understanding of how information processing can be improved or stabilized.

The two concepts that I resonated with are Memory and the Psychodynamic theory. Starting with the Psychodynamic theory is an approach to psychology that studies the psychological forces underlying human behavior, feelings, and emotions, and how they may relate to early childhood experience. This theory is most closely associated with the work of Sigmund Freud, and with psychoanalysis, a type of psychotherapy that attempts to explore the patient’s unconscious thoughts and emotions so that the person is better able to understand him or herself. The second one is Memory; understanding how memory works will help you improves your memory. Which is an essential key to attaining knowledge. Memory is one of the important cognitive processes. Memory involves remembering and forgetting. I chose the two concepts because throughout the class they stood out to the most. Understanding the conscious, subconscious mind and also memory. I’m interested in understanding the human behavior.

Memory makes us. It is, to an extent, a collection of unique and personal experiences that we, as individuals, have amassed over our lifetime. It is what connects us to our past and what shapes our present and the future. If we are unable remember the what, when, where, and who of our everyday lives, our level of functioning would be greatly impacted. Memory is defined as or recognized as the “sum or total of what we remember.” Memory provides us the ability to learn and adjust to or from prior experiences. In addition, memory or our ability to remember plays an integral role in the building and sustaining of relationships. Additionally, memory is also a process; it is how we internalize and store our external environment and experiences. It entails the capacity to remember past experiences, and the process of recalling previous experiences, information, impressions, habits and skills to awareness. It is the storage of materials learned and/or retained from our experiences. This fact is demonstrated by the modification, adjustment and/or adaptation of structure or behavior. Furthermore, we as individuals, envision thoughts and ideas of the present through short-term memory, or in our working memory, we warehouse past experiences and learned values in long-term memory, also referred to as episodic or semantic memory. Most importantly, memory is malleable and it is intimately linked to our sense of identity and where we believe we belong in the world.