Memory and Human Survival

(3) Semantic dementia is characterised by a selective deficit of semantic memory, which is our memory store for factual information about the world around us – e.g., the knowledge that apples are fruit is a semantic memory. Individuals affected by this condition have difficulty understanding the meaning of written and spoken language, pictures and objects. In some cases of semantic dementia a mild form of the behavioural

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

* Semantic memory- general knowledge that is not tied to the time when information was learnt

As mentioned earlier, memory was an evident theme in Caring for Kait and it’s a part of us that is largely affected by age. Older adults have more trouble with encoding information, as well as retrieving information, while their storage abilities stay relatively the same. With age, comes more tip of the tongue experiences where what we want to say is on ‘the tip of our tongue’, but we can’t quite grasp it (Maitland, 2017). Kaitlyn, after her first seizure, had experiences such as these and had trouble with encoding and retrieval of information. To help her regain her normal mental abilities, Travis would go through light mental activities with Kaitlyn (Ruhland, 2017). These activities would allow Kaitlyn to make connections between incoming information and information she already knew; this is known as linking and is a great rehearsal strategy (Maitland, 2017).

Anyone reading Joshua Foer’s “The End of Remembering” can assume that he knows a lot about the brain and how it works. After all he graduated from Yale in 2004, and later went on to become the 2006 United States Memory Champion. With Foer’s interest in mental athletes he decided to do a journalism project to study them. This project would end up being the result of his book, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything from which “The End of Remembering” is one of the chapters. In this chapter Foer’s lays a solid foundation of the development of writing. He also includes historical views of remembering and how we learned in terms of our memory. Foer not only gives historical views but supports his claims with science

Many of us have had experience in one way or another with friends or family members developing cognitive difficulty, but for most it didn’t happen all at once with an accident. We are given time to slowly adapt to the new course life has taken. Alan, Cathy, Kelly, friends, and family woke up one day and everything was different from that day

|  Episodic memory is recollection of specific events;  Semantic memory is the recollection of general knowledge and facts.

When a traumatic brain injury happens to the frontal “zone”, it is striking the brain’s largest lobe. The frontal lobe is anterior to the left and right cerebral hemispheres, this lobe is in charge for conscious thinking, voluntary responses, and personality traits. When someone is trying to find the right word or phrase to say, it is this part of the brain he or she may rely on. Destruction to this crucial lobe can create destruction to a person’s brilliance, attention span, and organizational efficiency, as well as the failure of

A 30-year-old man named John has no memory capacity due to hippocampal damage from birth. He still cannot remember most of his past. His family tries to help him by going through old photos and watching home videos. John has to write everything down. Routines help keep him organized and learning is something he has to concentrate on more. He travels by train because of his bad memory. He has traveled by train hundreds of times but has to continue to write down directions. John gets on a train heading to see neuroscientist, Dr. Faraneh Vargha-Khadem of University College London. She discusses her work with him. The hippocampus is crucial to memory. Compared to a normal person’s, John’s hippocampus are half the size and are not automatically registering. Dr. Vargha-Khadem asks him to draw a picture she shows him. He does pretty good. One hour later, she asked him to draw the same design from memory. He could not do it. His ability was completely compromised, she said. John’s memory is stuck in the present and he will not be mentally able to time travel to the past or future.

For example, an mTBI or TBI can generate impairments in a person’s short-term memory retention if the impact of the injury is considerable enough to cause the hippocampus and the adjacent anterior temporal lobe to become tremendously sensitive or vulnerable, despite recovering from the initial stages of injury. As Barzman, Kennedy, & Fozdar (2002) further explain, “when the hippocampus is damaged, the transformation of memories from long-term to active is impaired. Consequently, retrieval of learned information is more difficult for the TBI patient” (p. 51). In addition, other research submits that injuries to the non-dominant hemisphere of a person’s brain may also cause the individual to develop the wrong impression while interpreting both verbal and nonverbal communication of others (e.g., body language, facial expressions, the tone of voice, etc.). Accordingly, those with TBI may have trouble in maintaining social connections or may respond to some situations inappropriately as a response. Other potential complications of TBI with some of the communicative functionalities of the brain also consists of lowering or diminishing scores on both intelligence and memory tests and assessments, constriction of operational vocabulary or difficulty in common retrieval

Although examining processes presents difficulties, studying patients who have sustained brain damage can provide insights into parts that play a role in cognitive processes. Findings from case studies are extrapolated to the general population to provide an insight into normal cognition. An early example and often-cited case study is Phineas Gage who suffered damage to his frontal lobe because of an accident in 1848; prior to the accident, he was friendly and dependable, however after the accident, he became unreliable and his social skills suffered, this suggests the frontal lobe is involved in planning and social skills. Damasio (1994, (cited in Jansari, 2010)) recreated damage sustained by Gage, after a patient exhibited the same changes in behaviour after undergoing surgery to remove a tumour in the frontal lobe. The recreation confirmed the suggestions made at the time of Phineas Gage, thus providing an insight into how a part of the brain the frontal lobe in this case is involved in cognitive functioning.

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).

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.

(1). Therefore, once one sees something else or takes part in a new conversation is it difficult to remember all of the details from the one before. Declarative memory includes remembering facts one has used effort to learn in the past, and things one has tried to remember. The last part of memory, procedural memory, consists of everything one has learned by repetition, such as playing an instrument or sport, driving a car, or walking.

Case 1 tells the story of Henry Molaison (HM), a man with no memory. He lost his memory due to the operation of suctioned out the hippocampus to treat his epileptic seizures. At that time, it was not known yet that the hippocampus was essential for making memories. After operation, his seizures were significantly reduced, but Henry suffered a global amnesia. Owen et al. (2007) describes patients with global amnesia as perceptive and attentive but with a total loss of short-term memory and some trouble accessing memories of the recent past. Henry could not learn new things as he quickly forgot everything that he had learned. He could learn at a subconscious level only.