Forgetting Cannot Be Remembered

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

It annoys us all when we cannot remember information at the right moment. We forget relatives' birthdays, phone numbers and important appointments. Someone is constantly looking for glasses or car keys, and someone is unable to reproduce their own schedule without the help of a diary. Our brains are overloaded and we tend to donate our memory to various devices. But it's scary to imagine what would happen if we forget our laptop or mobile phone at home. What do we remember, why do we forget how our memory works at all?

Of course, memory plays a key role in human existence. Without it, we would not be able to learn anything, would not be able to use the accumulated experience and would be deprived of the opportunity to function normally in society.

Like almost everything in our life, the main organ of the human central nervous system - the brain - is responsible for memory. Movement, speech, the ability to perceive, evaluate and process information, as well as emotions and memory depend on his activities.

In short, the brain consists of many neurons - these are cells that are connected to each other and communicate through electrical impulses. The brain is plastic. It can and should be developed. Each new skill, new route, new foreign language are new neural connections that form a neural network. It is in it that all messages sent to the brain by various senses are stored, including memories. By themselves, memories are "a pattern of neural connections distributed across different neural circuits and parts of the brain" (if you are interested, you can read more about this in the book "Memory Doesn't Change" by Angel Navarro).

Memory is not only a type of brain activity, but also a mental function. Various parts of the brain are responsible for its execution. After all, any information during processing can be considered from different angles. For example, what you call your young man is for your brain a collection of images, smells, tactile sensations, and evoked emotions. Its appearance will be stored in the visual cortex of the brain, touch and sensation will be located in the premotor and sensory areas, and the smell will be located in the frontal lobes. These different "storage areas" are called "recognition sites". When you meet your boyfriend, these areas “join forces,” allowing you to recognize him by his voice, gait, hugs, and so on.

What we call memory, in fact, is the processes of perception of information, its encoding, storage and decoding - the ability to reproduce (pull it out of the depths of the neural network) and recognize at the right moment this or that fact or memory.

For the very process of memorization (encoding) and storage, the so-called "limbic system" is responsible - it includes the hippocampus and the amygdala. The frontal lobes store and recall memories, the occipital lobes store visual memory, the parietal lobes are responsible for performing simple tasks, the large brain contains the memory of habits and motor skills, the amygdala is responsible for emotions (for example, fear), and the temporal lobes store the most important long-term memories.

Brain data is constantly being updated. For example, Stanford neurophysiologist Joseph Parvizi has identified a special area (on the fusiform gyrus), thanks to which we are able to recognize faces.

Please do not confuse memory and recollection. It seems self-evident, but you'd be surprised how often people misuse these concepts. Memory is an ability. Memories are stored information.

We all remember a huge amount of information every day: words, numbers, faces, events. However, someone is able to memorize a poem the first time, and someone takes weeks to learn the names of colleagues at a new job. We tend to divide memory into good and bad, although in reality memory can be trained and not trained. Memory is not a constant value and is not an innate ability of a person. It can get worse - for example, through injury or old age - and get better - through training and special techniques.

There are several types of memory:

Sensory memory is responsible for the primary registration of information by the senses. For example, for a few seconds, we determine whether it is cold or hot outside today. If the information is not interesting to us, it is erased. If it is important, then the received signal is transmitted to the next "department" for processing.

Short-term memory stores information exactly the amount of time it takes to analyze it. This kind of memory is used when you write down the phone number of a new gentleman. This information is stored for 2-3 minutes - until new information replaces it. In order to retain important information in short-term memory, we have to make some effort.

Working memory was discovered relatively recently. This is where information comes from short-term memory. Here are the concepts that we use in everyday life. This memory allows us to apply practical skills - check the correctness of a check in a store, conduct a conversation, analyze new data using existing data.

Only the information that we really need reaches the long-term memory. This type of memory is considered permanent, and its volume is unlimited. This includes information about ourselves and our family members, about the world around us, about the acquired knowledge and skills. Non-volatile memory is also divided into several types depending on the function that the stored information performs.

Long-term declarative (explicit memory) allows us to assimilate and operate with concepts such as names, dates and scientific facts. That is, what can be expressed in words. This type of memory is also divided into episodic - the actual memory of the concrete events and emotions we experienced, and semantic - abstract information (for example, the names of countries, the names of artists and writers).

Long-term implicit memory is responsible for automatic motor skills (for example, tying shoelaces, cutting nails, skating). This includes reflex skills from the “hands remember” series, and they are almost impossible to lose. The bulk of the information entering the long-term memory is initially memorized explicitly, but over time it is transferred to the "department" of implicit memory "- that is, it turns into an automatic skill.

So, with memorization, everything is more or less clear. But why do we forget?

Believe it or not, the most common reason for “forgetting” is that we DON'T REMEMBER in the first place. We THINK we remembered, but in fact we turned a deaf ear. We did not make an effort in time to translate information from the field of short-term memory, and the brain erased it.

The second reason for "forgetting" can be called the desire of the brain for cleanliness and order. Yes, he tends to remove information that we do not use. Remember the main rule of the wardrobe? If you don't wear it for a year, throw it away. The brain works in the same way. Time, however, gives us more, but if the information is not updated, fixed and not repeated, the brain decides that we no longer need it and makes room for new information. What is there about the laws of thermodynamics learned at school and the formula of hydrochloric acid?

Along with the memory, the pattern of neural connections that contains it also disappears. But sometimes it happens that the pattern still exists (that is, there is a memory), but it is impossible to “get it”. From the series “I know for sure, but I forgot”. In this case, you can get to the necessary information through triggers or associative links. Just a little hint is enough. We may not remember our classmate until someone tells a funny story about him or says his nickname aloud. One word - and an avalanche of memories that you did not even know about will fall on you. By the way, most memorization techniques are based on the principle of working with associations. Remember the "horse surname" Ovsov?

The third reason for forgetting is interference in the form of other similar information. It happens to me with half-learned foreign languages. As soon as I start speaking in Spanish, I immediately remember French words. And vice versa. That is, our memory stores all this information, but reacts inadequately to an attempt to "get" it from the storage, helpfully offering similar versions in return.

This process is called interference - the rivalry of similar memories from the same cluster. It is on this principle that the feeling "spins on the tongue" is based. Intervention is retroactive (directed to the past), when new knowledge prevents us from remembering old ones. And proactive - when already learned facts leave no room for new ones.

Finally, there are situations when we consciously (or unconsciously) try to forget unpleasant episodes. We displace from memory those moments that cause us pain, suffering, or shame. Sometimes we replace them with alternative memories - by modifying the situation itself or its interpretation - and happily "forget" about it. It is on this principle that false memories are based. So memory is unreliable and can play a cruel joke on us. But we'll talk about this next time.

In general, forgetting is a normal psychological process. The brain gets rid of unnecessary junk, which is good. Just imagine how overwhelmed you would be with images and emotions if you didn't forget anything at all. For example, every time you buy bread, you would recall in memory all the previous loaves and rolls you bought in your entire life. Now replace the bread with a sexual partner. Well this is some kind of hell! The psyche of a normal person is designed to be as efficient as possible. Memory works in the same way. Forget to health!