Tabla de contenidos para Understanding Memory en Understanding Memory

Our libraries of treasured memories are perhaps the most crucial part of being human. Memories define our lives: the early recollections that shape our childhood, the key information we call upon countless times to function in our day-to-day lives, and the past experiences we can draw upon to plan our futures. And yet, how much do you actually know about how we make them? In this bookazine, we will delve into the inner workings of the brain and explore the science behind our ability to recall information. We will look at the biology of memory, analysing how it changes as we develop from early life into the inevitable cognitive decline of old age. We will analyse trauma and how it affects our ability to recall events, we will explore the…

Have you ever entered a room only to forget what you went in there to do? Scientists think that the brain interprets entering a doorway as a new place and a new scene, causing you to temporarily erase your train of thought – the short-term memory of why you went there in the first place. This is just one of the brain’s many memory quirks and tactics. And while forgetting can be frustrating, the human body can only function with a balance of erased and consolidated memories. Your memory shapes who you are, connects chronological events, provides meaning to your surroundings and allows you to form relationships. Your memory also serves as a survival tool, keeping you alive. By learning what’s dangerous and remembering simple information such as where you…

Brains collect, catalogue and file data constantly, and our experiences affect everything we do. It takes seven different types of memory to complete even the simplest tasks. Imagine that your phone starts to buzz as you’re reading this article. Before the sound reaches your conscious attention, you have to filter it from every other sensory signal you’re receiving. That takes time, so your sensory memory records a short audio tape to give you time to process it. You check the sound against your long‑term memory, accessing a subsystem called declarative memory to find out what it means. You then decide that it’s important enough to focus on. So, you pick up your phone and unlock the screen. This uses procedural (muscle) memory – you’ve practised this action so much that…

Humans are highly social animals, relying on others for comfort, safety and happiness. We live in large groups and often have additional connections outside of our close circles, and we’re able to do this in part because we possess the ability to remember and identify faces. Faces of those who are important to us are stored in our brains, ready for the next time we encounter them. Even after years apart, old friends can recognise each other across the street, while the face of a stranger walking past fades from the memory almost instantly. A part of the brain called the fusiform gyrus is often closely associated with face and body recognition. It forms part of the ventral temporal cortex, which is a series of structures involved in the processing…

Whether it’s the day your sister was born, the day you took a toy from your brother or the first time you fell off your bike, it’s likely that you were probably around the age of three or four when you had your first memory, as most of us don’t tend to recall memories before this age. Some adults, however, may recall memories from the age of two, while others may not remember anything until the age of seven or eight. Even the memories we have between the ages of three and seven are patchy; of the events we experience during childhood, we’ll only remember a few – and even less as we age. This phenomenon, known as ‘infantile amnesia’, was coined by the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, and…

Your genes make you who you are. They’re inherited from your parents, and theirs from their parents before them, going all the way back to the time humans first emerged. Along the way, they’ve picked up traits that help us survive as a species, diversifying for humans living in different parts of the world with distinct needs and evolving along with the environments around us. Much of this is encoded as natural instinct. When a baby is born, it doesn’t need to be taught how to breathe or cry when it needs attention – this is hard-wired into our DNA. We know that when we’re tired we need to sleep and when we’re hungry we need to eat. The same goes for animals. Within two hours of being born, a…

Step 2 They were then asked if any of the words in the list began with the letter ‘S’. Each person correctly said no. Step 1 Participants were given a list of words to remember including ‘bed’, ‘pillow’, ‘dream’ and ‘doze’; all words that are connected, in this case, to the word ‘sleep’. Step 3 Later on, the volunteers were asked if the word ‘sleep’ was included in the previous list of words. This prompted a feeling of déjà vu. Step 4 Those experiencing the phenomena were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify the active parts of their brain. Step 5 Scans revealed that the memory centre of the brain, the hippocampus, was unexpectedly not active, but the frontal areas that handle decision‑making were active instead.…

Ericksonian Named after American psychologist Milton H Erickson, this type of hypnotherapy deploys indirect suggestions and storytelling to change behaviour. It is a method that is viewed as pioneering in the world of hypnosis and one that is widely adopted. Suggestion Often used to alter habits, reduce stress and treat anxiety, this method involves a hypnotherapist making suggestions while their patient is in a hypnotic state, when the subconscious is thought to be more open to guidance and new ideas. Cognitive Blending a number of hypnotherapies in order to provide a subject with a customised plan aligned with their needs and goals, cognitive hypnotherapy is used to ‘update’ the subconscious and bring it into line with the subject’s conscious state. This type of therapy is particularly effective for curing phobias.…

You may recall a memory whereby, as a child, you found yourself in a shopping centre or mall alone, having lost a parent among the hustle and bustle of busy shoppers. But what if that memory was a complete fabrication? Furthering her already extensive research on the topic of false memories, professor Elizabeth Loftus and her student Jacqueline Pickrell devised an experiment to assess whether or not their study participants could recall a memory of such an event that never occurred. Having consulted with their participants’ families, the pair presented test subjects with four short narratives describing events from their childhood, or so it seemed. Unbeknownst to the subjects, one of the stories was false and described an event whereby the subject was lost in a mall as a child,…

Although there is not much good to be found in dementia, its increasing prevalence is a consequence of something undeniably good: we are all living longer. While there are many risk factors associated with dementia, by far the most important is age. Since people are living longer, it stands to reason that more of us run the risk of developing dementia. In 1850, the average life expectancy for a European was 36.3 years, while in 2023, it was 81.5 years. There is only a one-in-athousand risk of anyone under 60 developing dementia. Before the astonishing increase in life expectancy that we have seen over the last 150 years, there would have been few cases of dementia as not many people lived long enough to develop it. But now, with an…

For a long time, it was believed that humans were the only beings capable of exhibiting ‘advanced’ cognitive processes like deduction and remembering information. However, in the short time that scientists have been studying the memories of other species, there have been a lot of surprises. Animals ranging from apes to insects have demonstrated unexpected abilities and applications. A study of 25 species (including dogs, bees, rats and dolphins) found the average short-term memory of an animal lasts 27 seconds. Dogs lose all recollection of an event two minutes after it happens, while chimps can only hold on to memories for about 20 seconds. Short-term memory appears to be one area where humans are strong, but when it comes to the long-term, the playing field is a little more even. While…

Where would we be without memory? Without the ability to remember significant events in our lives we would lose sense of who we are, and being unable to store information as we learn would leave us with the permanent intelligence of a newborn. Your memory is made up of information that’s been stored in the brain and can be retrieved. It enables us to learn from experiences, build trust and understanding, develop skills through training and effortlessly compose a thought. Memory doesn’t merely let us memorise a shopping list – it allows us to have a meaningful life. The impressive structure of the brain is so complex that scientists are constantly working to gain a better understanding of its true capabilities. Most animals have working memories, but these differ greatly…

“Your memory also serves as a survival tool, keeping you alive” 1 Decision paralysis The prefrontal cortex would be so overloaded with useless information that you would suffer from decision paralysis. This is the inability to prioritise an action to perform as there is too much data to filter through and process. As a result, the brain would lack focus, struggle to problem-solve and use more energy processing every trivial memory. 2 Crippling emotions The amygdala inside the temporal lobe processes your emotions and links them with memories. Usually, the brain forgets highly emotional and distressing memories or relives them through a more manageable reconstruction. Without this ability, the brain would constantly replay traumatic memories, causing high stress and anxiety. 3 Habit crossover A group of structures at the centre of…

Alzheimer’s disease This illness is the common cause of dementia. Memory loss worsens over time and is caused by a buildup of two proteins – amyloid and tau. Amyloids are abnormal proteins that build up along brain cells; tau causes tangles inside brain cells. This combination prevents the usual formation and retention of memories. Frontotemporal Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) occurs in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. When nerve cells here become damaged, connections can’t be made between these lobes and the rest of the brain. Damage to the frontal lobe causes behaviour and personality changes, while temporal lobe damage makes language more difficult to remember. Lewy body This form of dementia is a result of clumps of proteins called Lewy bodies forming inside brain cells. One in ten…

“The theory of human learning is founded on the idea one brain cell can’t learn on its own” The brain is a collection of an estimated 86 billion neurons, connected via a communications network more complex than the internet. Neurons pass messages like telephone wires, shooting electrical impulses at speeds of up to 180 miles per hour. They exchange signals using packets of chemicals called neurotransmitters, which can either tell the next neuron to pass the message along or to stay quiet. The connections between neurons are the basis of memory, and making them is how we learn. The theory of human learning is founded on the idea that one brain cell can’t learn on its own – it’s the connections between brain cells that make learning possible. In the…

We all forget things from time to time – where we’ve put the keys, someone’s name or why we went upstairs. If you’re in your 20s, you’re probably not too concerned, but for people in their 60s and beyond, these lapses in memory can be more alarming and frustrating. We fear that they may be the start of a more serious brain disease like dementia. As we get older, most of us will get more forgetful – roughly 40 per cent of over-65s experience some age-related memory loss – but this reflects normal changes in the function of the ageing brain. As our brains start to shrink, some parts of the brain, like the hippocampus, a structure deep within the brain that processes our memories, and the prefrontal cortex, which…

Your brain reaches its full size by early adolescence and fully matures by around the age of 25. But did you know that your brain will continue to change forever, moulding itself around your physical condition, emotional experiences and daily activities? The constant adaptation to good and bad events, and the trillions of signals firing in your brain every day, is called neuroplasticity. Thanks to studies into the brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners to study neural activity, scientists now know that the brain’s function isn’t fixed. Every thought, sensation and emotion felt is the work of the brain’s 86 billion neurons. These neurons pass signals between each other to spread information to core processing regions of the brain. These signals can travel at 300 miles per hour, releasing…

1 Consciousness When you wake up in the morning, you might perceive that the Sun is just rising, hear a few birds chirping, and maybe even feel a flash of happiness as the fresh morning air hits your face. In other words, you are conscious. This complex topic has plagued the scientific community since antiquity. Only recently have neuroscientists considered consciousness a realisticresearch topic. The significant brainteaser in this field has been to explain how processes in the brain give rise to subjective experiences. So far, scientists have managed to develop a great list of questions. 2 Deep Freeze Living forever may not be a reality, pioneering field called cryonics some people two lives. Cryonics but a could give centres like the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona store deceased…

In 1996, Shareef Cousin was convicted of murdering a man during a botched street mugging in New Orleans and sentenced to death. He was exonerated in 1999. Kirk Bloodsworth was convicted of the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in Baltimore County, Maryland, in 1985 and sentenced to death. He was exonerated in 1993. Anthony Porter was convicted of a double murder in a Chicago park in 1983. He was only two days from his execution date when a videotaped confession of the real killer led to his exoneration in 1999. What’s the link between these three cases? What made these convictions for such grave offences so shaky? Well, the key witnesses for the prosecution, all of whom positively identified the defendants, made eyewitness testimony that was subsequently proved…

False memories may be unavoidably obtained as a side-effect of the influences and inferences of daily life. However, two MIT scientists, Steve Ramirez and Xu Liu, achieved a work of science fiction back in 2012 when they intentionally implanted a false memory into the brain of a mouse. The experiment revolved around provoking a fear memory recall for the mouse at the switch of a laser. Initially placing the mouse in a box, the base of the box delivered a mild foot shock, triggering a fear memory. At the point of memory formation, the pair injected the mouse brain with a light-sensitive light switch protein called channelrhodopsin, which binds to the brain cells involved in memory. After placing the mouse into a second unfamiliar box, a laser was fired at…

To the untrained eye, it may look as though plants don’t have any long-term plans, but in fact, the opposite is true. Drooping when they lack water, growing towards sunlight and perking up through rain – all of these common responses to changes in their environment are shared among many species and show that they retain information. The Mimosa pudica, known as the ‘sensitive’ or ‘sleepy’ plant, is one of the first that springs to mind when discussing whether plants have memory. The plant itself, aptly named ‘pudica’ from the Latin meaning ‘shy’, responds to gentle touch and stimulation by instinctively closing its leaves and drooping. The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) responds to touch in a similar way by ensnaring any prey that dices with death around its leaves. The…

Parents often tell their children that looking at smartphones and computers all day will rot their brains, but is this an old wives’ tale, or are our gadgets really hurting our brains? Many of us spend a significant amount of our day with technology, either for work or recreationally to pass the time but, over the past 15 years, the amount of time spent on these devices has grown substantially. Those who grew up without smartphones will recall when they could recite phone numbers from memory, but the same cannot be said today. Is technology to blame? Are parts of our brains that were once active now dormant thanks to our reliance on gadgets? The short answer is no. Technology hasn’t ruined our memory; instead, it could be changing how…

Childhood amnesia The average person can recall their earliest memory from around 3.5 years of age, with females more likely to have an earlier first memory. But why is there a blackout in memories of our first experiences? It’s because the brain hasn’t fully developed yet, and the ability to store long-term memories is reduced. Declining efficiency At around the age of 45, your brain’s memory begins to lose its sharpness. This isn’t a sudden change, but you may find it takes longer to recall a name from the past. One study carried out by University College London found that between ages 45 and 49 your mental reasoning declines by 3.6 per cent, and up to 9.6 per cent at ages 65 to 70. Peak memory Your ability to remember…

Chimpanzees 20 seconds This suggests humans’ short-term memory developed after we evolved from our shared ancestors 25 years Chimpanzees can retain memories of faces for 25 years 27 seconds The average short-term memory of 25 species of birds, mammals and bees Elephants Five minutes Information is quickly dropped to keep their social and environmental memory strong 12 years Elephants can remember a relative’s scent for over a decade Bees Two minutes Bees’ short-term memory helps them navigate maze‑like environments Three days Bees remember the location of a hive for days at a time Humans 48 hours Humans can recall random events for over two days Indefinite Our large brains can store some memories for a lifetime Crows 30 seconds Most bird species forget short-term memories after half a minute has…

Even on those lucky days when you wake up with a memory of the dream still floating in your mind, there’s a good chance that in just a minute, the memory will vanish into thin air. In waking life, such a case of quickly forgetting recent experiences would surely land you in a doctor’s office. With dreams, however, forgetting is normal. Why? “We have a tendency to immediately forget dreams, and it’s likely that people who rarely report dreams are just forgetting them more easily,” said Thomas Andrillon, a neuroscientist at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. It might be hard to believe that you had a dream if you don’t remember anything, but studies consistently show that even people who haven’t recalled a single dream in decades or even their…

5 Facts About your neurons 1 They have three parts The cell body houses genetic code and protein factories. Dendrites receive incoming signals, and the axon passes electrical messages to other cells. 2 There are three types Sensory neurons detect touch, taste, light, sound and smell. Motor neurons send signals to the muscles, and interneurons connect other neurons together. 3 They don’t live forever Like us, nerve cells in the brain and body get old and die. Loss of neurons contributes to diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. 4 They need support Neurons rely on other cells to do their job properly. Astrocytes maintain chemical balance, oligodendrocytes insulate electrical signals and microglia guard against infection. 5 They can regenerate Researchers once thought brain cell regeneration was impossible. Now we know that,…

Have you ever heard a fact you found so impressive it never left your memory? This is because you understood its meaning, and it interested you; the more you thought about it, the more it stuck in your mind. You probably went and told your friends and family, repeating the fact. Every time you did this, you further consolidated it in your long-term memory. This is what active recall is. It is all about actively processing the information and repeating it until it becomes a more accessible part of your memory. The issue with some facts is that we might need to learn them for an upcoming test or to impress at an interview without it being something we are truly passionate about. Sometimes, we may need to enforce these…

When you move from one side of the room to the other, how much do you analyse the action? For most people, the series of muscle movements that allow them to get around on a daily basis is automatic. But when babies are born, their brains haven’t formed the neural connection with their walking muscles in order to stand and balance. Through trial and error, they begin to master walking on two feet. Eventually, when they’ve discovered the movements required for walking, the neural pathways are fully formed. From this point onwards, walking becomes a natural motion that requires little conscious thought. Have you ever learned to ride a bike, play tunes on an instrument or mastered a sport over several years? Now that you have these skills, they’re unlikely…

Around 70 per cent of usexperience it – people aged 15–25 in particular – and it can be one of the most jarring feelings: déjà vu. French for ‘already seen’, it has previously been linked to the theory of false memories: the idea that we can view something once and when exposed to a scene or situation that is similar, the brain will respond by creating a memory that didn’t really happen. However, an experiment led by psychology researcher Akira O’Connor in 2016 revealed that this might not be the case. Rather than false memory, the brain is memory-checking and sending an error message, signalling what we have actually experienced versus what we think we have experienced. Around 70 per cent of us experience… wait a minute……

In its simplest terms, hypnosis is a process by which someone becomes less aware of conscious thought and inhibition and more open to suggestion. Changes in neural activity can alter the subject’s perceptions and emotions, enabling them to focus their thoughts and filter out distractions. One key area involved in such altered states includes the frontal lobe, which accounts for a large portion of the brain’s mass and is responsible for a person’s personality, emotions and long-term memory. Changing frontal lobe function alters a person’s subjective experience of reality as cognitive processes shift and elective actions occur without conscious volition. Other areas of the brain that are involved with altered states include the parietal lobe, which can distort the subject’s perception of space and time; the thalamus, which can induce…

Putting the crime in context The detective asks the witness to recall the events surrounding the crime and the crime itself using all five senses. If the witness cannot clearly recall what they saw, for example, then a clear memory of what they heard might help build the picture. Changing perspective The witness is asked to imagine the scene from someone else’s perspective: another witness standing across the road, the victim, or even the perpetrators of the crime. Turning back time We tend to remember the most recent events more clearly, so the detective asks the witness to try to recount the events of the crime in reverse order. Devil in the detail Finally, the witness dwells on the incidental, seemingly inconsequential details of the crime, such as the type…

We are particularly precious about our memories. As records of life events in a scrapbook locked away in our minds, our memories are the biological biographies of our history and a reference guide on how to function in daily life. From remembering how to cook your family’s pasta recipe, your tenth birthday party or monumental moments such as your wedding day, memories are often thought of as a video recording of time. But what if your recollection of life events isn’t as accurate as you originally thought? Could ‘false memories’ be unwittingly infiltrating your brain, creating details of an event that never happened? By its very definition, a false memory is a fabricated or distorted recollection of an event, often surrounding fact. For example, imagine walking down the street and catching…

Amid the general gloom over treatments for Alzheimer’s, one approach has improved the symptoms of some patients. Dr Dale Bredesen – working on the belief that Alzheimer’s is not a single disease but has at least three different varieties – claims to have identified 36 different factors that contribute to the various forms of Alzheimer’s. For a treatment to work, Dr Bredesen and his associates argue that the patient has to be assessed thoroughly to see which combination of these factors are implicated in causing Alzheimer’s, and then the causative factors have to be removed or ameliorated. According to Dr Bredesen, there are three groups of causative factors: inflammation, which may be caused by a combination of infections, diet and other causes; toxins, including moulds and chemicals; and a decrease…

Memory is possibly humanity’s greatest tool. Without memory, there would be no language, no advanced social structure… no plans at all. Memory is an exponential gift; the more we already know, the easier it often is to deconstruct and make sense of new but similar information. Our memories allow us to connect seemingly disparate parts of information together: an accomplished mathematician will transition into the field of physics with relative ease; a professional athlete will often learn a new sport much faster than an amateur. With such a powerful asset in our arsenal, it’s understandable that so many computer scientists long to grant a similar gift to their software. We understand a great deal about our own biological memory machinery, but our familiarity remains peppered with caveats and missing knowledge.…