subject: The Human Memory, How It Works [print this page] Memory is the ability to recall events, information, smells, sounds along with a host of other things. Are brains have a complex process that uses several different parts of the brain in memory recall. Memory is classified into two different categories, short term memory and long term memory. In short term memory your mind stores information for only a short period, this can be a couple minutes or only a few seconds. An example of short term memory is a phone number, then forgetting it as soon as the number is dialed. This type of memory is meant to hold information for only a short time. Long term memory is information that you may or may not try to retain on purpose. Some examples of this could be your house number, language, laundry instructions and so on. Traumatic events and emotional situations tend to be imprinted on our long term memory. These can be positive or negative and could include the first time you rode a bike, a car accident or the taste of your favorite fruit. Just like muscles a good memory needs exercise, proper nutrition along with vitamins and minerals.
There are certain parts of the brain that play a larger roll in memory recall then other parts. The hippo campus, which is considered a primitive part of the brain, plays the largest roll in processing information for memory. Next is the amygdala which processes emotions and stores these types of events. The cerebral cortex which is the outer layer of the brain stores long term memory. It will store different types of memory in different parts of the cerebral cortex. On top of all this the brain requires communication between a network of millions of neurons.
There are three steps the brain takes when imprinting and recalling a memory. These steps are acquisition, consolidation and retrieval. Information will come into the brain through the neuron pathways to the correct part of the brain. If you are paying attention the information will be imprinted. Paying attention or concentrating on the information is important for the recall of that memory. A key factor in being able to recall and remember things is how similar they are to what you already know. As an example it is much easier for an English speaker to learn Dutch then it would be to learn Korean. The same is true for a person who speaks Mandarin, it would be easier to learn Korean then it would be to learn Dutch. When the brain is retrieving a memory it will follow the the same path as when it was stored. This is why repetition is helpful for storing information, recalling the information works in the same way, the more you recall it the easier it is to remember.
When you get older your brain losses some of it's ability to store and recall memory. As we age the brain tends to lose neurons. An older person can also have decreased flow of blood to the brain, this effects how well the brain functions. An older person will also absorb and use vitamins and minerals less effectively then a younger person. The good news is if you stay health and fit, the decrease in memory will only be a slight slowing of the memory functions.
