Barbra Streisand put it on the charts.
“Memmmmmorieeees….
Light the corners of my mind.
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were…..”
Oh, how important our memories truly are.
We need them. Because if they go away, a big part of us goes away.
I mean, memory is a critical psychological process. It’s how we lowly human beings know our names.
It does so much for us, like reminding us where we live and who our loved ones are.
Without memory, life would be very different.
The experts have defined memory as information that is stored in the brain and can be retrieved at will. Thanks to it, we can learn new skills and accumulate new experiences.
But there is the thing. Scientists have tried to learn more about human memory for centuries, but the majority of it remains a mystery.
With that said, here are just a few things that we HAVE learned about memory.
1. Some Memories in the Brain May Be Untrue
We think we know. But do we? It seems that over time, the memories in the brain become inaccurate. This happens especially when it comes to childhood experiences. In certain studies, psychologists have been able to alter people’s memories by convincing them that they had done something untrue. “I swear. I did not have that lampshade on my head.”
2. People Easily Remember Memory with Meaning
Our wedding day. The birth of a child. Yep. If an experience or person means more to us, our memories will be easily remembered. This is why it’s hard for some people to forget their first kiss or their first job. And on and on.
But. What did you eat last Tuesday for lunch? Nope. You see, the brain processes a lot of memories throughout the day. To prioritize the critical information it is fed, it associates it with meaning or emotions. Scientists have associated this with the production of dopamine in the brain.
3. Lefties Have a Better Memory Than Righties
I am left-hand stupid. Oh uh. Because. A study done by professors Ruth Propper and Stephen Christman showed that left-handed people have better memory than right-handed people. The reason? Lefties tend to have large corpus callosums. To be clear, that is a thick bundle of nerve fibers that connects the brain’s left and right hemispheres. As a result, lefties can easily recall past experiences. So they say.
4. Memory is Stored in Different Parts of the Brain
Research has shown that different types of memories are stored in varying parts of the brain. For instance, the Sensorimotor Striatum stores habitual memories, the hippocampus stores episodic memories, and the amygdala stores emotional memories. Other parts, such as the temporal lobes, also assist in memory storage. So there it is. I need a map, I think. And a dictionary.
5. The Human Brain Can’t Run Out of Memory
Studies have shown that the human brain has a memory of 2.5 million gigabytes. That’s huge, huge, HUGE. That is the equivalent of 300 years of television.
Interestingly, the human mind can never run out of memory. Unless one is affected by neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, the brain will always accumulate new memories. What scientists are yet to figure out is if humans have an unlimited memory, why do we forget a lot of things every day? Where did I put my keys? Did I turn the lights off downstairs?
What is that guy’s name that starred in that one movie that took place in that one city in the South? Do you know which one I’m talking about? He co-starred with that one actress who used to be really popular. The one with the big teeth. Oh, what was her name?
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“Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.”
– Marcel Proust
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“Time moves in one direction, memory in another.”
– William Gibson
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“When memories fade, it’s not just the past that is lost, but a part of ourselves.”
– Cesare Pavese
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Do you remember? The memory knows.
