M emory and Your Brain
By Dr Jill Ammon-Wexler
Pioneer Brain/Mind Researcher
© 2006 All Rights Reserved

What is Memory?

Most people define memory as their collective lifetime experiences. Memory IS essential to having an individual “identity” – and is subject to constant revising and editing of the remembered past to fit with the requirements of the self we have become.

The human brain is an ever-changing, ever-evolving organ that has the capability to acquire and retain new information when it is well into its eighth or ninth decade.

Our memory allows us to perceive, store, and access the information we need to survive and enjoy life. It is also the heart of the learning process. But until recently we've been mystified by how the brain actually saves and retrieves memories. Now scientists have pinpointed for the first time how the brain actually manages this amazing feat.

The Three Types of Memory
When you learn something or meet someone, your brain immediately makes a decision: Should this information be saved?

If your brain judges the incoming information to be important, it “files” it in your memory. The three basic types of memory are short-term memory, long-term memory, and working memory.

Short term memory is formed the moment we perceive something, and only lasts from seconds to minutes.

Long term memory , on the other hand, lasts from days to years. If you are given a random seven-digit number, you may remember it only for a few seconds and then forget (short-term memory). On the other hand, you can remember telephone numbers for many years (assuming you use them often enough. Those long-lasting memories are stored in your long-term memory.

Working Memory refers to the short-term storage needed for certain mental tasks. It is not a synonym for short-term memory as it is defined not in terms of duration, but rather in terms of purpose.

Working memory is a combination of short-term memory and intentional focus. For instance, if asked to mentally multiply 45 by 4 and then divide the answer by 3, we have to perform a series of simple calculations to arrive at the final answer. The ability to store the information regarding the instructions and intermediate results is what is referred to as working memory.

How your Brain Remembers
Short-term memory is supported by temporary changes in your neurons brain cells), while long-term memories depend on more stable permanent changes in neural networks, and are dependent on the synthesis of proteins.

Initially our memories for everyday life events depend on neural networks in the region of the brain called the hippocampus. The hippocampus helps associate the memories stored in various parts of the cortex. The various visual, olfactory, and auditory areas of the brain are all connected together by the hippocampus to form an "episode" – rather than a collection of separate memories. Your hippocampus can thus “play a scene back,” by reactivating this particular activity pattern in the various regions of the cortex.

But after a while various cortical regions activated during an event can become so strongly linked with one another that they no longer need the hippocampus to act as their link.

"We believe there is active interaction between the hippocampus and cortex, and that the transfer process of memories between these two regions in the brain occurs over several weeks, and likely during sleep," said Dr. Paul Frankland, a professor at the University of Toronto . "And we were able to determine that it is the anterior cingulate cortex is where older lifelong memories are stored and recalled," he added.

When you recall a very old memory, it’s all stored in your cortex: The anterior cingulate sidesteps the hypothalamus and assembles the signals of the memory from different sites in the cortex itself. Interestingly, this is the same portion of the cortex said to hold your concept of your self as an individual!

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