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Neuro Science |
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Memory/Learning
What is Learning ? It is a process of aquiring(gaining) something new in you except those aquired by intaking food. Those new things include new understanding, new knowldge,new skills etc. So gaining weight is not learnng since it is mainly associating with intaking too much or too bad foods :).
What is Memory? Memory is a process (or ability) to store new information in somewhere in your body(mostly in brain) and retrieve(recall) it whenever you want/need.
These are a little bit dry definition. Everybody would have their own definition of learning and memory. Even though you may not be able to express it clearly in words, you may have some intuition about Learning/Memory. Whatever intuition you have, it is likely that you would have correct understanding to some degree mainly because we all go through these processes all the time.
NOTE : If you are reading this just as an hobbiest and at entry level, don't try to read all of them, get overwhelemed and lose interest. Just try with Types of Memory, Big Picture ,Milestonic Research and you can go further only if you are more interested.
For most of us who has never studied about memory seriously, we may think memory is just memory (storing and recalling). There wouldn't be much classification. But in academia, there are many different types of learning starting from two or three categories and braching out to many different sub categories as illustrated below. You may easily find this kind of diagram just from googling and you may notice a lot of variations of them. I tried to put as many detailed information as possible in a single diagram. It may be a little confusing and daunting at first glance. You don't need to try to memorize all these diagram. Just use this as a cheatsheet whenever you read some articles or watch lectures and come across any vacabulary about memory types that you don't understand.
This diagram is not just drawn to make it look fancy. Each of the group and branching has its own neurological background. It means to completely understand (not just memorize) this diagram would require a lot of study. So don't warry if you don't understand all of these for now and don't try to understand at once. Just try to get familiar with this classification whenever you read / watch related documents/lectures.
If you are completely new to this area, just start from very simple thing like.. there are three types of memory 'Short Term', 'Long Term' and 'Sensory' memory. If you want even simpler one, just remember 'Short Term' and 'Long Term'.
Short-term memory : This refers to the temporary storage of information that is being actively used, such as a phone number that you are dialing or a grocery list that you are trying to remember. It has a limited capacity and information is held for a short duration of time, usually for about 20-30 seconds. Short-term memory is like your brain's sticky note, it holds information that you're currently using, like a phone number you just looked up or a list of things you need to buy at the store. It's not stored for very long though, usually only for a minute or two
Long-term memory : This is the more permanent storage of information, such as memories of past events or learned knowledge. It has a much larger capacity and can store information for a longer period of time, sometimes for a lifetime Long-term memory is like your brain's file cabinet, it holds information that you need to keep for a while, like memories of your childhood or facts you've learned in school. This type of memory can last a lifetime
Declarative Memory: This is the type of memory that we can 'declare'. The word 'declare' in this context is to 'say' or 'talk about' or 'verbalize'. In order to say something, it should be 'explicit'. It refers to the memory about the facts or events that we learned or experienced. Most of things that learn from school (e.g, scientic facts or historical events etc) belongs to declaritive memory. There are also a few different variations (subtype) in declarative memory as listed below.
Non-Declarative Memory: This is nonconcious memory that cannot(is hard to) be verbally described. It is procedural memory like muscle memory.
NOTE : You said that Non-declarative memory cannot be(hard to be) described verbally. But we can describe (i.e, describe verbally) the procedure of Rding a bike, playing an instrument etc in step by step and in very detail. Why this kind of things (e.g, Riding a bike, Playing an instrument etc) is classified as Non-declaritive memory ? Good Question. I understand you may be puzzled. However, It's important to note that procedural memory is still considered a form of non-declarative memory, because it involves the learning and retention of motor skills and procedures through repeated practice and experience. While you may be able to describe the steps involved in riding a bike or playing an instrument, the ability to actually perform those actions is largely based on procedural memory that is not consciously accessible or expressible. To clarify further, declarative memory involves the ability to consciously recall and describe facts and events, while non-declarative memory involves the ability to perform skills and behaviors without conscious awareness or verbal description. Procedural memory falls into the latter category because it is a form of learning and memory that is expressed through performance, rather than verbal or conscious recall. NOTE : Conditioning vs Priming. At early study phase, the distinction between Conditioning and Priming was not that obvious to me. I think the distinction would get clearer as you see more example cases.
NOTE : For most of the readers including me, Declaritive Memory would be the major interest. I think the reason would be because many people think the declarative memory is something that can add competitive value (e.g, maintaining good memory related to your experties or getting better scores in exams etc) and declarative memory is something we can explain verbally. However I think non-declaritive memory would be more vital to maintain our life itself. Probably becaue of this (probably not), I find much more text or video on internet about declarative memory much more easily comparing to non-declarative memory.
Even though huge amount of researches has been done about the mechanisms of memory, there are a lot of details which are unknown. However we have seen conginous progress on the researches exploring the further and further details of the meachnism. I will try to consolidate a few well known/widely accepted facts about memory mechanism in this section.
The most common explanation about how memory works can be illustrated as follows. You may see a diagram similar to this in almost every lectures and text book about memory mechanism. I remember I first saw this diagram in almost 30 years ago when I first read the books about this topic and I am seeing the same diagram in the text / video posted even now.
Would you try to verbalize this diagram in your own words ? You may add some additional details of your own which are not shown in this diagram when you convert this diagram into your own words. This is my version.
NOTE : Consolidation is a process that stablize a memory for long term storage. It can take days, months, years and the stronger memory is developed over time with the repeated use of the memory.
What is Memory Consolidation ?
I think most of terminologies in above diagram (like Encoding, Storage, Retrieval) may sound familiar, but the term 'Consolidation' may not sound that familiar in this context. I think I'd better explain a little bit further on this terminology. It is important to get a good understanding on this concept because this would be one of the most frequent terms that you may come across when you read documents about memory process.
Consolidation is the process by which short-term memories are transformed into long-term memories. It's the process that allows us to remember something for more than just a few seconds. There are two types of consolidation: synaptic consolidation and systems consolidation. so consolidation is like the bridge that connects short-term memory to long-term memory. It's the process that helps us remember something for more than just a few seconds. There are two types of consolidation: synaptic and systems.
Synaptic consolidation is the process that occurs within minutes to hours after an experience. It's the strengthening of the connections between neurons that store the memory. This happens when the neurons that were active during the experience start communicating with each other more often. Synaptic consolidation happens pretty quickly, within minutes or hours after an experience. It's like when you first learn something new and it sticks in your head for a little while. It's the process that makes the connections between the brain cells stronger that hold the memory
Systems consolidation is the process that occurs over a period of days to weeks after an experience. It's the transfer of memories from the hippocampus, which is the temporary storage area in the brain, to the neocortex, which is the more permanent storage area. This process is thought to be the reason why memories that were once vivid and easily accessible can become less so over time. Systems consolidation takes a little longer, like days or weeks after an experience. It's like when you learn something new and it stays with you for a long time. It's the process of moving the memory from a temporary storage area in the brain to a more permanent one. This is why sometimes you might not remember something as clearly as you did when it first happened.
Both these processes are important in order for the information to be stored and retrieved from long-term memory. Sleep is also important for consolidation, as memories are better consolidated when encoded during wakefulness and consolidated during sleep.
NOTE : Difference between Storage and Consolidation The terms "storage" and "consolidation" are often used interchangeably in the context of memory, but they do refer to slightly different things. Storage is the process of retaining information in the brain for later retrieval. Information can be stored in the brain in many different forms and in many different areas, depending on the type and duration of the memory. Consolidation, on the other hand, is the process of strengthening and stabilizing memories so that they can be stored in the long-term memory. It's the process that allows a memory to be retained over time. Consolidation is a process that occurs after the information has been stored and it is mainly focused on the transfer of memories from short-term to long-term memory and it is also responsible for the integration of memories with already existing knowledge. So, in summary, storage is the initial process of retaining information, while consolidation is the process of strengthening and stabilizing memories so that they can be retained over time.
Location of Memory formation and storage in brain
The diagram shown above is very simple and widely used, but it shows purely sequential process and does not show anything about the brain part (location) that are involved in the process. Convert the simple diagram shown above into another type of diagram mapping onto brain structure, it can be illustrated as below.
NOTE : The part labed as Sensory Cortex is over simplified. Actually this part can be viewed on the cortex of the whole brain, but I just simplified as a single imaginary block to simplify the overall diagram. NOTE : As you know, the part labeled as Hippocampus is supposed to be at the center of the brain, not out side of the brain. But I put it outside of the brain just to make the part visible clearly.
I would suggest you to read (verbalize) this illustration in your own words. Here goes my version.
Step 1 : Various stimulus comes in through sensory organs (e.g, eyes, ears, nose, tungue, skin etc) and those stimuli are first processed by Sensory Cortex.
Step 2 : Those information processed by Sensory Cortex is transferred to Hippocampus (if the information gets a certain level of attention).
Step 3 : At Hippocampus, those information is encoded (converted) into short term memory. And some of the short term memory will be transferred to cortex (Prefrontal Cortex).
Step 4 : Prefrontal Cortex distribute the information to various other cortext area for being stored as permanent memory (long term memory). The final destination would vary depending on the nature of the memory contents.
How is Longterm memory transferred from Hippocampus to Cortex ?
Before talking about how long term memory transfer from Hippocampus to Cortex, are we sure that the memory transfrom the hippocampus to cortex ? There are some researches strongly showing it is the case and following is an example. In this research, a same memory test was performed for a long period of time (90 days) and the brain activity was investigated over the period. As shown in the plot (a) and (b), the activity of Hippocampus decreases over time (b) whereas the activity of a spot in freprotal area (ventral medial prefrontal region) increases over the same period of time. This is interpreted as the memory transfers from Hippocampus to Prefrontal area.
Image Source : Declarative memory consolidation in humans: A prospective functional magnetic resonance imaging study
Even though it is relatively well known that the short term to long term memory conversion happens in Hippocampus and eventually will be stored in cortex area, there still be a lot of mysteries on how exactly this conversion and storage at the final destination happens. I think most of the explanation on this process would be based on hypothesis. One of the hypothesis that caught my attention is as follows.
NOTE : This hyponthsis does not have full scope of memory. It is restricted to a specific type of memory, which declaritive memory obtained from visual input.
Image Source : Modified from Memory Consolidation: Tracking Transfer with Functional Connectivity FFA(Fusiform Face Area) : Cortex area that response to face stimuli PPC (Posterior Parietal Cortex) : Cortex area that is involved in representation of egocentric space
Step [A] : At the first stages of long term memory (memory consolidation), all of the neocrtex are (FFA, PPC, Early Visual Corbext) has connected to Hippocampus, but does not have strong connections among themselves. At this stage, Hippocampus should be involved in every consolidation and retrieval process. Step [B] : During the 24 hours (observed in the paper), the direct connection between cortex area (connection between FFA and PPC/Visual cortex in this case) gets stronger and the connection between Hippocampus and cortex area getting weaker. Step [C] : After 24 hours (the number 24 is just the number checked in the proposed papers, it would vary depending on situation and nature of the memory), the connection between Hippocampus and cortex are gets very week (or disappear) and the connection among every part of cortex area are formed. At this stage, memory consolidation and retrial may not get Hippocampus involved. ==> This may explain about the reason why the person who got damaged in Hippocampus can still recall the memory that are formed long time ago.
Can the memory be modulated / modified during transfer between short term and long term ?
Yes, there are modifications that can occur during the transfer of memories from the hippocampus to the cortex. This process is not just a simple transfer of information, but it's also an opportunity for the memory to be reshaped. In other words, When a memory moves from the hippocampus to the cortex, it can change a bit. This process is not like moving a box from one place to another. Instead, it's more like retelling a story. Strengthening and weakening of connections between neurons(Making connections stronger or weaker): The original memory in the hippocampus is formed by a specific pattern of connections between neurons. As this memory is replayed and transferred to the cortex, these connections can be strengthened (if they're part of the memory) or weakened (if they're not part of the memory). For example, Imagine your memory as a web. Each point in the web is something you remember, and each line that connects the points is how those memories relate to each other. When you remember something, the lines in your memory-web can become stronger or weaker. The lines get stronger for the important things and weaker for the less important things. Memories can be integrated with other related memories (Adding new information to old memories): If you learn a new fact about a topic you're already familiar with, the new information can be integrated with the existing memory of that topic in the cortex. This can result in the new memory becoming part of a larger "network" of related memories. In other words, sometimes, new memories can join with old ones. For example, if you already know a lot about dogs and then you learn something new about dogs, your brain might add this new information to your old dog memories. Memory Modification(Changing details): It's also possible for memories to be modified in ways that aren't entirely accurate. For instance, the process of remembering can itself change the memory, a phenomenon known as reconsolidation. When a memory is recalled, it becomes temporarily malleable and can be updated before being stored again. This is one reason why people's memories of events can change over time or be influenced by suggestion. In short, sometimes, the act of remembering can change the memory itself. This is why two people might remember the same event differently. Emotional Intensity Changes(Changing emotions): The emotional intensity of a memory can change during consolidation. Emotionally charged memories (especially fearful or traumatic ones) are often remembered more vividly and can be subject to modifications during the transfer and reconsolidation processes. For example, a scary memory might become less scary over time.
A Biomarker for Episodic Memory and Planning
There is a specific indicator that indirectly shows activiity of mammalian hippocampus, which is called Sharp Wave and Riiples (SWR). As the name implies, SWR is made up of two part : Sharp part and Ripple part. Sharp waves are large, synchronized bursts of electrical activity that typically occur at a frequency of around 100-200 Hz. Ripples, on the other hand, are smaller, more synchronized bursts of activity that occur at a higher frequency of around 200-500 Hz
SWR is A specific type of brain wave (a sharp wave followed by ripples) observed when Hippocampus is performing a specific task
Image Source : Hippocampal Sharp Wave-Ripple: A Cognitive Biomarker for Episodic Memory and Planning
SWR primarily occur during sleep and are believed to play a role in the consolidation of new memories. The hippocampus replays the memories during the SWR, this replay process is thought to strengthen the memory and to facilitate the transfer of the memories from the hippocampus to the neocortex for long-term storage.
SWR also occurs during wakefulness, but is more frequent and of higher amplitude during sleep. The exact mechanisms behind SWR are still not fully understood, but research suggests that it is important for the formation and consolidation of memories and other cognitive processes.
SWR occur primarily during non-REM (NREM) stage 2 sleep. They are brief, high-frequency oscillations that occur in the hippocampus, a region of the brain important for memory formation.
During NREM stage 2, the brain is in a state of relative quietness with moderate activity, this state is known as sleep spindles, and it's also during this stage that SWR occur. SWR events are often accompanied by sleep spindles, which are bursts of activity in the 12-15 Hz range, and K-complexes, which are high amplitude, short duration waves.
NOTE : Refer to the note on Sleep cycle, if you want to get further details on Sleep cycle.
How memory/learning is hardwired in Brain ?
When learning happens, what exactly happens in the brain ? Roughly speaking, two stages of changes occurs
In short term : Major changes in Brain cells at the early stages of learning, most of the changes happens with the chemical properties of synapse in such a way that the synaptic connection gets stronger. How the synaptic connection gets stronger ? Typical mechanism goes as follows. NOTE : In most case, these process is triggered by a certain type of protein (enzyme). So if we block the protein synthensis, these process is blocked or greatly reduced.
In Long term : If the stimulus that caused the short term changes repeats (continues) for longer period, more fundamental (long lasting) changes happens in brain cell. Typical changes are new growth of exon terminal and those newly generated axon terminal forms more number of synaptic connection with neighbouring cell (neuron). NOTE : This kind of structural (anatomical change) is triggered by the expression of a certain gene that eventually lead to the generation of new axon terminal. This kind of changes in neurons in nerve system is called Neuroplaciticity. That is, you can say the learning (or memory) is engraved in the brain by the mechanism called Neuroplacticity. Not all neuroplaciticity is related to learning, but all of the learning process is associated with a certain type of neuroplacticity.
NOTE : The concept and mechanism of neuroplaciticity is a huge topic. So I wrote a separate page for neuroplaciticity. If you are interested (motivated enough) for the cellular and molecular mechanism of memory/learning, I would suggest you to go through the note Neuroplaciticity.
Does every memory requires a lot of repetition ?
It would be considered as common sense (or general tendency) that we would memorize better if we make a lot of repetition. It may be everybody's wish (at least, almost everybody's wish) to memorize anything without any repetition.
Is it true that every memory requires a lot of repetition ? The simple answer is 'Not necessarily'. Repetition can be an effective way to enhance memory retention for some types of information, but a certain type of memory would require much less repetition or just single exposure/experience in some cases.
Followings are some of the memory types that can be obtained with minimum repetition (or no repetition).
NOTE : it would be general tendanct that episodic memory can be acquired and retained with relatively few repetitions, especially when the events being remembered are personally meaningful or emotionally significant. This is because episodic memory is closely tied to personal experiences and is often supported by strong emotional reactions that can help to consolidate the memory. Flashbulb memory and Traumatic memory would also belong to a category of episodic memory.
Learning about Places and Spatial Navigation
Learning about places and Spatial Navigation involves several different types of special cells called Place cell, Head Direction cell, Grid cells which are located in Hipocampus and right outside region of the hipocampus. Before you read this section, I would suggest you to get familiar with the general functionalities of those special cells and basic anatomy of Hipocampus.
The major players (type of cells) involved in Place reconginition and Navigation is illustrated below.
Image Source : Grid Cells (Episode 14) @1:56
Overall concept of interplay among those special cells to learn things about place and direction can be summarized as below.
Special Neurons related to space and direction and cognitive map based on the information flow among them is summarized in illustration as shown below.
Image Source : How Your Brain Organizes Information @ 21:01
Brain’s Positioning System Linked to Memory states :
Image Source : Brain’s Positioning System Linked to Memory
The details on what kind of cells and brain regions are involved and how they interplay each other is well summarized in the following diagram.
Image Source : The representation of space in the brain
Place Cell, Grid Cells involving in Non-Spatial Cognitive Process
As explained in previous section, place cells and grid cells were initially discovered in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, respectively, for their roles in spatial navigation, researchers have explored their involvement in non-spatial cognitive tasks. However some of the recent studies have explored their involvement in non-spatial cognitive tasks. Followings are brief summary of Place cells and Grid cells involving in non-spatial cognitive tasks. I don't think this is firmly established theory as of now (Apr 2023), but it is intriguing (at least to me) and worth further study.
Place Cell
Grid Cell
As mentioned many times above, the key player of memory formation in the brain is Hippocampus. It can never be overemphsized to understand about the details of Hippocampus as much as possible. The more you know about anatomy and functionality of hippocampus, the better you would understand the process of memory formation and recall. In this section, I would talk about a little bit of details of Hippocampus, but not too details as in academic paper. What I am trying to do is just to give you some keywords and procedure to help you to read documents (e.g, textbook or academic paper).
The first things that I want to suggest you to get familiar with is the basic anatomy of Hippocampus as illustrated below. First you should be able to image the shape and location of Hippocampus in your brain without looking into any reference (e.g, textbook). Then you should be able to identify the location of hippocampus from various cross section images of the brain. And then you should be able to draw (or imagine) cross section of the hippocampus and identify major part of the substructure of the hippocampus. In short, It would be good enough (at least as an hobbiest) if you can imagine the illustration shown below without looking at this note when you read other document or watching a lecture.
NOTE : as I always says, don't try to memorize it... just read this note or textbook or watch lectures as many as possible and check if you can visualize in your mind without openning the textbook. If you don't get the image in your mind, then look into this note or other textbook.
DG : Dentate Gyrus Sub : Subiculum Pre : Presuiculum Para : Parahippocampal gyrus MEC: medial entorhinal cortex LEC: lateral entorhinal cortex Hippocampus Proper = CA1 + CA2 + CA3 Entorinal Cortex = MEC + LEC
Following is the overal circuitary connecting various part of substructure of Hippocampus and cortex of the brain. I know it look confusing. Don't try to memorize it. Just to try to follow one or two specific circuits when you have chance (e.g, reading other textbook or sitting in a lecture).
Image Source : Space in the brain: how the hippocampal formation supports spatial cognition
Image Source : Marr’s theory of the hippocampus as a simple memory
Followings are the summary of functionalities of each subregions in Hippocampus : (Mostly based on Exploring the Function of the Hippocampus by Anatomy )
Dentate Gyrus : Dendate Gyrus plays various functionas as below
CA1 : CA1 is the first region of Hippocampus in terms of anatomy and plays various functions as follows.
CA2 : CA2 is located between CA1 and CA3 anatomically and plays various functions as follows.
CA3 : CA3 is located farthest away from CA1 and sitting right next to DG(Dentate Gyrus).
Subiculum : Subiculum is between CA1 and Parahipocampal gyrus and plays roles as follow.
Entorhinal Cortex : Entorhinal Cortex (MEC + LEC) located in the medial temporal lobe and is next to the hippocampus
Looking in a little bit of broader scope regarding the overall neural path for memory encoding and decoding. It is nicely summarized in illustrated as below.
During memory encoding, visual and other sensory information are processed by the dorsal and ventral streams, integrated in the PHC and PRC, and sent to the EC. The EC then transmits the information through the hippocampal trisynaptic circuit (DG, CA3, and CA1), where it is further processed and consolidated. The subiculum sends the processed information back to the EC and other cortical areas for long-term storage.
During memory retrieval or decoding, the EC retrieves stored information and sends it back to the hippocampus. The hippocampus reconstructs the memory representation through pattern completion, and the subiculum sends the retrieved information to cortical areas for conscious awareness and further processing.
Image Source : The extended trajectory of hippocampal development: Implications for early memory development and disorder
Dorsal and Ventral Streams: Visual information enters the brain through the retina and is processed in the primary visual cortex (V1). From there, it is sent to two parallel pathways: the dorsal stream, responsible for spatial processing and motion (the "where" pathway), and the ventral stream, responsible for object recognition and form (the "what" pathway). Both streams contribute to memory formation by processing and transmitting different aspects of visual information.
Parahippocampal Cortex (PHC): The PHC receives input from the dorsal and ventral streams and plays a crucial role in processing contextual and spatial information. It is involved in encoding and retrieving contextual associations in memory.
Perirhinal Cortex (PRC): The PRC receives input primarily from the ventral stream and is involved in object recognition and associative memory. It contributes to the encoding and retrieval of object-related information and helps integrate this information with other sensory modalities.
Entorhinal Cortex (EC): The EC receives information from the PHC, PRC, and other cortical areas. It plays a critical role in connecting the neocortex to the hippocampus and serves as a gateway for information flow. The EC contains grid cells, which help form spatial representations and are essential for spatial memory.
Dentate Gyrus (DG): The DG receives input from the EC and is the first stage of the hippocampal trisynaptic circuit. It plays a role in pattern separation, which helps create distinct memory representations and reduces interference between similar memories.
CA3: The DG sends information to the CA3 region, which is involved in associative memory processes and pattern completion. CA3 has extensive recurrent connections that enable the retrieval of complete memory representations even with partial input.
CA1: Information from CA3 is sent to the CA1 region, which is essential for the encoding and retrieval of episodic memories. CA1 integrates information from CA3 and direct input from the EC, sending the processed information back to the EC and other cortical areas.
Subiculum: The subiculum receives input from CA1 and serves as the main output structure of the hippocampus, sending information back to the EC, PHC, PRC, and other cortical areas. The subiculum is involved in spatial memory and processing spatial context.
CA2 : The CA2 region, located between CA1 and CA3, has unique properties and is involved in social memory and the encoding of novel experiences.
Is our long term memory capacity infinite ?
I heard a scientists say it would be a sort of infinite. How to prove it ? I don't think it would be possible to prove it clearly in scientific way and the conclusion would also vary depending on how you define the term 'infinite'. But I think we can find some cases showing the infinite-like memory for a certain type. Note that I said 'a certain type'. As far as I have been collecting cases, I see some people showing almost infinite amount of memory for a certain types but I haven't seen any cases who shows the infinite capacity for every type of memory. Followings are some of the examples : Jill Price : She shows almost inifinite amount of memory capacity for autobiographic memory. Stephen Wiltshire : He shows the almost inifite capacity with infinite details for the scenes coming through vision system (visual memory ?). Check out @3:33 of this video.
Is unforgettable memory a blessing ?
Many people (including me to be honest) would wish to have such a memory that never disappear. But would this be a blessing ? Hard to say. The only way to get the answer to this would be to interview many people who has this kind of memory, but we don't have enough cases of these that would reach any common conclusion. But in my personal opinion after watching / reading interviews with a few people (e.g, this, this), such a person seems to have a little bit different opinion about such a capability. It seems the opinion varies depending on how much control they have over such a memory. If we can keep everything in our memory and can recall (retrieve) it ONLY when we want, it would be considered as blessing, but if not it wouldn't be considered as anything desirable. In many cases, those memory pops up spontaneously regardless of whether they like it or not giving them harsh feeling or interfering with other thought processes. At least, Jill explicitely mentions that she does not like it, but some other persons shows a little bit varying opinion(Watch this) Individuals with highly superior autobiographical memory, also known as hyperthymesia, or an unusually precise and detailed memory, can experience various challenges and problems. Although a great memory seems helpful, it can cause various issues as listed below :
What is forgetting ? Why fortet ?
What is forgetting ? Is it some unwanted problem which everybody suffer from ? or Are we MADE to forget ? Following statement from a Nature article would be the clear and simple answer to this question. Long thought to be a glitch of memory, researchers are coming to realize that the ability to forget is crucial to how the brain works. Really ? If the forgetting is a crucial function, there might be some biological reason why we evolved the feature (forgetting), what is it ?
If forgetting is a certain biological feature that are built into the species, there must be some biological mechanism which are involved in the process of forgetting. What is it ?
Is it that the memory (information stored in the brain) disappeared ? ot Is it that the memory is still there but we just failed to retrieve (recall) it ?
How do we forget ? On other words, how 'forgetting' works ? A few types of forgetting mechanism are proposed (refer to this video)
Passive Oblivescence : This is a type of forgetting process in which we forget things without any active effort. We just forget things as time goes. In other words, it just fades out. It may happen because the synapses forming a specific memory gets weeken or the triggers to remember/recall the memory gets weeken or some of the neurons related to the memory is rewired to other memory that causes the loss or interference to the existing memory.
Targeted Forgetting : This is a type of forgetting process that our brain perform mostly during sleep. Brain rearrange / reconsoslidate various information stored in the memory and clean up (purge out) those information/memory which are not worth keeping.
Motivated Forgetting : This is a type of forgetting process that we actively perform, like trying to forget some unpleasant memory.
The term Amnesia came from Greek αμνησία (amnēsía) which mean “forgetfulness”. In many english dictionary, it is defined as a total or partial loss of memories. But this definition may mislead you in terms of modern definition of Amnesia. When we say 'loss of memory', you would think of it as something related to the past because the term 'memory' tend to give impression of 'some event happened in the past'. However Amnesia is not only about the past but also about the future. We can define the term Amnesia in two parts as below.
Is our memory reliable ? Are you sure what you remember in your brain is 100% correct ? Unfortunately there are hundreds of hundreds of research shows that our memory is not 100% accurate and memory changes in many different ways.
What ??? Then how come most of investigation by law enforcers and even legal testimoney relies on the memory of persons ? Why we still spend days and nights trying to memorizing so many things out of textbook / lecture note preparing for exam if the memory is not accurate.
I think the reliability of memory is still in active debate. It seems true that it is not 100% reliable. However it would not be as bad as we should ignore all the witness's testimony or give up studying testbook/lecture note for exam.
What I am trying to say in this section is that memory is not like a tape recorder that plays back the exact the same thing whenever you hit the play button. The memory is constructive and reconstructive. It mean that the memory can be modified in various ways and even the complete false memory that never happened to you can be planted in your brain. Even if memory is still ciritical / vital part of our brain activity and of maintaining our normal life, still it would be good to understand about the vulnerability of memory.
There are so many researches and papers/articles about unreliable aspect of memory, but I would to introduce a few famous cases from early / milestone cases. The cases introduced here from How reliable is your memory?- TEDtalks. If you want to get the full transcript (if you prefer reading), you may check out How Reliable Is Anyone’s Memory?
Case 1 : a Victim Report
Case 2 : Car accident report
NOTE : You would notice what people recall (from memory) differs by some leading keyword : 'hit', 'smash'.
: As introduced above, Numerous studies have demonstrated the fallibility of human memory, focusing on aspects such as false memories, memory distortions, and the effects of suggestion. However, it is important to recognize that human memory is not entirely unreliable. If our memory is completely unreliable we (human being) would have not survived for such a long period. There may not be as many studies explicitly focusing on the reliability of memory, as it is often taken for granted that memory functions accurately in most situations. However, there are some researches and studies that highlights the accuracy and reliability of memory and followings are some of the examples.
What is neuroscientific background for false memory ?
A false memory feels like a real memory, but it's either partly or completely made up. This can happen for many reasons, such as being older, feeling stressed, not getting enough sleep, or hearing wrong information.
Understanding how false memories happen in the brain is tricky and we don't know everything yet. But we do know that making a memory involves different parts of the brain. The hippocampus helps store memories and the prefrontal cortex helps us recall or remember them
Basically, falsification (or fabrication) of memory can happen at every stages of memory process (encoding, storage, retrieval) :
Sometimes, things can mess up these steps. For example, if someone gives you wrong information about a past event, your brain might include that wrong detail in the memory. This is how a "false memory" can be created.
False memories might feel very real because similar parts of your brain are active when you remember real or false memories. But false memories aren't always totally made up. Sometimes, they are just real memories that have been changed a bit.
NOTE : Similar but different. False Memory, Confabulation, Lie False memory, confabulation, and lies are all related to the concept of truth, but they each have different characteristics.
So, the main differences between these terms are about whether you know the information is false and whether you're trying to trick someone. With a false memory or confabulation, you believe what you're saying is true. But when you lie, you know it's false and you're saying it anyway to deceive others.
You may or may not heard of this term 'schema' in terms of neuroscience or psyhcology, but I think this would be the term that you can easily agree with and associate it with your own experience. In this section, I am going to talk about a few important aspect of Schema.
It is not easy to define the concept of Schema in short and easy-to-understanding manner. Whenever I come across with any concept which is hard to grasp, I usually survey about many different definitions from many different sources. At the beginning, it may be even more confusing to see too many different ways of expression but as time goes on you will notice (have a kind of feeling in your mind) that you are getting 'some kind of essence' of it. I am trying to approach the concept of Schema in the same way.
Following is the list of definitions by pioneering researchers in this area quoted from Naïve to expert: Considering the role of previous knowledge in memory ,
NOTE : If the definition listed above does not make clear sense to you, don't be disappointed. It is not that clear to me either. But I quoted this because it is always good to have some technical background.
Probably following definition would sound clearer and practical. At least to me, it sounds clearer.
What I ask the definition of schema to an AI (ChatGPT) , I got following : A memory schema is a mental structure or framework that organizes and integrates information about a particular topic or event. It is a way of organizing and storing information in memory that makes it easier to understand and remember. Memory schemas help us to categorize and make sense of new information, and they also allow us to retrieve information from memory more easily.
Memory schemas can be thought of as "mental shortcuts" that allow us to make connections between new information and what we already know, making it easier to understand and retain the new information. They can also help us to fill in gaps in our knowledge and make inferences about related topics. NOTE : If the concept is still not clear to you, try to google a few more documents and read them. Everytime you read new definition, you will feel that your brain gets more and more familiar with the concept.
Schema is important because it affects on us to interpret or process anything around us regardless of whether you realize it or not. When we perceive on any new things, we try to understand it based on some set of previous knowledge or experience that we is already in our mind. In some case we try to understand new things based on previous knowledge structure (this knowledge structure is called 'schema') even when there is no direct relationship between the new thing and the schema. For example, if you are talking about something to somebody who has always been crazy about baseball and likes to talk about such a tiny details of baseball game or baseball player etc, you would notice that he often (actually very often) likes to make an analogy between the baseball and whatever you are trying to talk about. In this case, he is taking in the things (even a completely new things) within the schema of baseball. For sure this thing (percieving things based on a schema) would happen to yourself as well. Just think about what is happening in your mind when your friend or teacher talk about something. Sometimes this kind of perceiving or understanding things based on an existing schema would cause problem like distorting the real meaning of the new thing, but it is almost impossible to prevent any schema from getting involved in your mental process. But don't worry I think schema facilitate the process of memorizing and learning new things in most cases rather than causing any problem. I personally try to build my own schema as much as possible since I think it is so helpful to facilitate my learning process and extend knowlege.
What is knowledge ? A simple definition by Oxford diction is as follows : Knowlege is facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. In other words, Knowledge is sets of facts, information and skills aquired by experinece and education. I think you would agree with this generic defintion. But I want to look a little bit further into several different aspects of knowledge.
Difference between Knowledge and Memory
Memory and Knowledge may sound similar (interchangeable) but they are not the samething even if it is not each to clearly explain about the differences between them. Let me start with simple definition of these two concept first.
These two are related but not the same. I would say memory is a key part of learning process. A set of information organized for a specific topic is called knowledge. So the overall impression about the relationship between these concept is as follows. Memory ----> Learning ----> Knowledge NOTE : Even though it is hard to clearly distinquish between memory and knowledge, you may find the difference intuitively based on your own experience. In many cases, person who has great knowledge tend to have good memory but it would not always be the case. You might have seen some people (directly or indirectly) who has extrememly good memory, but does not look knowledgeable. Even thought it would not be common case you might have seen some people with huge amount of knowledge does not seem to have good memory.
Explicit knowledge is the form of knowledge that you can express it easily in verbal, writing etc and transfer (teach) it to other relatively easily. This would be the most of the knowledge you can obtain or provide via textbook, lectures, user-mannual etc. Also most of the knowledge you can get by googling can be considered as a explicit knowlege.
What is Implicit(tacit) Knowledge ?
Implicit (Tacit) knowledge is the form of knowledge that we have but is extremly difficut to express/explain it in words or writing. Usually we obtain this kind of knowledge from our personal experience or a lot of practices and in many cases you don't even realize that you have such a knowledge until you have chance to do something. It is not easy to explain exactly what the tacit knowledge it, but you would notice what it is as you experience more in your field and interact with others.
Suppose that you had chance to ask (or learn) from an engineer with one year of experience and with 10 years of experience in the same area. You may not see much difference between them in terms of the way they explain or teach. Sometimes you may get the impression that the younger engineer does better with explaining / teaching. But as you have further interaction with them you may see many case that cannot be easily done by the young engineer but so smoothly done by the one with longer experience. If you ask him how he did it, he may say 'it is simple. Just did it'. This would be a typical example of tacit knowledge.
NOTE : I am not trying to say that young engineer does not have much tacit knowledg and you will get a lot of tacit knowledge if you just get older in your area. I was trying to talk a kind of general tendancy assuming that everybody has tried their best through the whole career. Personally I like to (trying hard to) obtain tacit knowlede from others. It takes time and effort, and requires long term interaction. You need to learn mostly from their action, not from their words. Sometimes you would get just single word of precious insight from several hours of dialogues with him.
How the tacit Knowledge is converted into explicit knowledge?
This has been my personal question for long time. I know there are two types of knowledge explicit and implicit as mentioned aboved. I personally thought that implicit knowledge is more solid form know knowledge in me and I wanted to know the mechanism by which the tacit knowledge is formed and how to facilitate the process of converting the explicit knowledge into tacit knowledge.
For this question, I asked ChatGPT with the question : "how is explicit knowledge converted to tacit knowledge ?". I personally like the answer from the chatbot... what an amazing technology !!! There are several ways that explicit knowledge can be converted to tacit knowledge, which is knowledge that is more difficult to express or communicate formally:
Experience: One way to convert explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge is to gain practical experience with the subject matter. By actually doing something, rather than just reading about it or being told about it, you can develop a deeper understanding and a greater intuitive sense of how things work.
Practice: Repetitive practice can also help to convert explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge. By repeatedly performing a task or skill, you can develop a better sense of how to do it effectively and efficiently, and you may start to develop a "feel" for the right way to approach the task.
Training: Training programs and courses can also be helpful in converting explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge. By actively participating in hands-on exercises, simulations, and other interactive learning activities, you can develop a more intuitive understanding of the subject matter and how to apply it in practice.
Overall, converting explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge requires a process of learning through experience and practice. It can be a slow process, but it can also be a valuable one, as it can help you to develop a deeper understanding and a greater intuitive sense of the subject matter. Personally I agree with this answer and I realize this process is frequently happening in myself. When I learn a new thing as an hobby or as a job, I start gaining knowledge in explitict form (explicit knowlege) at the beginning. As I read more and have more hands-on whenever I get chances, I feel myself that the knowledge is getting internalized (aborbed) into myself. But ironically the deeper the knowledge get internalized into myself, the little I can express it verbally or written form even if I am getting more and more proficient with the specific area. However, don't get disappointed because the difficulties in expressing it out is a nature of tacit knowledge. You still have the knowledge in you more deeply imprinted in you.
Reading a book ten times ? or Reading ten books one time ?
Everybody would want to put things into their long term memory and we all know that repetition would help convert the short term memory to long term memory as mentioned before. But when you are studying new things and trying to put them into long term memory, the 'repetition' is not an easy things to do. Based on my personal experience (i.e, observing myslef) with learning new things, I think reading ten books on the similar topic once for each book is better than reading one book ten times. It may applies only to me and you may have different opinion. It is perfectly OK if you have different opinion. But I think I can explain why reading ten books one time for each is better than one book ten times at least applying to myself only. Reading a book does not start directly from short term memory. It starts from Sensory input(visual memory in case of reading a book). So those information should go to short term memory first before it gets transferred to long term memory. The trigger for the sensory input to short term memory is 'Attention'. I found it very difficult to maintain the high level of attention for every reading when I am reaing the same thing over and over. I soon lose attention and my brain seems to filter out the input as a kind of background noise and didn't even put it into short term memory. So even if my eyes and primary visual cortex process what comes into the retina (i.e, text on the book in this case) and it tend not to be converted into memory by hippocampus. However if I read the ten books one for each book, for every reading I am getting a little bit of different variants of the same topic comes into the sensory system. Since each of those input has a certain portions of novelty, my brain tend to pay pretty high attention to every input. In addition, because I am reading books with the same topics most of those inputs are similar. So if I read the ten different books, it is like repeating the same things ten times which helps to get converted to long term memory. The only problem (personally to me) with reading ten books once for each comparing to reading the same book ten times is cost. That is, I need to spend more money to buy 10 books. Maybe we can find easy solution for this thanks to technology. Learning from YouTube has been my solution for long time. You don't need to pay any extra money for watching however many YouTube you get. This would be the reason why you see a long list of YouTube reference in all of my notes.
What is memory decline and how it happens ?
Memory Decline refer to various form of reduced functionalities in the memory process. It is often known as age-related memory loss, is a natural part of aging that can cause difficulties with recalling recent events, names, or details. Memory decline can affect many aspects of daily life, including work, social interactions, and personal relationships.
As we age, changes occur in the brain that can affect memory. The hippocampus shrinks with age and synapses weaken with age as well. These changes in the brain can make it more difficult to form new memories and to recall previously learned information. NOTE : It's worth noting that memory decline can be caused by many different factors, not just aging, such as stress, depression, lack of sleep, poor nutrition, and certain medical conditions. It's also important to note that memory decline is a normal part of aging, but it doesn't mean that is an inevitable part of getting older
Other factors that can contribute to memory decline include stress, depression, lack of sleep, poor nutrition, and certain medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Here goes some examples of typical memory decline you may experience.
If somebody ask you this question, most of you would say 'No' since most of us was educated this way. Several reasons why we are educated to think 'Memory itself is not inherited to next generation'. Some of the reason behind this would be as follows :
However, what we consider as 'Scientific common sense' changes over time. There are some recent studies that imply that 'Some' memories (of course, not all memory) seems to be able to get passed to another generation. Some research examples supporting this theory are : (I noticed that a lot of research papers were out since 2010 related to this subject. At initial researches, I found most of those researches was about inheritiance of stress response / fear and then it gradually expanded to other types of memory or behvior).
NOTE : Most of the researches use epigenetic mechanism as a mechanism of passing this kind of aquired memory or behavior to next generation.
For many years, scientists have worked hard to learn about the complex ways our brains remember and learn things. They have used many new and different methods to do this. In this section, I will talk about important moments in the study of memory and learning. We will focus on big discoveries and new ways of studying that have helped us understand these important brain functions better.
Henry Gustav Molaison (February 26, 1926 – December 2, 2008)
He was an American and is widely known as H.M and may be the most famous and well-known patients. If you have been interested in neuroscience and read some of documents (books, megazines or articles in the internet) or watch lectures, I am pretty sure you might have heard of him, at least the name H.M. Since he has been mentioned in so many documents and lectures, it would be good if you have some background information about him to follow along with those documents and lectures. He had been a patient who greatly contributed to nuerosience, especially learning and memory process, but it was not intentional at all. He just got a brain surgery just to reduce the symptom of epilepsy, but a serious memory related problem is observed after the surgery. This unintended problem led to findings where Hipocampus plays key roles in long term memory formation and memory may be localized (i.e, associated with a specific part of brain not associated with the all across the brain). Watch this video for the importance of findings from H.M
Image Source : Wikipedia
He had a bilateral medial temporal lobectomy in 1953. With this surgery, he got about two thirds of anterior hippocampus removed. The removed area were parahippocampal cortices, entorhinal cortices, piriform cortices, and amygdalae. The purpose of this surgery was to cure his epilepsy. More detailed information of the brain lesion (damage) found from the autopsy were as follows : See this if you are interested in further details.
What happened after this surgery ?
I was not able to find YouTube video showing his symptom directly (he passed away before sharing video over internet is so common), but I found some videos explaining about him like this, this
Clive Wearing is a British former musicologist, conductor, tenor and keyboardist. He had similar brain lesion as H.M (i.e, lesion in Hipocampus) but he got this from his illness not by any physical surgery or accidents. He lost the functionality of large portions of Hippocampus and temporal lobe which plays crtical function in memory process.
Image Source : Alchetron
After the illness, he has been suffering serious Amnesial.
Personally Clive Wearing is more familiar to me than H.M because I got several YouTubes (watch this , this) showing / describing details of the problem he is suffering, whereas I was not able to find any video about H.M showing the live behavior of H.M.
Jill is famous as a person who never forget (more specifically, never forget about her episodic memory). autobiographical memory is a type of memory from her direct or indirect experience. Indirect experience in this context mean something she learned from TV, news paper, books that she watched / read.
If you give her any specific events (some events memorized in her brain) she recalls the exact date for the event. Or if you give her any specific date, she recalls every details of what she did or learned in that specific date. Watch the video linked below to get a better sense of what this mean. Her case lead to a lot of fundamental questions in learning / memory but as far as I know it is still in mystery on how such a memory works.
Image Source : YouTube
NOTE : you can see the similar case with a few other people. check out this video. This is a documentary showing more details of the symptom and some effort to figure out the mechanism.
This (a sea snail) would one of the most famous animal that lead to the opening of research on learning and memory at synaptic level and molecular level. This animal has very simple architecture of nervous system with much less number of neurons comparing to higher animal (this animal has only 20,000 neurons whereas a human has 100,000,000,000 neurons), but still capable of 'learning' and 'remembering'. The size of a nerve cell is huge (in mm scale in diameter) that you can see it with naked eyes. Only small numbers of neurons (only a few hundreds) get involved in a certain behavior of the animal (Watch @11:25 of this lecture if you want further details). Scientists was able to train this animial with a certain behavior and direct observe the changes of synaptic networks and molecular composition changes before and after the learning. You can get a pretty clear idea on how the research has been done from this short video. If you are willing to tackle the far more details on this research, check out this lecture : Memories are Made of This.
Image Souce : Wiley Online Library
Image Source : (@13:27 of this lecture )
While you are burried with a lot of text and lecture videos, you may think almost everything about memory and learning process have already found, but unfortunately it is not the case at all. Just try to check if what the text book and lectures can explain exactly what is happening in your brain while you are reading/watching such a complicated topics like neuroscience ? Is just understanding all the books/lecture video can give you the best way to study and learn a new topics / skills ? I don't think so. What we know about the memory and learning is still at too early stages to explain the whole process of memory and learning. So if you are interested in the efficient memory and learning, I think you may need to take a little bit different approach from just reading/watching neuroscience book/lectures. My suggestion is to read/watch books and lectures provided by those who has been learning new things for their whole life in systematic ways and have skills/willingness to share their learning method/experience with others. Personally I don't like some magical ways for learning (at least it seems magic to me)... like listening a specific type of music, practicing meditation etc. I am not saying that these method does not have any use. I am just trying to say I haven't personally practiced these techniques and they don't sound appealing to me either. I prefer those skills/methods that can be linked to some neuroscience background even though they cannot be clearly explained by neuroscience alone. I am trying to find those texts and lectures in YouTube and Reference section. Of course, this is completely my personal choice and you may or may not like them.
YouTube
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