The human memory system is a vast, ever-changing web that reacts to every new experience. Most experiences are too fleeting to leave a noticeable trace on the web, but some alter the shape of the network so that they live on as enduring memories.
- RECALLING THE CONTEXT OF AN EVENT IS ALMOST AS EFFECTIVE IN TRIGGERING A MEMORY AS RETURNING TO WHERE THE EVENT OCCURRED: Putting people back in the place where they experienced an event can help them to remember it – but surprisingly, just asking them to recall the surroundings can be almost as helpful.
- IT CAN TAKE UP TO TWO YEARS FOR A MEMORY TO BECOME PERMANENT: Experiences that are being processed for storage as long-term memories may be replayed in the mind for up to two years. Once a memory is consolidated in this way, it has the potential to last a lifetime.
- THE BRAIN HAS A SPECIAL AREA FOR PROCESSING HUMAN FACES: Faces are important to a social species such as humans, and the brain has evolved to process them quickly. A special area in the cortex extracts detailed information, giving fast knowledge of whom the face belongs to and its expression.
- ACTIONS, AS WELL AS THOUGHTS, CAN BE INVOLVED IN MEMORISING: Learning is faster if the body as well as the mind is engaged in the task. For example, it is easier to remember the layout of a town by walking the streets than by learning it from a map.
- MEMORY MAY BEGIN AT BIRTH – BUT OUR EARLIEST MEMORIES CANNOT BE REACHED: The brain’s primitive emotional center, the amygdala, is fully functional at birth and may be involved in the storage of early memories – but these cannot be accessed at will.
- EXCITEMENT ENHANCES MEMORY FORMATION, WHILE DEPRESSION INHIBITS IT: Laying down memories depends on physical processes that are influenced by certain chemical messengers in the brain, which ebb and flow according to mood. The higher the emotional state when a new experience occurs, the more likely we are to remember the experience.
- WHEN WE FIRST VIEW A SCENE OR SITUATION, WE RELY ON MEMORY TO HELP US MAKE SENSE OF IT: The eyes see only a tiny part of any visual scene clearly. The eyes dart around, taking in more and more information, and memory enables us to assemble this sequence of fragments into a scene.
- THE BRAIN HAS A BUILT-IN ‘LIE DETECTOR’ THAT SHOWS UP FALSE MEMORIES: In everyday life, a person cannot always tell if a recollection is genuine, But brain scans show that an area at the front of the brain tends to be more active when a person accesses a genuine memory than when something that may not have occurred is ‘recalled. ‘
- SOME OF OUR MOST EMOTIONAL MEMORIES ARE TRIGGERED BY SCENT: The olfactory system, which processes smells, has direct lines to a part of the brain called the amygdala – the seat of our emotions. This may be why unusual scents from the past have such power to evoke vivid personal memories.
- MANY OF THE MEMORY METHODS IN USE TODAY WERE FIRST DISCOVERED MORE THAN 2000 YEARS AGO: The ancient Greeks had a clear understanding of the way natural memory could be improved upon. They developed techniques to aid the recall of epic stories and speeches that were delivered entirely.
