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Seitter 1 Drew Seitter Ms. Selman UNIV 111 19 November 2014 Marvels of Memory Memories are powerful beyond belief. They are what connects us to our family, friends, peers, and most importantly ourselves. They can give us an unimaginable connection to certain places that may be invisible to others. In some cases, they can give us an extreme amount of pride and love for where we were raised. In some unfortunate cases, they can give an unexplainable hatred for people or places. No matter what the end result is, who we are as humans is developed by our memories, whether personal or shared with others. I am one to believe that our own brains are full of memories that we want to remember because we know that it has affected who we are and how we act today. Whether the memory gives us joy beyond belief or makes us tear up from the thought, these events have impacted us so greatly that we would be complete different people if they had a different outcome. It is said that a short term memory can last for maybe a minute. So what is it that makes a long term memory? What gives us the capability to create these pictures in our mind that we can see so vividly whenever we want to see them? And why am I able to visualize exactly what I was doing on a day 10 years ago but not be able to remember where I was on a day two weeks ago? These are the questions I would like to discuss with you today and they focus on what is known as declarative long-term memory, which is long term memory that can be proven through facts. So first off, let’s begin with what it is that makes a memory. There are three key steps to forming a memory- encoding, consolidation, and retrieval (psych.stanford.edu). We begin with Seitter 2 the encoding process, which takes place when the event is occurring. When you see, hear, touch, or smell anything throughout the day, neural responses are sent to your brain. When you give a certain sight or smell more attention than others, more neural responses are sent. These responses are stored in a part of the brain known as the medial temporal lobe. The responses stay in the medial temporal lobe and await whether or not they will move onto the next step in the memorymaking process- consolidation. Consolidation occurs over an extended amount of time and is what makes us remember certain events so thoroughly. Whenever you recall a specific time, you are consolidating the neural responses from that event. The more you consolidate an experience, the longer you are able to retain that memory. Imagine a hammer and a nail. Every time you recall an event, you are hammering the nail one more time. Eventually the nail becomes stuck in the wall just like the memory becomes stuck in your brain. The goal of consolidation is to cause these events to be able to exist without the assistance of the medial temporal lobe in your brain. The last step in the memory-making process is the retrieval of the memory. For memories to be retrieved, there must be cues sent to the brain to retrieve them. When something triggers you to recall a past experience, it has sent a cue to your brain, therefore pulling the file out of the file cabinet and right there in front of you. So now for the specifics. What was so special that occurred on that specific day 10 years ago that makes you view it so much clearer than all the other days? The answer lies with what you want to remember. As stated by a specialist in the study of memory Edward Bolles, "We remember what we understand; we understand only what we pay attention to; we pay attention to what we want." (Keeley) What first occurred is that you cared so much about what was happening and gave that event so much attention that you created a large amount of neural signals to be encoded in the medial temporal lobe. It was the consolidation step, however, that Seitter 3 makes it so engraved in your mind today. After the event occurred, you repeatedly ran the experience in your mind- what happened, how it made you feel, and why it made you feel this way. Repetitious consolidation caused this experience to exist in your brain outside the bounds of the medial temporal lobe and now gives you the opportunity to view the sights of that day whenever you want them. What makes these memories so vivid is the fact that you wanted them to be remembered because you knew that they were important to you. It was this desire that makes the image so easy to visualize today. There are some factors that can cause a lack or gain of the ability to even begin the memory making process. For instance, it has been proven that sleep can benefit the recall of events in our brains (Bäuml). On the other hand, stress has been proven to restrict the ability to recall some events. It was also shown that stress enhanced the ability to remember negative occurrences (Wolf). One amazing finding was that of a 34 year old housewife who was able to recall what occurred on every single day dating back to when she was 12. This woman was able to provide information that could be proven for all sorts of dates that seemed humanly impossible. It turns out that she is one of a select few that carry this magical ability (Sukel). I would imagine that being able to remember everything that occurred in my life would be cool but at the same time could be terrible because that would force you to remember the negative things as well. As the woman with this ability stated, “My memory has ruled my life. It has brought me great joy, but it has tormented me.” (Sukel) This is one downfall to our magical memory abilities. Our capability to remember the best things in our lives comes at the cost that we can also remember the worst things in our lives. However, this is not so bad because it is these terrible events can teach us unthinkable things about ourselves. For instance, dreading the loss of a loved one is awful to think about but at the same time, it can force you to realize to not Seitter 4 take life for granted. The most horrible past experiences therefore can be the most special and helpful learning experiences. This is why I have come to believe that we choose what experiences we remember. Although it may be difficult to constantly reminisce on these memories, we know that they have occurred to us in order to teach us a valuable lesson in the recovery process. The magical thing about our memories is that they are our own and no one else’s to control. We all come from different pasts and the way we are different is through our own personal stories. This memory ability in our brains is what creates these stories. I, for one, am grateful for my ability to recall the best and worst experiences in my life. These thoughts are what drives me to get out of bed in the morning. The knowledge that my life is able to change on any given day force me to be thankful that I am able to do what I do every day. I encourage you to think upon your own past and decide what it is that occurred that gave you the ability to be the person you are today. I also encourage for you to be thankful for every day because you are never able to guarantee that you will be the same person tomorrow. You can never tell when one of those magical memories is going to happen so keep your eyes and ears open to make sure you are able to send those neural signals to your brain whenever the time occurs. Seitter 5 Works Cited “Encoding and Retrieval for Long-Term Memory.” pag. 192-238. psych.stanford.edu: Web. 29 Oct. 2014. Karl-Heinz Bäuml, Christoph Holterman, and Magdalena Abel. "Sleep Can Reduce the Testing Effect: It Enhances Recall of Restudied Items but Can Leave Recall of Retrieved Items Unaffected." Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory & Cognition. 40.6: pag.1568-581. Ebscohost.com. EBSCO Industries. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. Kayt Sukel. "The Amazing Memory Marvels." New Scientist 215.2878 (2012): pag. 34-37. Ebscohost.com. EBSCO Industries. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. Meg Keeley. “Memory and the Importance of Review.” The Basics of Effective Learning. Bucks County Community College, 1997. N. pag. faculty.bucks.edu: Web. 29 Oct. 2014. Oliver Wolf. "Immediate Recall Influences the Effects of Pre-encoding Stress on Emotional Episodic Long-term Memory Consolidation in Healthy Young Men." Stress: The International Journal on the Biology of Stress. 15.3 (2012): pag. 272-80. Ebscohost.com. EBSCO Industries. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.