Memory Development – We All Can Do It

Remembering the innocence of your childhood, the freedom that you had in playing all day around and the chocolates and candies that you use to eat are certainly part of your wonder years. This is when the crucial stages of memory development takes place. But how are these images accessible to you even in ones adults’ years when people struggle how to memorize things. Well these images are accessible to you through the process of memory development which includes both the use of long term memory and short term memory.

Obviously these images are stored in your mind from which you can access the large database of your brain. But this database is infinite, as unlike computer systems that have standard data storage, the brain has an infinite amount of data storage where we memorize things. In fact the study of the brain which is called neurology has found out new mechanisms of how memory functions in the brain.

Memory is the ability to store, retain and recall information, your ability to do this is based upon both your long term memory and short term memory. These three processes are necessary to follow each other in succession for efficient memory development. Unlike other organisms humans have a more complex brain structure which enables us to accomplish complex tasks through the learning that we have inherited. This learning is accessible to you through the information that was stored in your mind which is crucial to memory development.

It might just seem a split of a second to remember someone’s name. But your neurons have responded to the immediate demand that your brain had made. But that split second is the result of complex memory functions that your brain has undergone to retrieve that name. Let’s zoom in to these memory development processes and make a schematic study of them.

Neuro science has discovered that processes of short-term memory and long-term memory (episodic memory) as the main types of memories. Now while retrieving your friends name as it was discussed above, does your brain utilize short-term or long-term memory? Certainly-long term memory as the name of your friend that you are trying to access has been constantly revised through your brain which has led to the name being stored in the long term memory.

With this description of the mechanism of memory development it becomes important to elaborate as to how the short and long-term memory actually operates. Firstly your senses absorb all the physical stimulations that you receive in terms of sight, smell, tactile and other senses. In fact the brain registers the sensory information for just 200-500ms. This registration of sensory memory in the brain is crucial so as to differentiate between the different stimuli that the brain receives.

Photographic memory is in fact registered through the sight and its ability to retain itself depends upon how long you have paid attention to the stimulus. Once the sensory memory is registered in the brain it depends on how much attention an individual pays to the sensory information so that now it can be registered in the short term memory which will enhance memory development.

The short term memory stores information if sensory information has been rehearsed by the brain – a key element of memory development. The information that is stored is only for 5 seconds. Individuals don’t feel the effect of the information that is remembered as this information is not properly rehearsed.

The memory capacity of short term memory is 7+/-2. This means that short term memory can store more than 7 items at one time in its storage or 2 less. To be more elaborate, recent neuropsychological research has revealed that humans can store up to 5 items in their short term memory. If adequate attention is still maintained for a few minutes more then the information will be retained in the long term memory which would lead to memory development.

Once the stimulus gets retained in the long term memory one has a better sense of remembering the name which could be an audio or visual register. This transition of short term memory information into long-term memory takes place in the hippocampus, which is a region in the brain that regulates memory development. The memory development capacity of long-term memory is infinite. In fact if one was to tell the entire life story the entire lists of names and events that have occurred will depend upon how the person is able to retrieve it.

Therefore memory development is the most dynamic aspects to configuring an effective mind. It is the basis through which individuals gain consciousness without which one won’t live a positive and happy life.