Memory is one of the fundamental components of a person’s life. Stuff from the deepest parts of our brain are often recalled for a variety of reasons, to reminiscing our childhood to recollecting a list of groceries. These are often the times when we tend to forget things, and it might be a little infuriating for some people. But, why do important things tend to slip off of our mind’s agenda? Let’s explore!
Memory, as most of us might know, is stored in the brain, the most important organ of our body. The brain consists of an intricate network of nerve cells which facilitate the transmission of messages in the form of electrical signals (That’s why people say that nerve cells are like the wires of our brain!). To understand untimely loss of memory, let us see the structure of a nerve cell, also called a neuron.
Messages in the form of electrical impulses are received by the neuron through the dendrites of another neuron. The impulse passes at a tremendous speed through the neuron, from the cell body to the axon to the end of tne cell, which is usually called the nerve endings. From there, the electrical impulses enter the adjoining neuron through its dendrites. This chain of events is continued until the message has been received by the relevant organ from the brain and an appropriate action has been taken.
Now, the neurons in the brain, as I had already mentioned earlier, form an intricate network connecting every part of the organ. Whenever we learn something new, a neurotic connection is established. It is important to note here that ‘learn’ doesn’t only mean a Mathematics problem or a Biology diagram. It could vary from a child learning to walk to smelling noodles for the first time. Anything that the brain doesn’t have previous record of is thereby stored as a neurotic connection.
However, sometimes these neurotic connections start to ‘decay’. They start to weaken and could ultimately fall apart. The cause of this could range from accumulation of toxins in the brain to old age. When neurotic connections get decayed, we tend to forget the memory associated with it. Experts say that interferences and decaying of memories makes it such that nothing we initially remembered is actually going to stay that way for a long time.
We must know that once we forget something completely, it is impossible to retrieve that memory. The reason being that nerve cells are the only cells in our body that cannot regenerate. So, a memory erased is completely gone. The only way to get it back would be to create a new memory, which could be formed by someone else telling you about experiences related to it. However, the new memory is highly unlikely to be similar to the original one.
Now, what if I told you that there are people who can remember things even from their early childhood, with remarkably precise details. Hard to believe? Well, let me tell you about a memory-related condition, which is just the opposite of our topic.
Hyperthymesia is a condition where a person remembers an abnormally large amount of their life, to such an extent that they can describe each day of their life with extreme precision. Scientists have stated that this condition could be due to certain parts of the brain including the hippocampus and temporal lobe being relatively larger in such individuals. This condition is extremely rare, with only 61 people confirmed having this condition in the whole world!
So, how was it? Did it make you forget why you read this (Hopefully not!)? Feel free to comment in the Comments section down below.
Author: Venkata Bhamidipati
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