Human Memory
Far From Understood
Have you ever wondered why Homo sapiens are the dominant species on Earth? Humans are not the strongest nor are we the fastest. We cannot fly or swim without a machine and if confronted with a predator, we would be ill-equipped to defend ourselves without some sort of weapon. Humans dominate the planet because of our intelligence. Our species can build machines that allow us to hunt, fish, move underwater, and through the air. We can domesticate other animals for our food and service because of our relatively superior intelligence. One of the main reasons that we are more intelligent is because of the power of human memory.
It Sets Us Apart
While there are correlates in the animal world, humans are capable of speech and of holding a tremendous number of unique words in our vocabulary, both spoken and written. The human brain can form precise memories about social structure, mathematical concepts and spatial relationships. Through education and training we can expand and capitalize on our human memory to achieve great things.
Understanding Memory
Memories are created, stored and recalled by the brain but beyond that, our understanding of human memory is a not terribly clear. We do know that certain structures in the brain are critical for forming new memories. The hippocampus, for example, is essential to the formation of new memories and for placing memories into long term storage. Humans have a one hippocampus each side of the brain, roughly half way between the temple and the ear. Only one hippocampus needs to be functional for human memory. If both are damaged, say through surgery or stroke, the person can no longer from new memories lasting longer than a few minutes.
The structures that participate in memory formation beyond the hippocampus are less well understood. Apparently human memories are not simply stored in discrete regions of the brain such that a small stroke could wipe out second grade. Rather the anatomical organization of much more complex than that. While the hippocampus is critical for creating human memory, once a memory is created its storage location can only be inferred.
Elephant Memory
Have you ever heard that an elephant never forgets? Perhaps this is because an elephant has an absolutely enormous set of hippocampi (the plural of hippocampus). Researchers use elephants to study the cellular basis of memory and apply these concepts to human memory. It has been shown that elephants, especially the dominant female of each social group, are capable of recognizing and storing information about facial identity and retain that information for many years. This memory allows the clan's matriarch to identify threats and friendly individuals in the local environment. While the natural tendency is to say that since the hippocampi of elephants are large, their memories are better or last longer but this is not necessarily the case. It is also true that other regions of the brain are larger in an elephant compared to a human brain. To the credit of this theory, the hippocampi in elephants are proportionally large, even for such a large animal and brain.
Human intelligence is integrally dependent on human memory and our success on the planet is due, in large part to our ability to remember large quantities of information throughout or lives.
|
Like this Article? |
More Articles on Human Memory
- The Memory of the Human Brain is an incredible phenomenon. Without it we couldn't live our lives or even accomplish anything. Learn here what's behind our memory.
- Memory Loss is a natural part of aging however it can also be brought on by disease. Find out here about some causes for memory loss.
- Short Term Memory is the way we jot down numbers and names in our brain. Lear more about it here!
- Memory Tests are a good way to measure and increase your memory. Check out a few examples here.
- Memory Improvement is something that is probably on your mind no matter what age you are. Check out these tips on how to improve your memory.
- Some Free Games That Improve Your Memory. Check'em out!
Top Viewed