Your Brain and Memory

Long term memory is all to do with the information that you are making an effort to retain, both consciously and unconsciously. This is because the information may be particularly personal and meaningful to you, or it is because it is something that you need in order to complete a task or to take some exams. However, there is some information that you retain in your long term memory which will need you to make a conscious effort in order to recall it, such as a personal memory which relates to a specific experience or time in your life, known as episodic memory, or it may be some factual data that you need to recall, and this is known as semantic memory. The other type of long term memory that we all have is known as procedural memory, and this is where your memory will recall skills or routines that you use so that you do not have to consciously need to recall them.

There are certain parts of the brain which are especially important in relation to not only the formation, but also the retention of memories, and these are as shown below.

Hippocampus

This is found deep in the human brain, and plays the largest role in the brain processing information as memory.

Amygdala

This is an almond shaped piece of the brain which is found close to the hippocampus and processes a person’s emotions. This particular area helps to imprint memories into the brain which involve emotions.

Cerebral Cortex

This is the outer layer of the human brain, and is where most long term memory is stored in various different sectors. It will all depend on where particular memories are stored, as to what process the information involves. So language will be stored in one sector, sensory input into another, problem solving into yet another sector and so on.

As well as the above, the memory also involves communication occurring between the brains various network of neurons and cells (millions of which are activated by chemicals in the brain known as neurotransmitters).

Take care of yourself and your memory!