Questions about memory

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

I've always thought that memory is stored in part(s) of the brain,like a large collection of DVDs. However as I've aged, I've found that memories change. Sometimes I misremember,swearing I remember something when in fact I do not. My brain has tricked me into thinking a belief is a memory,or perhaps changing a memory to protect my ego.

Assuming memories are based on perception,which will usually be incomplete and often mistaken to some degree.


Is is that:

The brain does not store memory the way I think? Perhaps it constantly replicates them,which could mean the replication would become imperfect over time. ?

That the brain cells which store memory decay over time?

That the synapses used to recover memory decay?

OR is it the result of or indicator of a tendency to a pathology such as arteriosclerosis or Altzheimer's? EG both my grandfather and my father developed arterioscelrosis in their early 70s. I'm doing everything I can to maintain the health of my arteries,but the thought terrifies me.

[Tiberius]

No, no, no, you've got it all wrong.

Memories are stored in the box of Angelus, located in the 23rd dimension (also know as Dvorak). As memories get older, they get upset and mutate themselves, making retrieval of these memories harder (and you aren't guaranteed to get the right one).

Ok, so I have no ideas about memory

[leo-rcc]

Me neither, not a clue.

[TruthWorthy]

Ok, so I do psych', psych!
There are various sorts of memories, such as conditioned responses, neural networks are types of stored "memorised" cognition, and then in terms of learning information, recalling events, which is your interest - long and short term memory and memory distortion.
You're right to include perception in this because how you "see" something shapes how that information will be stored. Thus, you can form impressions quickly enough to say "That's good", often this sort of memory is ill advised but you go with it until that impression is challenged.
In the frontal lobes in the brain, generally functioning for cognition, are the orbital cortex. The hippocampus communicates with the orbital cortex, usu' right frontal, and is responsible for converting short term memory to long term through endocrine secretion.
There is a very interesting body of info on glucocorticoids here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucocorticoid which are responsible for removing memory functionality. The protein within this secretion blocks overly stressful emotions from conscious experience, and through exposure, the hippocampi in the given hemisphere shrinks. In fact this is a biological defense mechanism for reducing stress, only it can hinder normal memory from being accessed. Fortunately though, the entire process can be reversed, thus hippocampi can regrow, etc.
Also where you mention distorted memories, in the case of them originally being stored differently to the way they've been retrieved, there are a variety of causes for this. It has been said, the most common would be the interference of a memory when accessing it, sometimes separate memories combine into a single one either through association, and by the long term memory failing to store 'all' of the memory so that only 'impression' size portion can be recalled.

[theblindferrengi]

I watched a show about memory on BBC, but I can't remember what it was. All I remember of it was watching and thinking how what they were saying makes so much sense.

[TruthWorthy]

Interesting comparison with your signature, the johari window.