Memory: Hippocampus and Day-to-day Lives Essay example

Submitted By umwhas1996
Words: 970
Pages: 4
Open Document
“Memory refers to the capacity to retain and retrieve information and also to the structures the account for this capacity” (Wade, Tavris, Garry, 2014, p.340). Memory gives us a sense of our identity and how to do daily tasks. Memory is reconstructive by the process of drawing on many sources. In memory, the processing of information is called encoding (“convert it to a form that the brain can use” (Wade, Tavris, Garry, 2014, p.351)). Then, over time the encoded information is retain called storage. After storage, the information is recovered out of the memory system called retrieval. There are few brain regions involved in this process, which are amygdala, frontal lobes, prefrontal lobes, parts of temporal lobes, hippocampus, cerebellum, and cerebral cortex.
The regions of the brain involving memory are important. The amygdala is associated with emotional memories. It plays a part in the formation, consolidation, and retrieval of these memories. The frontal lobes function is working-memory and short-term memory tasks. The frontal lobes have to do with individuals’ retrieval of information. The prefrontal cortex and parts temporal lobes encode words and pictures, working-memory, and source monitoring. In the brain, the hippocampus is efficient in memory because the formation of long-term declarative memories, helps in retrieval of explicit memory, and it can bind together various elements of memory so that it can be retrieved later. The cerebellum function is the formation and retention of classical conditioned responses. The cerebral cortex associates with the storage long-term memory and possible involved in the original perception of the information. Each of these regions of the brain is associated with memory involving the process of encoding, storage, and the retrieval of information. The sort of effects that would emerge from damage to these regions is the loss of short-term memory to long-term memory. Damage to these regions would cause memory loss and emotional trauma. A common human psychological disorder that manifests with memory problems is Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer’s disease “is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior” (Alzheimer’s Association, 2014). Abnormalities of medial temporal lobe in early Alzheimer’s disease is confirmed in MRI studies, which have discovered significant gray matter deterioration in the hippocampus. Severe shrinkage in the hippocampus causes a major role in memory impairment. “The failure of explicit memory is the most prominent symptom during early stages of Alzheimer’s disease” (Stout, 1999, p.188). In late-stage Alzheimer’s disease, individuals lose the ability to respond to their environment and have conversations. Major regions in the brain associated with memory have shrivel up. There are treatments for Alzheimer’s but there is no cure. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease with current treatments only being temporally and slowing the symptoms. In the United States, Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death. Our understanding of memory and its fallibility in our day-to-day lives, schooling, and the system of justice will make us more aware of the limitations of memory.
Memory affects our day-to-day lives because it “gives us our past and guides our future” (Wade, Tavris, Garry, 2014, p.341). Individuals and cultures rely on memory for history giving meaning and coherence. In schooling, students rely on the process of encoding, storage, and retrieval of information. Students could have problems with memories that simply fade with time if not accessed now and then called decay theory. Students could also have problems with new information entering substituting old information called replacement. A third theory that students might have problems in school is interference. This theory occurs because of similar items of information with one another in either storage or retrieval. Cue-dependent forgetting is another theory where
Show More

Related Documents: Memory: Hippocampus and Day-to-day Lives Essay example

Why Is Hippocampus Important

Hippocampus: Brain Functions God the Creator , made us with a specific purpose in mind so that even single part of the body is designed to work together and help us to live. The hippocampus is a part of the brain which is right by the temporal lobe. It’s functions include many of the daily life necessities like remembering important test information or the cherished childhood memories. The hippocampus is affected mostly when people have a mental illness and is very fragile. The slightest wrong…

Words 626 - Pages 3

Analysis Of Henry Molaison's Moonwalking With Einstein

claims that Henry Molaison, a man who had his hippocampus removed, could only remember memories and thoughts like names, dates, times, and even sometimes questioned if he ate breakfast or not for a short period of time before they disappeared from his brain. Henry’s life went on to be one of the most groundbreaking scientific studies in Neuroscience this world has ever seen. However, there is an ethical issue to the original surgery to remove his hippocampus, even though the surgery was necessary to…

Words 1680 - Pages 7

Explain How Biological Factors May Affect One Cognitive Process Essay

cognitive process Memory is essential to human beings. It’s not only the brain’s main function, but is also used everyday without us noticing: we acquire new information, store it, retain it and might retrieve it if needed. It’s thanks to memory and its three main stages: encoding, storage and retrieval, that humans can operate and recall events and information on a daily basis with no difficulty or effort whatsoever. In 1960, it was claimed that there was more than one memory system. Researchers…

Words 1675 - Pages 7

Argumentative Essay About Dreams

spend about one-third of their lives sleeping, and experts have shown that about a fourth of the time sleeping is filled with sleeping. Therefore if a person lives for 75 years, they will spend more than eight years dreaming. This seems like an awful long time to be doing something that we don’t know a whole lot about. Dreams are fascinating in the sense that you’re actually seeing things while you’re sleeping. The things you are seeing may just be strings of memory fragments, or a message from a…

Words 1222 - Pages 5

Brain Research Paper

PSY – 101 Paper 1 The Brain’s Structures and Regions The brain is responsible for everything you do in your life, from deciding when you are hungry, to moving your limbs, to learning and remembering the various facts and events you encounter every day. The brain is an extremely powerful machine that has very specialized areas. With all of its sections and subsections, the brain is the most advanced organ in the known universe. The cerebral cortex is responsible for controlling the higher functions…

Words 692 - Pages 3

The Power Of Tianyin

augmenting the cerebellum, the hippocampus, and the temporal lobe. A homeless girl discovered the superpowers she had after been put into a science project and become a test subject. Lydia, the 16 years old homeless girl, was agreed to examine the new project machine that might change one’s brain components, which turned her into a “superhuman being”. The new science machine changed her cerebellum and can let her “move in high speed”. The enhancement of hippocampus makes her can remember everything…

Words 951 - Pages 4

Declarative Memory

Memory is the means by which we draw on our past experiences in order to use this information in the present (Sternberg, 1999). Memory is essential in everyone’s lives. Without a functioning memory of the past, there is no way to function in the present of think about what lies ahead in the future. No memory means the inability to learn anything. Memory helps to process vast amounts of information. Further research has helped to distinguish the types of amnesias, memory manipulation, sleep and memory…

Words 3699 - Pages 15

Nt1310 Unit 1 Study

between a'smart' and a'smart'? Lost memories: Ever get that fuzzy feeling when you don't get enough sleep? Where it feels harder to remember things? Blame the hippocampus, your memory center. It acts like a record skipping when you don't get enough sleep. The hippocampus is one of the first parts of the brain to deteriorate in Alzheimer's patients. 3. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'? False memories The sleep-starved brain may fail to encode memories successfully in the first place…

Words 883 - Pages 4

Retrogenesis: Alzheimer ' s Disease and Significant Personality Changes Essay

the entorhinal cortex area near the hippocampus. The hippocampus is essential for short and long term memories. The changes in the brain can start 10-20 years before any symptoms occur. Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of aging. This is a slow disease starting with minimal memory problems and ending with severe brain damage. Individuals with dementia of Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia have shown the signs and symptoms of retrogenesis. An individual can live up to 20 years after being diagnosed…

Words 1392 - Pages 6

How to Play Essay

potential for abuse. This means that people who start to use marijuana become hooked and it begins to dominate their lives. Marijuana contains toxins and cancer-inducing chemicals, which are stored in fat cells for long period of time. Scientific research relates that marijuana use damage brain cells and respiratory systems, decrease hormone production in both sexes, acute memory loss, lowers immune systems, and impairs motor skills. Marijuana smoke has been directly linked to miscarriage. Within…

Words 696 - Pages 3