Table of contents:
- The process of forming memories
- Short term memory vs long term memory
- 5 types of long term memory in your brain
- Implicit memory
- Procedural memory
- Explicit memory
- Semantic memory
- Episodic memory
Memory loss, or reduced memory skills, is associated with increasing age. However, there are still some things that can trigger memory loss, such as stress, neurological dysfunction (Alzheimer's), hormones, and the environment. In fact, do you know how a memory is formed? How can you remember memories that happened years ago?
The process of forming memories
Memories are formed from the time we are born and will continue to form as long as we live. The hippocampus is a part of the brain located in the temporal lobe of the brain, which is responsible for maintaining memory. Researchers claim that each cell is used to store one memory or memory. When there is stimulation from the environment, the memory will be formed through three stages, namely:
- The learning stage, which is the process in which information is received by the senses of the body
- The retention stage, which is the process of information stored by the brain
- The retrieval stage, which is recalling previously stored memories and forming new memories.
Short term memory vs long term memory
Memory or sensory memory records information from stimuli received from the environment, through the help of the five senses. If the stimuli in the environment are ignored, not seen, smelled, or not heard by the senses, then no memory will be formed. Conversely, if the stimulation is noticed and then recorded by the senses, it will be transmitted to the nervous system and will become a short-term memory.
Short-term memory can only remember for 30 seconds and can only receive as much as 7 pieces of information in one memory. Short-term memory has a small capacity but is very influential in our daily lives. By relying on short-term memory, the body will carry out various responses and respond to stimuli from outside.
After short-term memory is formed, the information that is repeated will enter the long-term memory system for longer storage. Memories that enter long-term memory will not be forgotten if new information comes in. Like the first time we learned to tie shoelaces, at that time these memories become short-term memories. Then, if every day we always tie shoelaces, then this will become a long-term memory. Any short-term memories that are "recalled" or repeated, or memories of an important event, will be sent to the long term memory repository. A person who loses short-term memory will forget what he did 5 or 10 minutes ago, but will still remember memories that come from many years ago.
5 types of long term memory in your brain
Here are the types of long-term memory that are formed:
Implicit memory
Or it is also called subconscious memory or automatic memory. As the name implies, this memory is formed from past memories that recur or enter into long-term memory. For example, when you watch a film that is repeated. When you watch the film again, you will subconsciously imagine the next part. And you don't mean to "spin" that part of the film in your head and come out subconsciously.
Procedural memory
Is a part of implicit memory or memories that accidentally or unconsciously appear. This memory is responsible for long-term memory related to motor skills. For example, you already know how to walk, a badminton athlete who already knows how to play badminton during a match, and a musician who has remembered how to play his instrument. These are abilities that are continually honed and repeated over and over, so that it does not require more effort to 'recall' these memories.
Explicit memory
In contrast to implicit memory, this memory requires more effort to bring back memories that have been past, even requires a trigger to remember something. Like remembering dates and birthdays, or remembering people's names and faces.
Semantic memory
Namely memories that are not related to an individual's personal experience. Semantic memory consists of things that are generally known, such as the color of the sky, the name of fruit, how to use a pencil, or the name of a country.
Episodic memory
It is a unique "collection" that exists in each individual because of experiencing a certain event. Like, memories of your 17th birthday, or memories of the first time you entered school, and so on.
Various theories state that the electrical conductivity of synapses (nerve terminals that connect nerve cells) functions to store, shape, recall existing memories, and respond to stimuli when these memories appear. However, the process stages of memory formation are still unclear.
