I’ll bet you’ve gone to a room to get something, only to have no idea what it was when you arrived there… It’s enough to make you wonder if you’re losing your memory! But I’ll also bet you were thinking about something else more important at the time that had nothing to do with the item you were looking for…
Even though you're not aware of it, your brain is constantly deciding what information is more important and prioritizing the formation of new memory circuits for this information, at the expense of remembering what it was that you wanted in that room.
How Does Memory Work?
Your brain actually changes when you learn something new or have a new experience, forming new connections between brain cells or neurons. This is called “neuroplasticity”.
Memories are formed in 3 stages:
Stabilization is the initial encoding of a memory that takes only 6 milliseconds (0.006 seconds!). This encoding happens when you decide to get something from another room.
Enhancement is the process of consolidation of the memory that occurs over minutes, several hours or days (depending on how complex the memory is). When you’re busy thinking about something else, the memory for what you wanted to get doesn’t get enhanced properly for easy retrieval. However, when you stop and think for a minute or two, you can usually find the initial encoding of the memory for the thing you wanted…
Integration is the process of connecting recent memories into existing memory networks and takes hours to years. Integrating new memories with old ones helps us recall the information more quickly. This might be the stage where you connect the memories of how often you are forgetting what you were looking for, and start to wonder if you’re losing your memory!
Reconsolidation is the retrieval of a consolidated memory into short term or working memory. At this stage, new information and experiences can “interfere”, altering the memory. This is called “retroactive interference” and is important in eyewitness testimonies in court proceedings. If, for example, you were the victim of a robbery, it might be a good idea to write down your memories right away to prevent this from happening.
Factors that affect your memory
Neuroscience, the study of the brain and nervous system, has identified 10 factors that help rehabilitation of people with brain damage. These factors were also found to affect memory in healthy people.
Brain circuits that are not being used begin to degrade over time, so when it comes to memory, “use it or lose it”!
“Cognitive training”, using memory techniques such as repeating out loud, using imagery, etc. helps improve memory.
Learning a new skill or information produces significant changes in patterns of connections between neurons in the brain, not seen with repetition of known behavior. Our brains continue to grow and develop if we practice life long learning.
Repetition may be required to induce long lasting memories, and makes it easier to retrieve and process information needed for a task. Repetition also makes memory retrieval faster and more automatic.
Intensity and emotional involvement increase the degree of long-term memory formation. Memories from early childhood are often associated with a time of emotion.
New learning brain cell connections are more likely to degrade more quickly. Stable consolidation of memories requires time. Summarizing what you’ve just learned helps to enhance memory formation and is a common technique used in adult learning programs.
The more important you judge the information to be, the more likely you are to remember, encode and recall it. Often this judgment is an unconscious one.
Aging causes a reduction in the ability to form new connections in the brain. New connections can still be formed but may be less profound or slower to form than in the younger brain. Older folks just need to work a little harder at it!
“Transference” can occur, where the formation of one set of connections can increase the ability to form new, similar connections. Behaviours similar to those we already know are easier to learn.
“Interference” can also occur. Having strong circuits for one brain activity can potentially interfere with formation of new memories that use the same circuitry, disrupting learning and task performance. These last 2 factors may explain why we find some things easier to learn than others.
How can you improve your memory?
Chronic and acute stress has negative effects on memory. When we’re stressed, we produce increased amounts of cortisol, the stress hormone that is known to affect memory negatively. So, decreasing stress often helps to improve memory.
Attention is crucial to processing information and forming memories so focusing on information helps you to remember it better.
Sleep and even daytime naps enhance the processing of memories into a more consolidated form. Sleep disruption, with less time in deeper stages of sleep, affects this processing of memories and memory function the following day. Interestingly, Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patients have more sleep disruption than healthy elderly adults, and increased time in the deeper stages of sleep improves memory in these patients. The AD drug, donepezil, was found to increase time spent in deep sleep in a study in healthy adults.
Another study found caffeine helps memory more in sleep-deprived people than in those who had a good night’s sleep. Interestingly, sleep deprived people in this study were also more likely to believe their memories were correct, when they were actually wrong.
Nicotine was also found to improve learning and memory tasks in a study setting in Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia and ADHD patients. This is certainly not a reason to start smoking, but might explain the high smoking rates found in patients with schizophrenia.
And what about diet? Sugar may have a positive impact on memory, but not in young adults. Animal studies suggest that saturated fats, hydrogenated (trans) fats and high cholesterol diets may impair memory. Human studies suggest that saturated fats, high cholesterol and high calorie diets deficient in vitamins and antioxidants tend to promote Alzheimer’s Disease, whereas diets with good fats (omega-3’s and mono- and polyunsaturated fats) may decrease risk.
Studies found that exercise speeds mental processes and enhances memory storage and retrieval. Exercise also lowers levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, so may enhance memory by this mechanism also.
Inhaling oxygen before a word list recall test improved memory, although only short term. Blood oxygen saturation and heart rate are correlated – increased heart rate is associated with improved memory in the short term, so an increased heart rate from exercise could be helping boost memory. However, oxygen seems to only help with forming memories, not with recall, so exercise should theoretically help more before you study than before your test.
Music training, for example piano lessons, was noted to improve memory in adults and children. Learning a new language is also reported to improve brain function and memory.
I had many women clients with low levels of progesterone report that their memory for words and names improved when they started using progesterone cream. In contrast, allopregnanolone, the hormone produced when progesterone is broken down, seems to make memory worse. Large amounts of allopregnanolone are produced when progesterone is taken by mouth causing drowsiness not seen with the cream form. This has created conflicting results to studies of progesterone and memory, but my clinical experience suggests that progesterone itself improves memory recall, specifically for words and names.
So, focus on what you want to remember and use memory-enhancing tricks like repeating or associating facts with imagery. Consciously decide which information is important for you to remember. Get your rest and deal with the stress in your life as a strategy to improve your memory. And, if you do happen to have a rough night, that coffee the next day probably will help your memory!
And, did you notice that I bolded some key words to draw attention to them and help you to remember? :) Have a memorable day!
