• Question: How do we remember information in out brain?

    Asked by griffmeg11 to Clare, Mariana, Pedro, Robert, Susanne on 12 Nov 2012. This question was also asked by georgina19.
    • Photo: Susanne Muekusch

      Susanne Muekusch answered on 12 Nov 2012:

      Hi griffmeg11,

      No one knows, really! The human brain is just too complicated. It consists of millions of neurons and to get an answer to your question it is not enough to analyse single nerve cells. Memory is encoded in the way the different nerve cells interact, leading to higher order functions. First: you would have to look at them ALL. Second, you would need to be able to make sense of the data you get.

      So right now we are as far from understanding “memory” in humans as we are from being able to live on the moon.

      But we do understand a bit about memory in much simpler neural circuits in other organisms. One important model organism is aplysia, some kind of sea snail. And the guy who worked on it is Eric Kandel and he got the nobel prize for his achievements in memory research. If you are interested in how memory works, I would suggest further google reading on Eric Kandel and aplysia. That is about how far neuroscience got in understanding memory.

    • Photo: Clare Taylor

      Clare Taylor answered on 12 Nov 2012:

      Wow, I wish I knew! The brain is amazing and very complex and at the moment we just don’t understand everything! Lots of different parts of the brain interact with each other when we think or recall memories and we have lots of neurons firing in our brains sending information but because of the complexity of the whole system it is extremely difficult for scientists to work everything out! Think of all of the senses that you have that cause you to remember things – sometimes it’s a smell or a sound or maybe the taste of a food – there are many different things to remember and somehow they all come together and build a visual picture. It’s just amazing when you think about it!

      What I do know though, is that as you get older you start to forget things, or at least I do! It’s very odd, I have clear memories of things that happened 20 years ago but I can barely remember what I had for lunch last Thursday!

      Another thing I find really interesting is the idea that people with amnesia who have lost their memory have difficulty in thinking about the future because all of our thoughts of the future are constructed from our past memories. It’s fascinating stuff!

    • Photo: Robert Insall

      Robert Insall answered on 22 Nov 2012:

      Griffmeg,

      Nobody else knows yet. You will have to find the answer to this yourself.

      When you do, I look forward to seeing you in the newspapers, winning a Nobel prize.

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