Skip to content
Call Us Today! 212-533-4646 | MON-FRI 12PM - 4PM (EST)
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE
Search for:
About Us
Publications
FAQ
Annual Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Initiatives
Advocate
Educate
Cultivate
Care
News
Newsletters
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
Join UNWLA
Become a Member
Volunteer With Us
Donate to UNWLA
Members Portal
Calendar
Shop to Support Ukraine
Search for:
Print
Print Page
Download
Download Page
Download Right Page
Open
1
2-3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
24-25
26-27
28-29
30-31
32-33
34-35
36-37
38-39
40
“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, КВІТЕНЬ 2019 WWW. UNWLA .ORG 33 OUR AMAZING MEMORY by Ihor Magun, MD, FACP Memory is a complex and elusive scientific pheno - menon. It is the most powerful tool in everyday hu- man life, yet despite all advances in medicine, there is no full unders tanding of memory’s exact mechanism. To better understand the complexity of the memory phenomenon , experts have divide d memory into three distinct but interrelated stages: encoding, storage and retrieval. The first stage, e ncoding, is the first step in the memory sequence. This process begins with perception, which is rooted in our senses. For ex - ample, when you see a particular scene like a flow- ing river, you register the color, the sound of the flow ing water , perhaps even the temperature if you immerse your hand in to it. All these separate sen- sations (encrypted as a single experience) travel to the part of the brain that is called the hippocam- pus. The hippocampus , together with the front - al cortex in y our brain , then runs a type of evalua- tion, determin ing whether the information is to be stored in long - term or short - term memory. It ap- pears that these evaluations are then “stored” in various locations in the brain. How they are re- trieved and brought back to memory is not yet fully k nown. But it works! P e ople who study this phe- nomenon also do not yet know which stimuli that warrant memory significance are stored. One thing we do know is that the way we pay attention to something can determine how much we can actu- ally remember. Brain cells work together du ring infor - mation processing. The connection between one nerve cell and another is called a synapse. Electri- cal pulses pass through all synapses. As one cell re- peatedly sends electricity to another, the connec- tion between them strengthens. Learning and lif e experiences promote many of these connections. Repeated connections are reinforced and pro mote perfection of skills. A good example of this might be what happens when someone is learning a mu- sical instrument, an endeavor often associated with the phrase “practice makes perfect.” The second stage of the memory pheno m- enon is storage of memory. Because there is no rea- son to remember everything, the human brain is capable of filtering information content depending on how important it may be. Short - term memo ry has a limited holding capacity, permitting about seven items for a time frame of about thirty sec- onds. An example of a short - term memory item could be a telephone number. Important infor- mation that initially falls into short - term memory can be transferr ed into long - term memory. Long - term memory has the capacity to retain an unlim- ited amount of data. The third stage of memory is retrieval of in- formation , a phenomenon that begins on an un - conscious level and transfers data to the conscious level . The proc ess involves three stages . In the first stage one has to mentally register, retain and re- trieve. If any of these three components is missing, it may be that the initial information was not en- coded effectively. This could have been caused by distraction, or the information in question may not have been registered in your memory in the first place. Alternatively, there may have been a mis- match between how the brain encoded the infor- mation and what cues are being used to retrieve it. An example illustrating th is would be examining what happens when you are looking for yo ur keys. If you were distracted when you placed y our keys in an unfamiliar location, you may be looking for them for a while. This does not mean that you for- got ; it simply means that you never encoded that information in your memory in the first place. Memory can be fascinating and frightening at the same time , especially as we grow older. As we age, synapses do not function as well as they did when we were youn ger. Moreover, both the hippo - campus and the brain become smaller . Th e reduc- tion in size and the changes that result occur grad- ually and var y from person to person depending on genetics and other issues , including diseases. But these changes do not mean pe ople cannot be pro- active and maximize their memory options. M emory loss is difficult to measure , but the old saying about “use it or lose is” is intuitively cor- rect and provides a suggestion on how to mini mize the losses and maximize the benefits. Resear ch on this matter has shown that individuals who chal- lenge their brain s , stay physically active, eat healthy foods , stay socially active and engage in de- bates/conversations, learn a new language or learn to play a musical instrument can minimize memory los s.
Page load link
Go to Top
1 
2-3 
4-5 
6-7 
8-9 
10-11 
12-13 
14-15 
16-17 
18-19 
20-21 
22-23 
24-25 
26-27 
28-29 
30-31 
32-33 
34-35 
36-37 
38-39 
40 
