How Memories work - assorted ideas
- From: TomHendricks474@xxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 13:08:09 -0400 (EDT)
From "Three Pound Universe"
"... The hypothesis is that temporary electrochemical changes
at the synapse can in time evolve into long-lasting anatomical changes.
If a neuronal pathway is traversed over and over again, like a well
worn footpath, an enduring pattern is engraved. Neural messages
tend to flow along familiar roads, along paths of least resistance."
I suggest this is why we learn through repetition. I also suggest
that this may give credence to changing behavior through affirmations,
repeated statements said over and over again. This idea may be
as old as the Hindu concept of samskara "nothing more than a thought
repeated over and over a thousand times."
Why would repeated messages lead to long term memories"
How would that be natural selection? I suggest it is because
the most repeated messages we receive - usually from our
parents or loved ones in the early development phase - would
be the most likely to be good for us.
In experiments with the sea slug Aplysia, they found
"The memory was stored in measurable changes in the number of
neurochemical quanta (or packets) released from specific
neurons. Habituation (repeated message that is gradually turned
off) reduced the amount of the chemical messenger, thereby
weakening the elecrical signal sent to the postsynaptic cell.
With sensitization, (the opposite of habituation) ... more of
the chemical squirted into the gap, and a stronger message
was relayed."
This all suggests that the messages most repeated lead to
long term memory.
I would also suggest that any traumatic event may well
lead to long term memory, because it would cause an exaggerated
neurochemical response.
I would also suggest that one could strengthen any memory
by remembering it with as many senses as possible.
Ex. Instead of remembering the letter 3, it would be easier
to remember the letter 3 on a pyramid shape , that is colored
blue, that smells like a flower, etc. In other words, to tie
the memory in with other experiences, facts, sensations, may
well make it easier to recall.
Comment on any of these ideas?
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