Short - term and long - term memory

1. HPW 3C1 Living and Working with Children Mrs. Filinov Short - term and long - term memory

3. Types of Memory • Memory takes many different forms. We know that when we store a memory, we are storing information. • What that information is and how long we retain it determines what type of memory it is. • The biggest categories of memory are short-term memory (or working memory) and long-term memory, based on the amount of time the memory is stored.

4. Short-Term Memory  • Short-term memory—closely related to "working memory"—is like a receptionist for the brain. • Is responsible for storing information temporarily and determining if it will be dismissed or transferred on to long-term memory. • This process takes your short-term memory less than a minute to complete. • For example, it is helping you right now by storing information from the beginning of this sentence, so that you can make sense of the end of it. • More recently, scientists have begun to dive a little deeper into "short-term" brain functions and have added a separate (but similar) type of memory, "working" memory. • This ability to hold on to a piece of information temporarily in order to complete a task is specifically human. • It causes certain regions of the brain to become very active, in particular the pre-frontal lobe. • This region, at the very front of the brain, is highly developed in humans. • It is the reason that we have such high, upright foreheads, compared with the receding foreheads of our cousins the apes

5. Working Memory vs. Short-Term Memory • Working memory is a newer concept than short-term memory. • Working memory emphasizes the brain's manipulation of information it receives (using it, storing it, and so on), while short-term memory is a more passive concept. • Working memory is often thought of as the brain's "scratch pad" that keeps information – a number, name, or whatever else – on hand just long enough to use.

6. Age and Short-Term Memory • As we grow older, the amount of time our short-term memory can store information becomes shorter and shorter. • Age, and other clinical conditions, makes us more likely to have trouble keeping up with certain tasks, like remembering which button to push in a bank's phone menu. • It also gives our brains less time to successfully move new information to long-term memory, making us more likely to forget details of recent events. Memory lapses and cognitive decline are a normal part of aging. • You can work towards slowing down the process by maintaining a brain-healthy lifestyle and keeping your memory active.

7. The Brain and the Long-Term memory • Information is transferred from short-term memory (also known as working memory) to long-term memory through the hippocampus, so named because its shape resembles the curved tail of a seahorse (hippokampos in Greek). • The hippocampus is a very old part of the cortex, evolutionarily, and is located in the inner fold of the temporal lobe.

8. Long-Term Memory • Long-term memory is our brain's system for storing, managing, and retrieving information. • Long-term memory is anything you remember that happened more than a few minutes ago. • They can last for just a few days, or for many years. • Long-term memories aren't all of equal strength. • Stronger memories enable you to recall an event, procedure, or fact on demand. • For example, that Paris is the capital of France. • Weaker memories often come to mind only through prompting or reminding. • Long-term memory isn't static. • You do not imprint a memory and leave it as if untouched. • Instead, you often revise the memory over time—perhaps by merging it with another memory or incorporating what others tell you about the memory. • As a result, your memories are not strictly constant, and are not always reliable.

9. Forms of Long –Term Memories • Explicit memories are those that you consciously remember, such as an event in your life or a particular fact • Implicit memories are those that you do without thinking about, like riding a bike—you once learned how, and you remembered how, but now do it without conscious thought. Explicit memories Implicit memories

10. Improving Memory • How well you remember something depends, in part, on how quickly and clearly your senses take in the experience as it happens. • If your brain records what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell with perfect precision, it can recall them better later. • In many people with poorer memory, the fundamental problem lies in the brain’s ability to record sensory information clearly—not its ability to “remember.” • When it comes to improving memory, it’s essential to speed up and sharpen the brain’s ability to process what you take in through your senses. • Vision and listening are most important, since in many memories what you see and hear makes up most of the memory.

11. Memory Lapses • People of all ages experience inconvenient—and sometimes embarrassing—memory lapses. • Who hasn't forgotten where they parked their car? But when older people are forgetful, many begin to worry that the slip-ups are precursors of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). • Memory loss happens to all adults, and only in some cases does it signal a serious condition.

12. Common causes of memory loss in maturity. Normal Age-Related Cognitive Changes  • Studies confirm that the ability to remember details about our experiences often declines as we get older. • This process actually begins as early as age 30, though it accelerates and becomes more noticeable after age 50. • These cognitive changes are part of normal aging. • Recent research has indicated that keeping your mind engaged in new and challenging activities can help to prevent or reverse this normal "cognitive decline."

13. Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) • Is a term that's used to describe a more serious kind of memory decline. • Like those aging normally, people with MCI may complain their memory isn't what it used to be, and their loved ones might agree. • But in addition to these general complaints, they also do worse on certain memory tests compared to others in their age group • People with MCI do not show impaired judgment. • For some people, MCI represents a transitional period between the mild and manageable memory problems associated with normal aging

14. Alzheimer's Disease  • Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia. Currently an estimated 4.5 million Americans are afflicted with the disease • AD has been divided into mild, moderate and severe stages that correspond to behavioral and physical changes. • Cognitive symptoms that became more and more noticeable in the mild stage of the disease increase dramatically in the next stage. • The moderate stage is also characterized by personality and emotional changes that may be challenging for caregivers to manage. • In the final stage, physical problems dominate. Patients are unable to speak or walk, and they become incontinent

15. Other forms of dementia  • Dementia is a general term for a number of conditions that result in severe cognitive deterioration. • In addition to AD, other common dementing conditions include multi-infarct dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies. • About 10% of suspected dementias are reversible. • Depression, drug toxicity, hypothyroidism, benign brain tumor, and Vitamin B12 deficiency are some of the causes of reversible dementia.

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