Your Memory – How It Works

What is memory? Quite simply, memory is our brains ability to store information. Apparently, many experts believe that we remember every … all the experiences and learning we have acquired are all stored in our memory. Lock away in our brain so to speak.  It is the retrieval of the information, unlocking the vast amount of information in our brain, that we struggle with. And to retrieve it when we need or want it, is the problem. How many times have you remembered a person’s name a day after you really needed it when introducing a new contact to them?

So when people say that they want to improve their memory, it is really that they need to learn to improve their ability to recall that remembered information. For the rest of this post, when I talk about memory I am referring to that ability to recall.

We have two types of memory: Short-term memory, and long-term memory. Short-term memory is what allows us to remember bits of information (like a phone number or short grocery list) for shorter periods of time, and then put them away. This is information that we may never need again, we all use it, and most of us use it pretty well. You look up the number for pizza delivery, and you can remember it just long enough to dial the number.

Long-term memory is information that stays with you for long periods of time, and you can recall it seemingly at will; Information like your address, your Social Security Number, even the name of your childhood friend.

The problem most people have when trying to improve memory is that we need to develop better ways to move the information we take into our short-term memory into our long-term memory. We need to get the information to ’stick’ so that we can recall it when we need it.

There are 3 basic stages of memory:

1. Acquisition

Acquisition is the huge amount of information that flows into our brain on a regular basis. It is everything you experience with your senses (what you see, feel, touch, smell and taste) your emotional reactions, perceptions and learnings.

2. Consolidation

Because you get so much information into your brain at any one time, it would be overwhelming if your brain had to sort through ALL of this information everytime you have a thought.

So the brain has an excellent filing and filtering system that allows it to ignore information that it decides is not important. This consolidation phase is where your brain groups information together, and tries to put it into a logical order.

Consolidation is where your brain moves information from short-term memory into your long-term memory.

3. Retrieval

The third stage of memory is retrieval… and this is the stage that causes us the most frustration! This is where we are able to recall the information we want when we need it. When you try to recall a person’s name, your brain sorts through your memory files and then sends the persons name to your conscious mind.

Many people cite their inability to recall information as their main problem in memory. However, the problem lies more often in the second stage of memory, consolidation. Working on improving how your brain consolidates and stores information will give your brain better organising techniques and will make it a lot easier to recall information when you need it.

For more on techniques to improve your memory, you’ve got to check out Dr. Higbee’s new book, Your Memory: How It Works And How To Improve It. Click here to order your own copy from Amazon.