Question: Hw does our brain store information ??

Sarah Thomas answered on 13 Jun 2011:

This question is something that I happen to know a lot about!!

In August 2007, I was in a serious car accident. I woke up in a hospital bed with a needle in my arm, wires attached to my chest and ankle, and a note on my tummy. The note said that I had been in a car accident but was ok and that I had been having some problems with my memory.

After my accident, I suffered from retrograde amnesia. I couldn’t make new memories so I couldn’t remember the crash or anything that had happened after it. The part of my brain where short term memories are stored was damaged. You see, your brain stores short term memories in one place and long term memories in another. So I could still remember who I was and where I lived etc. And there is a process in your brain where certain short term memories are converted into long term ones. Like a sorting process. It is your hippocampus that does this.

There are two types of long term memory: declarative and procedural. Procedural memory is things like riding a bike, things you unconsciously remember. Declarative memory is things like facts and events, things that have to consciously be recalled. Your declarative memory is split into two categories: episodic and semantic. Episodic memory stores your personal experiences and semantic memory stores factual information.

In the months after my accident, it was episodic memory that I had problems with.

It seems like your brain is made of lots of compartments where all the different types of information is stored. It’s widely believed that sleep helps consolidate your declarative memory by reactivating newly formed memories.

As time passed, I got a lot better and now my memory problem is barely noticeable (I hope!). My short term memory is still not great and I have to write things down quickly before I forget them. I routinely forget conversations I’d had with people even if it was only 5 minutes ago. I make to do lists to help me get through the day and not forget anything important!