Carolin Pan week 14 Neural Connections
Carolin Pan
Neural Connections
When someone asks you to recall something, what is it that you think of in your mind? When you conjure up your memories, they come up as a combination of images and words, but how does your brain actually store it? It is quite fascinating actually, the way human brains store information. When a memory is created, the process of storing the information starts as the information flows from the cerebral cortex, rich in nerve cells, to the hippocampus, also considered the central switching point for memories. When retrieving memories, information flows in the opposite direction.
image source: https://www.kurzweilai.net/images/brain-network.png
Through the strengthening of neural connections, your memory can also be improved in fact. When the brain forms memories or learns something new, it encodes this information in the connections between neurons. Every time you need to conjure up a memory or information you learned, one neuron will activate another, firing an action potential. Repeatedly firing these action potentials will make the connection between two neurons stronger. However, if the information is not retrieved in a long while, the connection between the two neurons will slowly decay. Soon you will forget the information or the memory.
In order to strengthen one’s memory, individuals need to constantly recall the information to ensure that the neural connections are strong. According to Psychology Today, this can be done by reading complex works, learning to play a musical instrument (as it improves hand-eye coordination), learning to speak a foreign language (though this would be easiest during the critical period for learning languages), and traveling (surprise).
Sources: https://www.fau.eu/2019/11/12/news/research/how-the-brain-stores-memories/#:~:text=When%20a%20memory%20is%20created,when%20we%20retrieve%20a%20memory
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/prime-your-gray-cells/201709/what-creates-superior-brain-connectivity-according-study
I like this blog unit because you can really tell who takes AP Psychology or AP Biology and who does not. This was very informative and I feel as though I got information about how the neurons in my brain fire and strengthen that I will definitely forget within the next hour. That being said, the good thing about how our brains work is that we do not need to know how they work for them to work, so I can forget this information with a carefree attitude.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHi Carolin, all this information about the brain makes me think about learning about Elon Musk’s company Neuralink. I remember a while back that he was trying to place a chip in our people's brains so we can do actions just by thinking about it. I wonder how the neuron firing would be different with this chip. Would you opt to have a chip surgically put in your brain? I still feel that idea is far-fetched, as that seems like telepathy. Nevertheless, your blog was very informative, and I plan to check out Neuralink’s progress later this week.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello Carolin,
ReplyDeleteMaybe I can convince my parents to go on a vacation this summer to improve their memory! Your blog was very informative and answered some questions that I did not even know that I had, like how memories are transported within the brain. I think I should try spending more time each day exercising my mind by reading, drawing, driving, or anything that is not excessively draining (or boring) my mental capacity. Your blog has just encouraged me to pump air in my bike and ride somewhere random just for fun . . . well actually under a bridge, because Ms. Wheaton expects us to take a picture of a pin and roller supporting a truss; however, until I reach, I will make sure to exercise the neural connections in my brain by being aware of my surroundings.
Hey Carolin, I remember reading somewhere that if someone wants to truly remember a subject for a long while, you should try to remember it once a day and then once a week and then once a month so that it stays in your head for relatively longer. It reminds me a lot of when my Spanish teachers would try to persuade us to try to apply our knowledge of foreign languages outside of class because if we kept on recalling those connections between those neurons, it would fortify them and make that memory more permanent. However, I also wonder that in the moment when people grind a lot for a subject, if all those connections made at the same time gets too messy and is why people suggest taking a day or two after grinding for a subject to take a break.
ReplyDeleteHey Carolin, I love how informative your blog post really was. I feel like I learned so much about how memories work, how they transport to your brain and how they are ingrained in there. It's really interesting how so many things can improve your mental capacity and I think I definitely need to start doing those things so I'll be able to get things in my head a lot faster and for longer periods of time. Your post frankly really motivated me to do something outside of what I have to do for school. I feel like even if it's reading, if it isn't something I'm made to do, it's so much easier to do it as a relaxation exercise. Thanks for the reminder, I'm certainly going to do some of these to help me breathe during spring break as I study for AP Exams.
ReplyDeleteHi Carolin, I really liked your blog post. It was so informative and I could tell that you are taking AP Psychology. It is so interesting that it actually is biologically possible that memories can be forgotten. To be honest, it seems like something that could only happen in movies. By describing it in detail, you really put into perspective how possible this could be. Now, it totally makes sense why teachers say practice makes perfect--because it literally does. By constantly going over information, neutrons would repeatedly fire action potentials. This only encouraged me to do more information recall as a studying method for AP tests.
ReplyDeleteHi Carolina@! This relates to how typically the way people want to store information as a long term memory is by consistently reviewing the material in intervals. As you keep going back to the material to review it, you neural connections are strengthened, allowing you to retain the information better.
ReplyDeleteHi Carolin, I also think the human brain is really cool and there’s so much we have yet to find out. It’s the most complex, amazing topic to study. And, if you think about how fast our brain actually works, recalling memories and storing memories and forming new ones, I don’t think there’s a computer out there that works as powerfully or efficiently as the human brain. It was also interesting to learn how memories get lost too. If you are taking in too much information and not really using it, you could be losing all of that working memory due to a lack of engagement.
ReplyDeleteHi Carolin, you mentioned that when you repeatedly remember a memory, the neural link gets stronger. In my own experience, when I remember a really distant memory, I often don't remember the memory itself but the memory of my last time remembering the memory. I've found this to be true with some of my other older memories where they feel so hazy that I am unsure whether they are anywhere near accurate. Human memory is notoriously inaccurate, and it''s interesting to see how it operates, especially looking at people with special conditions like photographic memory or PTSD.
ReplyDelete