Nivedita Kamath Week #14: A Memory Mystery
A Memory Mystery
What does the dentist’s office look like? Now think about it for at least five seconds. One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five. You probably imagined how the building looks, maybe how the parking lot or interior looked. Maybe you thought of your dentist or your experiences at the dentist. And if you did not, I probably just reminded you. I apologize for that. Now before I asked you that question, where were all these memories? Where were these vivid images, names, feelings, and sounds stored?
The Hippocampus is thought to be the part of the brain where sequential memories of one’s life are “stored.” Henry Molaison, who suffered from epilepsy, had his hippocampus surgically removed in 1953. While he may have been cured and able to live healthily for 55 more years, he had completely lost his ability to store long-term memories. Molaison’s memories before the surgery remained; however, present recollected memories did not last past a few events. This demonstrated that there were various types of memories and parts of the brain where they are “stored.” (Check out this website for more information.)
However, ultimately, we do not know the biological component of memory. It is an abstract concept that either manipulates or is manipulated by our brains. Memories and consciousness are what separate living beings from complex computers or artificial intelligence systems. This would suggest that the mind is rather one’s soul unattached and rather assimilating with one’s physical body. If this soul encompasses our memories and consciousness, then is it not possible for our soul to continue developing despite severe damage to the body? Is it not possible for minds to be merely renting their body, molding it into their own personality while further developing their identity?
If memories could be stored, what is to stop people from attempting to store their minds on software? This might be an extreme and paranoid way of thinking, but to know where the memories of your dentist’s office go when you are not thinking of them may be the secret to where our soul goes when our body is no longer exhibiting it.
The line between conceptual science and spirituality is blurry. You cannot stare and speculate sense into it when you refuse to wear the bicolored 3D glasses and feel the need to hold onto a singular perspective.
I found your blog post very interesting because we are always taking notes in class, while reading Beloved, listening to lectures, and reading from the textbook in order to store this valuable information, but we never take notes and store memories from our own lives. If someone were to quiz me on my life, I would fail that quiz horribly because I cannot remember much besides random commercial slogans that crowd my mind and even more random facts. I despise journaling, but maybe I should start doing it to store some of my valuable memories before they disintegrate forever.
ReplyDeleteHi Nivedita, your blog reminded me of the movie Inside Out and your line about our minds "merely renting their body" really struck me. In Inside Out, little creatures lived in a girl's mind creating and placing experiences in rooms of long-term and core memories. However, when the girl started getting depressed and fighting with her loved ones, those core memories began dying, and the creatures in her head started panicking. Sometimes I feel that I cannot control my thoughts, and now I am picturing those little creatures fighting over what to shift my focus. Your deep blogs are always a joy to read, and I believe the soul can keep developing despite a damaged body, as presented in the movie Inside Out.
ReplyDeleteHi Nivedita! We actually learned about Henry Molaison in my psychology class! I agree with you in that I believe our soul, thoughts, and memories are not related to our physical bodies. It would be quite interesting if we could store our minds on software. Would we be able to access it whenever we wanted to though, like how we do with the memories saved in our brains? (Also I literally could not remember what my dentist's office looked like for a good ten seconds.)
ReplyDeleteHey Nivedita, I actually just had a conversation with my dad today about how in a couple decades with technology, and already with modern technology somewhat, there was really no reason for surgeons to go through that many years of medical school. With future technology, it should be possible to mold people's memory with memories loaded onto software, a reverse of what you mentioned with us storing memories onto computers. Even if we initially did learn a topic and it was in our brain, we should be able to store it somewhere digitally to access it later. Either way, I remember Nueralink completing a stage in their project a while back where a monkey was playing a game with electrodes in their brain sensing where they wanted to move. It would be absolutely insane if we were able to recall memories in a similar way.
ReplyDeleteHey Nivedita! First off, let me just tell you, I was not able to imagine my dentist's office in 5 seconds, but it's impressive that you were able to. I never knew this much about how long term and short term memories were stored and that if we had the specific part of your body responsible for your memories removed, that we wouldn't have the capability to store our long term memories. It's really interesting and makes me realize how precious each part of our body is as it has various different responsibilities. It's funny how you mentioned that if memories could be stored, why can't it be stored on software. Frankly the biggest question is, if it was stored on a software, would we be able to access it whenever we feel like we need do? Would it still be stored in our brain as well? Or would short term memories be stored in our brain while long term memories are stored in the software until we need access to them? This really is an interesting topic you bring up.
ReplyDeleteHey Nivedita! I found your post very interesting. I had never heard and thought about where our memory was stored, but you bring up such an interesting point. What stops people from attempting to store their minds on software? Because memory is so complex, I totally see the benefits of storing memories on a hard drive or software. It would be somewhat interesting to not only know where it is, but to have it in store whenever necessary. I don’t have great short term memory, so this idea would help me access recent memories quicker. Thanks for writing an interesting blog.
ReplyDeleteYou brought up an interesting concept on storing our minds on software. There are times where I fear that one day I may eventually forget precious memories, so the idea of being able to store our memories in computer, a place we can always rely on to recall past events, seems very appealing.
ReplyDeleteHi Nivedita, I also find the way the hippocampus works to be amazing and really interesting. The fact that we have memories somehow stored inside our heads among sensory and motor neurons (along with synapses that emit electrical impulses) is mind blowing to say the least. Moreover, scientists can open the brain and see how neurons are at work with current flows moving and making a memory is fascinating. I find your discussion of a mind renting out a body to be really something to ponder more upon. It’s true, we haven’t figured out a good way to synthesize and interconnect science and spirituality in a way that is accurate or makes good sense. It’s still an area to explore and clear up confusion.
ReplyDeleteHi Nivedita, this post reminds me of something I read a few weeks ago. It mentioned that our cells are completely replaced every seven years. That means seven years from now, every single cell in your body will be different from what it is right now. Is the you right now the same person in seven years? If you were converted into a block of concrete and re-converted into a human, are you still the same person? These are important philosophical questions that are really interesting because there is no right answer. In reality, you are completely different in seven years. However, your memories and consciousness are the only thing that really remain. But do they really? It is all really interesting.
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