Learning, retaining and restoring are the functions of memory. It defines our personality. Definition, role, types and associated disorders with Dr. François Sellal, neurologist.
Memory is a biological process responsible for our ability to assimilate, remember and restore information. The seahorse is an essential structure for the functioning of memory in the brain. There are many “types” of memory which work through a three-step process. “memory problems can occur gradually or suddenly” indicates Dr. François Sellal, neurologist and general secretary of the French Federation of Neurology (FFN). What is the role memory? What are the diseases associated with memory? How to strengthen your memory?
Definition: what is memory?
memory is the ability to learn, retain and recall past information and what is associated with it to interact with our environment. It is made up of know-how, knowledge and memories.
The seahorse is the emblematic structure of memory, itself connected to other neural networks to form what is called the Paper circuit. Memory follows a 3-step process:
► Encoding or learning ; ability to select and learn information. The brain filters what it stores.
► Storage or “consolidation” ; long process during which information is revised, re-learned. This phase lasts several months after the apprenticeship.
► The reminder ; the brain’s ability to retrieve information, take up sensory information to reconstruct the memory. “The reconstruction of the memory carried out by the memory, as its name suggests, involves a risk of errors” notes Dr. François Sellal.
What is the role of memory?
The memory allows learn, retain and recall information. “It builds our knowledge. We are an aggregate of memories since our birth, memories that define our personality and influence our behavior” indicates the neurologist.
What are the different types of memory?
Memory is divided into many different cutouts. Among the most well-known types of memory:
► The division between declarative memory Where explicit (one actively and consciously retains and seeks) and the implicit memory (of which procedural memory is a form) which relates to events whose learning and restitution is done without our knowledge. Driving a car or riding a bicycle are learning processes that call on procedural memory, which is expressed unconsciously when you are in action. The Genevan Edouard Claparède carried out an experiment on an amnesic patient who forgot all his memories after a few minutes. One morning, during his medical visit, he shakes her hand with a safety pin hidden deep inside his. The next day, the professor tries to shake hands with the patient again, who refuses without knowing why. The memory had flown away. But he still had an unconscious mistrust justified by a real fact. “The patient had understood that in this room, shaking hands with this person was going to be detrimental for him.“ emphasizes Dr. Sellal.
► Explicit memory itself includes two subtypes:
- The episodic memory : memory of an event which is very well located in time and space, with a strong emotional valence and which is unique. Most autobiographical events are episodic memories. For example, you broke your leg leaving your house 1 week ago.
- The semantic memory : memory of general knowledge such as calculation, geography, languages etc involving a low emotional valence. For example, Rome is the capital of Italy.
► The division between verbal or auditory memory and visual memory. “Some people have excellent auditory memory, others have better visual memory” emphasizes our interlocutor
► The division between the retrograde memory (which relates to events preceding the onset of illness or trauma) and anterograde memory, which concerns recent memories. (occurring after the onset of the disease or trauma).
What are the diseases responsible for memory problems?
Many disorders are associated with memory. Among the best known are:
► Alzheimer’s disease for which the anterograde memory is damaged, amnesia relates to new events. At the beginning, a good part of the retrograde memory is very well preserved and the old memories very well retained. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease that affects memory consolidation.
► Stroke affects important regions in the functioning of memory in a brutal way.
► More rarely, brain tumors can affect memory regions.
“The more you train your memory, the more you improve it”
► In some cases, an epileptic seizure may cause transient memory impairment. During the crisis, the consolidation circuit no longer works and causes a “blackout“.
► The amnesic stroke refers to a sudden onset anterograde memory disorder that will last less than 24 hours during which the patient does not stop asking the same questions. He healed without sequelae. It is a form of functional stupefaction whose origin can be a strong emotion or a minor head trauma. It’s a transient memory impairment.
► Korsakoff’s syndrome, which is described in people suffering from alcoholism. It is linked to an extreme vitamin B1 deficiency which causes brain damage in the memory circuitry. Anterograde amnesia is massive, retrograde amnesia is important. Affected patients are totally unaware of their disorder and confabulate. The patient mixes his memories, creates others without his knowledge: this is why confabulation can be defined as an “honest lie”. Patients also make false recognitions.
► A rarer cause of Korsakoff syndrome has been described in pregnant women affected by hyperemesis gravidarum (uncontrollable vomiting of the first trimester of pregnancy, resulting in vitamin B1 deficiency). They may develop memory problems. But in general, this risk is very well prevented.
Otherwise, anxiety, stress affect the quality of learning and recall; lack of sleep to memory consolidation.
Can you improve your memory? How ?
It is possible to improve your memory skills.
“The more you train your memory, the more you improve it. the sleep is valuable for memory function. Sleep allows you to recap what has been learned during the day. The more you are focused on what you are trying to memorize, the better you will retain it. The effort made and the reflection on the meaning of what you are trying to learn optimizes memory. Finally, repetition reinforces memorization : revising increases the chances of retaining” indicates our interlocutor
Thanks to Dr François Sellal, neurologist, head of service at the Civil Hospitals of Colmar and general secretary of the French Federation of Neurology (FFN).