Does Science Defend or Condemn our Forgetful Trait?

We all have that almost embarrassing experience of forgetting something, in certain situations, people may look at us as if we are losing our minds already, but regardless of the opinion you have about the act of forgetfulness before reading this article, scientific conclusions that I will be exploring through this topic, will help us figure out if it is normal to forget things or there are scientific conditions attached to the situation.

pexels

What you need to know about the brain-Structure and Functionality.

The brain is an organ of the body that controls major aspects of the body, in my last publication, I mentioned something about brain death and I made it clear that brain death is actually the most complicated death type there is. The brain is protected within the skull and it is made up of the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem.

The body has 5 major senses which are; sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing, these five senses pass information to the brain. The brain is responsible for the control of memory, speech, movement, and every other organ of the body.

The cerebrum in the brain is responsible for the interpretation of touch, sight and speech, and hearing signals.

The brainstem in the brain is responsible for the automatic functions of the body, these functions include; breathing, increase in body temperature, vomiting, swallowing, and sneezing.

The cerebellum on the other hand is responsible for the coordination of muscle movement, it gives room for posture balance as well.

We mentioned the cerebrum earlier, this cerebrum is divided into two major halves, this division is joined by bundles of fibers known as corpus callosum, these fibers are responsible for the transmission of messages from one side of the brain to the other side. When something happens to one side of these brain divisions, the reaction is received by the other side of the brain, for instance, if one side of the experiences stroke, let’s say the right side, the left side of the body will begin to show symptoms of paralysis.

The brain is also divided into four different lobe types; Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, and Temporal.
The frontal lobe is responsible for emotions, personality, and behavioral changes, it is also responsible for body movement and speech.
The parietal lobe is responsible for the interpretation of signals and memory, it is also strongly associated with the sense of touch, temperature, and pain.

Occipital Lobe is responsible for the interpretation of the vision.
Temporal Lobe is responsible for memory storage, organization, and understanding of language.1

Before we begin to speak about forgetfulness, we must analyze what our memory is made up of and how it operates;

Memory storage and structure.

Memory is a complex structure that is responsible for three different functions;
• It is responsible for analyzing and interpreting messages.

• It is responsible for the storage of information.

• It is responsible to help people recollect events.

When it comes to memory storage, there are three levels/phases to how memory can be stored in the brain.

• Short term memory: The life span of this memory is usually not more than a minute, this memory life span usually occurs when reading a text or book, after reading one line it gives room for the next line to make sense.

• Long term memory: This memory space is larger and has unlimited capacity for the storage of information.

• Skill memory: This part of the memory function is responsible for the storage of skilled acts like playing an instrument, tying a shoelace, etc. 1

Enough about the structure of the brain, let’s describe the possible reason why we forget things.

Memories are responsible for who we become, memories help us avoid falling into the same trap as we did days or years ago, this means we cannot underrate the impact of memories in our lives. Initially, researchers thought that unused memories usually decay, but other current researchers have come up with opinions that contradict these old researchers' beliefs.

Scientists believe that for memories to be encoded in the brain of a mammal, it is determined by how strong there is an increased connection between them, the strength level of these connections is a result of receptor type found in the synapse. In order for these structures to be maintained and properly intact, it means that the AMPA receptors must remain intact.

According to a scientist called Hardt,

None of these receptors are stable, they are moved in and out of the synapse constantly and turn over in hours or days. Hardt’s lab showed that a dedicated mechanism continuously promotes the expression of AMPA receptors at synapses, yet some memories are still forgotten.

According to the research done by researcher Hardt, he concluded that it is very possible for receptors to be removed and of course, this suggests that forgetting is actually just an active process. This means that forgetting is a memory function and not a memory failure. 2

There are three common reasons why people forget things;

• Retrieval failure: This type of memory failure occurs as a result of a missing catalyst at the time when that memory was created. An example is when you forget the name of the guest that came visiting but a perfect description of the person juggles back your memory to remember.

• Interference: This type of memory failure is attributed to having a mixed-up memory as a result of the similarities. An example is mixing up orders while serving at a restaurant simply because it was what the last customer ordered.

• Ineffective coding: In this case, the information fails to store in the long-term memory and this is usually because the individual did not pay enough attention at the time the information was passed. An example is, that you were probably staring at a pretty face when she was telling you her name so you missed out on that part of the information.

The forgetting curve according to Hermann Ebbinghaus (a psychologist that studied memory), came to a conclusion that we tend to forget an average of 90% of everything we have learned in the first month. Studies conducted by The University of Toronto also stated that forgetfulness is likewise a sign of intelligence. Even after proving that forgetfulness is a sign of intelligence and it is natural, we must admit that forgetting a sentence while giving a public speech is not only embarrassing but may be implicating to one’s career, this brings us to the need for knowledge reinforcement.

Possible remedies to forgetfulness.

Knowledge reinforcement is the act of studying to gain that particular piece of information over and over, whenever there is a knowledge reinforcement, similar neurons are located in the hippocampus, and this leads to the creation of a thicker neural pathway that becomes easier to access every time there is a re-visitation.

Exercises increase the size of the hippocampus, especially aerobic exercises like running, swimming, or even playing tennis.

Having a good time to rest will help the memory have a proper reflection on what happened during the day but the absence of sleep would result in the absence of focus, and an increased level of stress, and all of this would contribute to the negative effect on the memory.

Polyunsaturated fats help to preserve memory, for example, fish, fruits, and vegetables.

Meditations and deep-breathing exercises will greatly reduce stress.

There are also brain training applications on the internet that contributes significantly to the manner in which the brain functions. 3

Conclusion.

Forgetfulness has been proven to be an act of intelligence but we must also bear in mind that the situation may be an embarrassing one, so we need to engage in activities that will help us remember what we need constantly. Reading is a good way to get the memory refreshed and active constantly.

For more studies.

https://mayfieldclinic.com/pe-anatbrain.htm

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02211-5

https://www.growthengineering.co.uk/the-science-behind-forgetfulness/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5657245/

https://scitechdaily.com/why-do-we-forget-new-theory-says-forgetting-is-actually-a-form-of-learning/

Hi, I am Tobi a writer, speaker, relationship blogger, and lover of good music. I love making friends and learning from people. Want to hear me speak on relationships and general life issues, you can find my podcast channel Here and listen to any episode for free, do not forget to subscribe and share with friends. I sincerely appreciate every love I get from members of the community and do well to keep them coming.