Our brains are very complex. The way our brain processes memories and incoming information is still a mystery to many scientists. Studies are constantly being performed all over the world in an attempt to help us truly understand the dynamics of our brain’s capabilities and memory capacity.
First off, it’s important to understand the four “R’s” of memory–recognition, recall, recollection, and relearning. These are all ways that our brain helps us retain information, and everything incoming is classified into one of these four groups of memory.
It is hard to thoroughly understand how the information is stored and where exactly in our brain it is stored. There is the belief that memories are stored in a specific area of the brain, while short-term memories and working memory are stored in other areas. Why this is the case is still left unknown, and scientists and psychologists continue to delve into the mystery of our minds.
When you learn something, the data is typically stored in what’s called your short-term memory, or your “working” memory. If it is not used again, or utilized on a regular basis, it will eventually be lost and irretrievable. However, if it is information you constantly use or go over, it will eventually be stored in the long-term memory, making it easier to retrieve when you need it.
Such complex workings can be hard for many of us to fully understand. Along with technological advances, scientists are able to learn more about how our brain and memory works.