Even though we often use a single word to refer to \u201cmemory\u201d as a whole, there are actually multiple different specific types of memory, which are responsible for many different mental processes and behaviors. There are also key differences in the various brain areas involved in storing and re-activating different types of memories. Read on to learn more about these differences, and the brain regions responsible for them!<\/p>\n
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Short-term memory refers to holding amounts of information in an active, readily-available state for a short period of time.<\/p>\n
For example, when you\u2019re reading, in order to understand a sentence you need to keep the first part of the sentence in mind as you continue through to the end of it. This would be one particularly \u201cshort\u201d example of \u201cshort-term\u201d memory, since it unfolds over the span of just a few seconds.<\/p>\n
Another example could be trying to hold a person\u2019s phone number in your memory while you go to write it down. For many people, this might involve repeating the numbers in your head (\u201crehearsing\u201d the information) – and if you got distracted by something else, the information might vanish from your mind entirely, since the information is not stored in your long-term memory, and has to be actively maintained.<\/p>\n
In fact, phone numbers are great example of short-term memory, as many psychologists believe that the number of discrete \u201cbits\u201d of information the average person can keep in their active short-term memory is 7 – just like the number of digits in a phone number [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n The term \u201cworking memory\u201d is often used interchangeably with \u201cshort-term memory.\u201d However, it technically refers to a slightly different set of processes, which generally include some kind of \u201cmanipulation\u201d of (i.e. \u201cworking with\u201d) the information that\u2019s being stored in short-term memory.<\/p>\n One example of this could be trying to listen to a phone number – but then also subtracting \u20181\u2019 from each digit, and then repeating the entire new 7-digit sequence back to someone.<\/p>\n In this case, \u201cworking memory\u201d would include<\/em> short-term memory, but would also<\/em> include a variety of other cognitive systems that your brain is using to manipulate and update that information. In other words, you still have to remember the numbers themselves – but you also have to use other cognitive processes to use that information to produce the desired response.<\/p>\n However, this is often a subtle distinction, and there are many other contexts where people use these two terms to refer to roughly the same thing. For example, this difference might be important to keep in mind if you\u2019re reading a technical scientific paper about psychology or neuroscience – but in most every-day, non-technical, contexts, these two terms usually mean roughly the same thing, and refer mostly to the act of keeping some information in active short-term memory (like the phone number example).<\/p>\n If information from short-term memory is important enough to keep around, practicing or \u201crehearsing\u201d the memory will cause the brain to transfer it from short-term memory into long-term memory, so that it can be recalled and used at a later date.<\/p>\n However, \u201clong-term\u201d memory isn\u2019t a single thing: it is actually made up of several different specific types of stable, long-term memory.<\/p>\n Explicit Memory <\/strong>is when you consciously memorize something, such as your new home address and zip code, or your personal social security number.<\/p>\n Declarative Memory <\/strong>is a type of explicit memory. Technically it refers to memories that can be consciously verbalized (\u201cdeclared\u201d). Examples of this might be the date of a certain historical event, the definition of a word, or the rules to a game.<\/p>\n There are three main \u201csub-types\u201d of declarative memory:<\/strong><\/p>\n Implicit memory is an unconscious form of memory that can affect thoughts and behaviors even when the specific details of that memory are not consciously (\u201cexplicitly\u201d) remembered.<\/p>\n For example, maybe you visited a small town as a child, and then returned much later as an adult. Though you might never have been able to tell someone where the post office was located in that town, once you\u2019re physically back in that environment you might discover that you suddenly can remember which corner it is on, and how to walk there.<\/p>\n In other words, you learned the layout of the town \u201cimplicitly\u201d, even though you wouldn\u2019t normally have been able to verbally (or \u201cexplicitly\u201d) explain to someone where the post office was without actually being there yourself.<\/p>\n Implicit memory includes:<\/strong><\/p>\n While different parts of the brain are associated with memory, learning and memory involve long-term potentiation<\/em><\/a> (persistent strengthening of synapses), and long-term <\/em>depression<\/em><\/a> (long-lasting decrease in synaptic strength). These processes are involved synaptic plasticity<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a>Working Memory<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Long-term Memory<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a>1) Explicit Memory<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/a>2) Implicit Memory<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Parts of the Brain Involved in Memory<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Other Parts of the Brain Involved in Memory<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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