Discover how memory works and ways to exercise it

A favorite toy, the smell of grandma’s cooking, that incredible trip, the first kiss… Life is made up of many memories and they are what shape our life experience. However, we don’t always stop to think about how everything is stored and processed by the brain. What causes us to remember certain things and forget others?

According to neurologist Carla Jevoux, a member of the Brazilian Academy of Neurology, memory is made up of several different brain systems. These systems perform several functions, such as acquisition, storage and evocation of the various acquired information. “Some molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of these memories are under study. The discovery of these mechanisms would allow the development of drugs to improve memory, ”she clarifies.

Currently, medications availableare for people who already have a diagnosis of syndromes such as Alzheimer’s. “However, we know that a region of the brain called the hippocampus is especially important, as well as the pathways to and from the hippocampus,” adds the professional.

memory types

There are two types of memory: one of them stores recent events, such as what we did today or a few days ago, which is called short-term memory. The other holds our memories, events that happened throughout our lives, called long-term memory.

“There is a subtype of short-term memory called working memory (working memory), which works as if we were an online computer, allowing real-time manipulation of information. Without it, we would not be able, for example, to remember a telephone number that we have just heard”, adds Dr. André Felício, neurologist and member of the Brazilian Academy of Neurology.

Why do we lose memory?

In the first place, it is important to emphasize that possible forgetfulness is common and, to a greater or lesser extent, it happens to everyone. However, the frequent cases, known as memory loss and which interfere more with routine, have as the main cause theagingor pathological causes, such as Alzheimer’s.

“We know that memory impairment can act as a symptom of several other neurological and clinical diseases, such as hypothyroidism and hypovitaminosis B12, as well as part of normal aging”, explains Carla Jevoux.

Relationship between memory and aging

The neurologist clarifies that, with the advance in age, there is less memory readiness and changes in thinking and reasoning. In addition, there are changes in language, such as the difficulty in “finding the exact word”, which are typical of normal aging.

Other diseases that affect memory

Other types of health problems can also affect memory. “Individuals with Parkinson’s disease may perform worse on tests of memory, orientation and abstraction. In patients with stroke, memory is the most affected cognitive domain, with recent memory being the most affected domain”, explains the doctor.

Is it possible to exercise memory?

Neurologist André Felício states that the brain is eager for information, that is, the more we read, study and think, the more we stimulate the connections between neurons. “People with intense intellectual activity establish more synapses between neurons, that is, they stimulate the formation of points of contact that allow neurons to communicate with each other. Thus, it is correct to think that the more stimuli, the more synapses are established and the more new memory is stored”, adds Carla Jevoux. People who study a lot show memory failures later and more slowly.