What are the biological processes that take place in one’s brain during the process of learning new information?
If you want to know more about the science of how your memory and mind works, then keep on reading.
Cognitive neuroscience is the science which is chiefly mandated with the study of biological procedurals in memorization.
Brain sectors that are principally involved with memory retention vary in purpose and area in which they are situated. Some of them include the amygdala, striatum, and the delicate hippocampus.
The hippocampus is believed to control spatial as well as declarative aspects of learning. On the other hand, the amygdala will control one’s emotional recollection.
Damage to particular sectors of your brain system will eventually lead to memory deficit related to the affected region. It’s not adequate to illustrate memory or its close counterpart, learning.
These two are solely attributable to particular changes that occur in one’s neuronal synapses, which are further mediated with constant ‘potentiation’ as well as extended stress duration.
Researchers have confirmed that express injections of cortisol hormone and epinephrine will assist in storage of your very recent experiences.
The same effect is achieved when the amygdala has been stimulated. Excitement improves memory through stimulating certain hormones which influence the amygdala.
Too much or extended stress may lead to drastic loss of memory. Patients who are suffering from damage to their amygdala would most probably recall emotionally thrilling words than other non-emotionally stimulating sentences.
Moreover, one’s hippocampus is vital for unambiguous memory. It is also helpful in the actual consolidation of your memory.
Hippocampus does receive input from several regions of your cortex, after which it will convey output to diverse sectors of your brain.
This particular input results from certain secondary as well as tertiary sensory parts which had previously processed the data.
Injury to you Hippocampus can further result in memory loss, alongside difficulties related to memory storage.
Human Brain and Memory Processes
The memory process in the human brain is very complex. No computer has come close to the capacity of the human brain as of now.
However, it is only a matter of time before computers will have overcome the human brain’s power with the fusion of nanotechnology and biotech resources, expected within the next 20-30 years.
Scientists have been discovering and uncovering each part of the human memory system in order to help better understand how we encode our memories and retrieve them as well.
Understanding these memory processes can help parents to improve the prospect of a higher education for their children early in life and help people improve the quality of their memory and recall processes.
You can think of the procedure like storing memories in your mind to be similar to that of a computer that utilizes RAM (Random Access Memory) for the temporary storage of information before being placed in long-term storage on the hard drive.
This temporary storage, or working memory, depends on a different network of brain structures than long-term memories do. Psychologists refer to storing memories as an encoding process–a procedure for transforming something a person sees, hears, thinks, or feels into a memory. Scientists have determined there are different methods on how we lay down our memories.
Memory functions in the brain are very complicated fashion. To date, scientists are unable to design computers that can compete with the human brain.
But, it is promising in the next two or three decades that scientists may be able to devise advanced computers with the help of nanotechnology, cybernetics, and biotech resources.
Scientists and researchers have put their intelligent efforts to find and unearth all the elements of the human memory system in order to get a better understanding of its encoding and retrieving processes. These understandings are crucially important for improving the quality of an individual’s memory and recollection process.
Our thought, senses, memory and actions all influence distinct sets of nerve cells and chemicals within our brain. The hippocampus, the amygdala and close areas of the temporal lobe are associated with the cortex with the help of complex nerve cells. This actually forms the fundamental structure of our memory system.
When a nerve cell in the brain gets activated, a low-charged electrical potential is sent to the axon. This helps in releasing brain chemicals or neurotransmitters, which attain across the synaptic gaps between nerve cells and bolt onto the corresponding receptors. The nerve cells that obtain the brain chemicals then send the signal along to other relevant nerve cells. This happens like a relay race.
When the same signals are received repeatedly, the synaptic changes occur more efficiently contributing to the physical changes among synaptic connections. This is how the human brain stores memory on a long term basis.
Scientists and researchers assume that the changes in particular synaptic patterns in folds and ridges of the human brain contribute to memory encoding for a lengthy time span. In fact, conveying electrochemical associations constituted between different cells in human brain help storing memory including thoughts, skills, knowledge, and experiences.
There are debates on the distribution of memory over the human brain. While some scientists assume that human brain constitutes memory in a particular region within the brain structure, some others claim that human brain does not localize memory within a particular territory, that is, memory is all over distributed throughout the brain structure.
Scientists claim that the cell functions corresponding to learning and memory process are indistinguishable at the biological level.
In fact, proof has been already established in the support of the strong correlation between learning process and memory system. It is also assumed that to execute the learning process, the human brain employs multiple memory systems, each of which is engaged in encoding different sorts of memory functions.
Disorders Related to Memory Loss
The general term for memory loss is amnesia. There are several categories of amnesia, and through studying their diverse forms one can effectively observe evident defects at the individual’s counter-systems that are related to memory mechanism.
Consequently, you will theorize their functioning in a standard operational brain.
Other neurological dysfunctions like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disorder have the potency of affecting cognition and also memory.
The ‘hyperthymesic syndrome’ regularly affects the person’s autobiographical reminiscence; basically meaning that one will not forget minor details which otherwise may not be easily stored.
Another disorder is known as Korsakoff’s neurosis. This is as macrobiotic brain disorder which negatively affects memory.
In some rare cases, one can also suffer a brief failure of information recovery from the memory, a condition commonly referred to as tip-of-your-tongue occurrence.
However, individuals suffering from Anomia will not experience this condition continuously, mainly due to injury to the anterior along with parietal lobes which operate your brain functionalities.
Philosophical Roots of Mind-Body Interrelations
The study of mind-to-body correlation was investigated by several philosophers all through the previous centuries.
It was Rene Descartes who first affirmed that one’s mind and physiological functioning are distinct entities. It was through his coherent school of the reason that standard Western medicine gained its origins.
Since then, several original evidence and other findings have proven that there’s actually a correlation between these two parts. Ernest Rossi explored this topic and then scripted a book entitled ‘Psychobiology of Body & Mind Healing.’
In the book, Rossi argues that certain ‘precursor molecules’ serve as the general denominator which makes effective communication feasible between behavior, mind, emotions as well as the state of genes in terms of well-being or illness.
They will communicate all through several cells found in both your mind & body. Activities of each single nerve found in the body system can be altered through some messenger molecules.
These substances have the capacity to program our emotions, behavioral patterns, memory and also learning capacity.
Essentially, all vital systems found in your body will be able to communicate with each other via similar messenger molecules.
A scientific study was done to identify the main reason as to why psychological strain arises, and it was discovered that the chief cause of this was suppressed immune structure.
Stress generally reduces immune response since IL-2 amenable gene system will be compromised due to the appropriate production of certain IL-2 conveyance molecules would be low.
These findings established that there’s a straight association between your mind & body, thought patterns, sensations, emotional tendencies and pictorials which all manipulate certain mechanisms in your body structure.
There are 3 basic steps vital in the facilitation of body to mind contact healing.
1) The initial technique is concerned with accessing certain state-dependant reminiscence, learning, as well as behavioral systems which serve to encode particular psychosomatic difficulties.
2) The next reframing process incorporates reorganizing systems in, particularly healthy structure. Our memory regularly changes each instance that we access the same data. The reason for this, you will adjust it for current use and reprocess differently during the second storage instance.
3) The final step is very simple and involves actively confirming that the relative message has already been stored.
There are still more to learn but starting off with this information would help you to understand a bit and appreciate more our mind system.