Why Do We Forget Things?
Why can we remember useless abstract information about a movie we saw as a child, but we cannot recall the phone number of a close friend? The act of memory is a multilevel process of chemical and electrical interactions. It is somewhat similar to an operator at a switching board. The initial stimuli are fired from an axon within a nerve cell in the brain, which then sends it to nearby neurons. The neurons receive these signals through dendrites, which are like branches stretching out of a tree. “To allow all of our brain’s neurons to communicate with the others, the axons and dendrites form thousands of branches, and each branch ends in a synapse, a specialized contact point or receptor that recognizes only extremely specific information being passed between neurons” (Small 6). Within the synapse are chemical neurotransmitters that carry information from one synapse to the next. If the chemical neurotransmitter carrying the information meets up with the proper receiver, then the message has been received and a memory has been made. However, only a very small percentage of these neurological transactions actually make it past our immediate memory and end up in a temporary holding place known as short-term memory. Of that small percentage, an even smaller percentage ends up in the memory warehouse known as long-term memory. The memories that end up in long-term memory are “relatively permanent and can be recalled years later” (Small 7). Short-term memory is the technological equivalent of RAM, or random access memory, in a computer. It is temporarily stored and dependent on usage. Long-term memory is not dissimilar to ROM, or read only memory. It is stored away for future use. The major difference in humans and computers, in this regard, is the ability to recall stored information.
Our ability to remember is often taken for granted until we find ourselves forgetting. For one out of every twenty people between ages 65 and 75, roughly 4 million Americans according to the National Institute on Aging, forgetting is the result of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). That number doubles to one out of every ten people between 75 and 85, and includes nearly one out of every three people over the age of 85 (Crook 190). Alzheimer’s is as elusive and mysterious as the forgotten memories that slip from the minds of AD patients. The cause of Alzheimer’s is unknown; it’s unpreventable and incurable. It’s also incredibly frustrating for AD patients and their families.
Once thought of as a natural process of growing old, a failing mind is not a fact of life. There are drugs available, such as phosphatidylserine (PS), that are effective in delaying and sometimes reversing the effects of age related memory loss. PS supplements have proven to be extremely effective and have relatively no negative side effects. While PS is an effective treatment option for memory loss, Thomas H. Crook III, Ph.D. and Brenda Adderly, M.H.A., authors of The Memory Cure, also recommend a supplementary 6-step memory program. The program involves the following: step 1: take a PS supplement, step 2: exercise your mind, step 3: protect your health, eat a healthy diet, add PS-boosting supplements, step 4: change your attitude towards stress, step 5: exercise to maintain your overall health, and step 6: maintain a positive attitude (73). While Alzheimer’s disease is unpreventable and incurable, it is treatable if properly diagnosed and confronted in time.
Alzheimer’s and other age-related memory disorders are reserved not only for the elderly. In fact, the early stages of Alzheimer’s can begin to occur in our twenties. It might start with forgetting the occasional name or phone number. The deterioration happens gradually, so that 20 years later we might not even notice the significant loss in cognitive skills. Danielle C. Lapp, author of Don’t Forget, suggests that our “memory function decreases by 20 to 40 percent with age” (47). Family history, educational patterns, and health are just some of the determinates of future memory loss. Our brain, like any other organ in the body, strengthens with use. A mind that is challenged regularly is active and sharp. If it is not used, the brain becomes weak like an unused bicep. Over time, it atrophies and actually becomes relatively smaller in size. “People with lower intelligence scores in childhood had a greater risk for the late-onset of Alzheimer’s disease that begins after age 65” (Small 18). It is often referred to as the use it or lose it factor. This is especially true with adults over the age of 65, whose risk for developing an age-related memory disorder increases dramatically with each passing year.
Depression is the most common cause of reversible vital memory loss and intellectual deterioration. Depression clouds the mind and impedes the recall process necessary to the functions of memory. Often misdiagnosed as a memory related disease, the effects of depression and stress occupy the mind so fully that defective memory transactions take place. If the hand is clenched in a fist, it is unable to perform basic functions such as opening a door. Our brains can only process so much information at a time. In extreme cases, patients can become so severely depressed that the brain shuts
down. Dr. Vernon H. Mark and Dr. Jeffrey P. Mark, authors of Reversing Memory Loss, refer to this state as “psychomotor retardation an inability to plan for the future or even to move” as a result of severe depression (56). In such cases, patients are known to have lost all ability to process memories. Electroshock therapy is one way to treat such cases. The result is often that the depression is temporarily alleviated while the memory worsens. Another option is an operation that actually destroys small parts of the anterior nucleus of the thalamus using a radio frequency current. (Mark 56) In either case, it is sometimes extremely dangerous to awaken the mind of a severely depressed patient. In a state of psychomotor retardation they are at a minimal risk of harming themselves due to their debilitating state. Once awakened, they are unable to cope and can become very suicidal. Although depression in one form or another is extremely common, this type of extreme depression is not. For most people suffering from depression related memory loss, the memory will improve when you learn to forget. Talk about your problems. Dr. Vernon Mark has found that talking to a professional, or even close friend and family, about the cause of a patients stress and/depression dissipates the cloud inside in the brain and allows for normal neurological transactions to take place.
The human mind and the memories within it are still a mystery, however, certain mnemonic devices do exist that can improve one’s memory in exponential ways. Most of these mnemonics employ a method of word association. This association is based on the idea of creating outlandish mental images and relating them to a series of other images depending on the technique. The most basic, but extremely effective, method is simply called the word association technique. Given a list of ten objects, the subject is told to create a visual image in their mind relating one object to the next. Assume the list included water, tree, dog, elbow, iron, light, sun, soap, and chair. It is not enough to simply imagine water being powered on the tree. Rather, imagine an ocean of water crashing down on the tree like a scene from a cartoon. The more ridiculous and outrageous the mental image, the more likely it is to stick. Next, think of a giant dog urinating on the tree. It’s a slightly graphic image, but one that is likely to make a strong association. Then, the dog attacks someone and bites off his or her elbow. The injured person might mend their wound by ironing the elbow. This game of word association is repeated until all of the objects have been associated. To recall the list, you simply play back the scenario in your mind. The success rate compared to the hit or miss method is close to 80Smid).
A similar technique is called the Loci method. It involves visualizing a familiar location, hence the name “loci”, such as your house or a city block and associating the list to specific points along the way. If the loci were your house, the kitchen might be one of these points. If the list to remember included a duck, you might imagine a giant duck running from a deranged cook in the kitchen. For items that need to be remembered in sequential order, a familiar street might be more appropriate. Items would be placed, along with their ridiculous images, in specific points along the way such as a stop sign or a neighbor’s house. You would then walk down the street in your mind’s eye and recall the list based on predetermined visual reminders along the way. Orators have used this technique for centuries. Speeches are arranged in sequential order using a familiar loci to organize the topics in a logical pattern. The speaker then walks through their imaginary loci as they give a speech and recalls topics as they pass predetermined points that contain these topics.
Remembering phone numbers and pin codes proves especially difficult because they are intangible. You cannot picture numbers in your mind the same way you can objects. One method for remembering collections of numbers is the phonetic alphabet. Each number (0-9) is assigned a phonetic letter or group of letters with similar sounds. It may sound difficult at first, but there are tricks to learning the phonetic alphabet, too. 1 is T and D; the letter T has one down stroke. 2 is N; the letter N has two down strokes. 3 is M; the letter M has three down strokes. 4 is R; the word four ends in the letter R. 5 is L; L is the Roman numeral for fifty. 6 is J, SH, CH, or soft G; six is almost like J the other way around. 7 is K, hard C or hard G, the letter K contains two sevens. 8 is F, V, PH; a handwritten F and an eight both have two loops. 9 is P and B; the letter P is the mirror image of nine. 0 is S, Z, or soft C; the word zero begins with the letter Z. (Smid)
For example, take a look at the phone number 822-1716. The phonetic spelling would be: F N N T K D J. Vowels are not a part of the phonetic alphabet and can be inserted anywhere. One possible combination might be: FuN NighT KiD Joe. The phonetic consonants are the only sounds that are important. After some practice, making these associations becomes second nature. Though it seems almost like a child’s game, it is a very accurate technique for remembering sequences of numbers.
A method for remembering people’s names and faces also employs a word association technique. Assume you are introduced to a man named Phillip Green. Now imagine Phillip’s face with extremely large, full green lips that drag to the ground. Another example is a woman’s name, Elizabeth Hampton. Think of the phrase: “here lies a best ham that weighs a ton.” It might seem crude at first, and you may not want to tell the person how you remembered their name, but it’s an effective technique just the same.
The key to recall is organization. The use of these mnemonic techniques helps us to organize our thoughts and file them in logical places within our memory warehouse. As was mentioned earlier, the answer to unlocking our minds and our memories is a child-like imagination. Using vivid visual imagery, we associate words in a series of ridiculous scenarios within our mind’s eye. The result is a memory that is organized and methodical. The more we practice these techniques, the more they become second nature to us. The brain is an enormous resource of potential energy. The problem is that most of us don’t know how to maximize this potential. It’s similar to an archer blindly firing arrows into the air and hoping they hit their target with luck. These mnemonic techniques make the target bigger and the arrows smaller.
