The Secrets of Memory --- Part 1..

So Welcome once again!! As we continue our journey through the deep forest of brain, we come across a bridge that is very well known and crossed. But it hides its architectural secrets ..until now.  .... Memory 

So coming to memory. It is a familiar term to all of us. Memory is our ability to encode, store, retain and subsequently, recall information and past experiences in the human brain. The word Memory is derived from the Middle-English, memorie which is in turn derived from the Anglo-French word, memoire. This word, in turn finds its root from a Latin word memoria and memor which means 'mindful' or 'remembering'. Sorry if I drifted towards Etymology a bit. Switching back to relation between Human Brain and memory.

In Psychology, in simplest of words, memory is the processes by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. We have all experimented with this ability of our Brain ( I can assure you that!!). It is one of the most interesting feature of our Brain!!. We will start from the lowest steps.
   Infants. Until the mid- 1980's, it was believed that infants were not capable of encoding, storing or retaining information, i.e memorising. Developments in research and technology have proved that 6 -month old child can recall information up to 24 hours. It has also been revealed that as a child grows older, they become capable of storing more information!!. For example, as mentioned above, a 6-month old child can recall information up to 24 hours,
a 9-months old upto 5 weeks, a 20-months old as long as 12 months!!!!.  Moving on.....

Now we know what memory is. So time to climb the next step...
   Memory is a complex function that involves multiple steps, which starts with the input of the stimulus to the brain and ends with independent memory retrieval. Human memory is made up of three stages.
Sensory memory : Information is derived from touch, visual or aural. The ability to look at an item and recall what it looked like is an example of sensory memory.

Short-term Memory : Encodes information acoustically.

Long-term Memory : Encodes information semantically.

 The parts of brain that deals with memory are : 

Prefrontal Cortex :
The Prefrontal Cortex, a part of the brain's frontal lobe, is the region responsible for short-term memory.The Prefrontal Cortex is referred to as the "coordinator" in short-term memory, as it is involved in the ways in which memories are used.

Hippocampus : 

The Hippocampus, present in the temporal lobe of the brain consolidates short-term memories into long-term memories. For a memory to be consolidated, it must pass through a hippocampal pathway multiple times. The route of the memory in the brain is as follows:-

 Hippocampus - Mammilary bodies of the Hypothalamus - anterior Thalamic nucleus - Cingulate Cortex - Entorhinal Cortex - Back to Hippocampus.The repetition through the hippocampal pathways prevents the breakdown of the memory.

 Cerebral Cortex :
After the memory is consolidated, it is stored in the cerebral cortex.The memory is now independent of the hippocampus, so it can be recalled at any time.The long-term memories are subject to less decay, or loss of information, than short-term memories.

A Short note on recalling information: 

Recalling memories re-fires many of the same neural paths we originally used to 

sense the experience and, therefore, almost re-creates the event. Memories of concepts and ideas are related to sensed experiences because we extract the essence from sensed experiences to form generalised concepts.

So by that we come to the end of Part 1. Hope you guys liked it. Coming up - Part 2 of memory
Stay tuned. Thank you!!

Reaction Time.... Secrets

We have all seen some Hollywood movies ( Mission: Impossible for instance.... my favorite) where the hero, during a fight, seems to be predicting all the move the villain makes and defending against it accordingly...
How does he do it???
The answer is reaction time......
Before going deep into it... we must first understand what reaction time or in much more easier words reflex is.....
reflex is an involuntary and nearly instantaneous movement in response to a stimulus, which is a detectable change in the internal or external environment. So "Reaction time is the elapsed time between the presentation of a sensory stimulus and the subsequent behavioral response. In psychometric psychology it is considered to be an index of speed of processing."
I know... it must be a little confusing to some.. don't feel bad about it ( I also had some problems grasping it in the first case). Allow me to simplify it further.  So basically Reaction time is the time taken for you to produce a suitable response (behavioral) at the presentation of a stimulus.
So almost all martial arts teachers teach different methods to decrease your reaction time in a situation.
Now you have the answer to the question above.
Now moving on....

Here is a video on reaction time. Courtesy of  FSN Sports Science.
This is just one application of reaction time from thousands.... We make use of this reaction time almost everyday.

The reaction time is measured mostly in terms of milliseconds.
The key to decrease your reaction speed is to calm down and focus your mind.
This will decrease the traffic of impulses in your brain and thereby decreases your reaction time.

Here are some sites to check your reaction time.
http://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime/index.php
http://getyourwebsitehere.com/jswb/rttest01.html

Here is a simple experiment.

• Randomly pick a male or female student to perform this simple experiment.
• Ask them to extend their hand and hold out their thumb and forefinger.
• The 0 centimeter mark on the ruler should be level in between the subject's fingers.
• Ask them to catch the ruler with these two fingers. Do not give any advanced notice when you release it from rest.
• Record the position of their fingers on the ruler when they catch it.
• Repeat the first 5 steps for more trials.

Analysis

Testing you reaction time is as simple as 123. With a ruler and a friend, you can tell how long a person it takes to react to a change. Having a fast reaction time is vital in sports whether you're in the track, hockey or soccer etc.
In our experiment, one person will drop the ruler and when the subject catches it, you can measure the reaction time. First, we convert the centimeters to meters for a standard measurement. Then, using the distance formula given in the introduction

s = ½at²

since there is no initial distance nor initial velocity. So the time can be found from

t = √2s/a

Explanation
Your nervous system is divided into two parts with a central nervous system (consisting of the brain and the spinal cord) and a peripheral nervous system (composed of all the nerves that deliver messages to the spinal cord). Both parts are at work here. First, the nervous system must recognize a stimulus (the ruler being dropped), then cells in the nervous system called neurons relay the message to the brain, muscles and other nerves. Now the peripheral nerve comes into play: the message travels from the brain to the spinal cord and is finally delivered to your fingers. The motor neurons tell the muscles to catch the ruler.

So i hope its been a wonderful journey for you. Keep on practicing to decrease your reaction time. It really helps. Don't forget to comment your reaction time.

Coming up next.... the secrets to memory...
Keep in touch.

Gotta Walk before you run.......

The human brain is one of the most extraordinary organ in a multi-cellular organism especially in us humans. It forms the center of the nervous system in humans. The brain is made up of 80-120 billion neurons (maybe even more) i.e nerve cells. The nerve cells in the brain are mostly coated with myelin sheath, which allows the impulses to travel much more quickly.
For centuries, scientists and philosophers have been fascinated by the brain, but until recently they viewed the brain as nearly incomprehensible. Now, however, the brain is beginning to relinquish its secrets.
The brain is like a committee of experts. All the parts of the brain work together, but each part has its own special properties. The brain can be divided into three basic units: the fore-brain, the mid-brain, and the hind-brain.
The hind-brain includes the upper part of the spinal cord, the brain stem, and a wrinkled ball of tissue called the cerebellum. The hind-brain controls the body’s vital functions such as respiration and heart rate. The cerebellum coordinates movement and is involved in learned rote movements.
The uppermost part of the brain stem is the mid-brain, which controls some reflex actions and is part of the circuit involved in the control of eye movements and other voluntary movements
The fore-brain is the largest and most highly developed part of the human brain: it consists primarily of the cerebrum and the structures hidden beneath it.

Here are two basic videos on the human brain which helps you to grasp things easily.

Thank you for your patience. ... Please comment.
On which topic do you want the next blog....
Reaction time or memory??