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!!