Blog post #3- How do study habits and techniques influence memory recall in school?

1. How does our brain store and categorize short term memory?

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog post, today I will be researching the functions of the brain that contribute to our long term and short term memory. This leads me inquire about the influences in our daily lives that shape the way of our own thinking and experience of our daily lives and how it plays a role in the brain’s function. In other words, How does our daily lives affect the way we memorize certain issues? This is the main question I hope to research in this blog. Furthermore, to study question I will mainly focus on explaining the main three areas of the brain that store and work with memories: the Hippocampus, the Neocortex, and the Amygdala, I hope this post will helps students understand the process of memory categorization and how this can relate to methods of studying.

The Hippocampus

The Hippocampus is a complex brain structure embedded deep into the temporal lobe of the brain and can be also distinguished as a layer of densely packed nuerons (1). Furthermore, the Hippocampus is involved in learning, memory and the emotions of the brain, it especially plays a large role in storing as well processing short term memories to long term memories which also makes it one of the most studied structures in the brain (2). So how does this tie in to the process of storing and making memories? Well, after the brain collects information from the external environment in a process called Sensory Register, the Hippocampus then temporarily stores the data (short term memories) and then transfers it to become long term memories by changing the brain’s physical neural wiring (3). Additionally, due to this structure being extremely complex and important it is able to connect or “talk”to other parts of the body (spatial memory) through neurons and the nervous system. But how does this help us find more efficient ways of studying? There is a certain type of information that the Hippocampus can more easily process also known as declarative or factual information (3). In other words, immediate data such as adresses, times, dates, and names can help recall certain information in a short amount time. We can also exercise the hippocampus by aerobics sports like swimming, boxing, cycling, and dancing to improve your memory recall.

Key Points of Hippocampus

• Important structure in the process of memory formation
• Collects information from external enviroment and temporarily stores data (making of short term memories)
• Factual info like adresses, dates, birthdays, will be more easily remembered by the hippocampus
• You can exercise the hippocampus to be able to improve your memory recall

The Neocortex

The Neocortex is part of the brain’s cerebral cortex where mental processing, reasoning, and manipulation of information (or higher cognitive functioning) is thought to originate (4). This structure is also made up of four main parts ( Frontal Lobe, Parietal Lobe, Occipital Lobe, and Temporal lobe) that each play a specific role in attention, thought, perceptions, and episodic memory in the brain. Similarly to the Hippocampus, the Neocortex is mostly involved storing long term memories relating to facts and knowledge ( Semantic memories) instead of temporarily storing short term memories (5). Although the Neocortex does not play as a important role in process of memory making as the hippocampus, this structure is still extremely important because it is responsible for sensation, action, cognition and consciousness in the brain.

Key points of the Neocortex

• Where metal processing, manipulation of information, and cognitive thinking originated -> Basically the process of logical reasoning in the brain is
• Is a large structure that takes up most of the brain
• Involved in episodic memories in the brain and stored long term memories transferred from the hippocampus
• Does not play as an important role in the process fo memory formation as hippocampus, but still important structure. The Amygdala

The Amygdala is in the limbic system that is responsible for emotion, motivation and behavior regulation (6). In my opinion, I think the Amygdala is like the assistant of the hippocampus since both structures have similar jobs and are involved in the memory process of transferring and storing, the only difference being that one part of the brain is works with memories involved with events that have emotional meaning and the other part works with memories related to factual information. In addition, the amygdala has connections to many other brain structures, meaning it can link to areas in order to process “higher” cognitive information with system that control “lower” functions (6). In other words, this allows the amygdala to arrange psychological responses based on the available cognitive information ( such as the flight or fight response) (6).

Key points of the Amygdala

• The Amygdala works closely with the Hippocampus in the formation of memories
• The Amygdala is attribute emotions to memories -> the more emotive the memory the more it will be remembered
• The Amygdala stores good and bad memories are stored in the synapses of the neurons in the brain

In the end, there are so many other complex brain regions and structures that are involved in the memory formation and I could not include in this blog post, although in the future I hope to explain in more detail of the full process. I hope that students reading this blog have a better understanding of some parts of the brain that help us remember certain events and data in our daily lives and use this knowledge to assists their studies!

Thanks for reading!

1. s://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3548359/#:~:text=Hippocampus%20is%20a%20complex%20brain,of%20neurological%20and%20psychiatric%20disorders.
2. https://www.webmd.com/brain/hippocampus-what-to-know
3. https://lesley.edu/article/stages-of-memory#:~:text=When%20long%2Dterm%20memories%20form,length%20types%3A%20recent%20and%20remote.
4. https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-the-Neocortex.aspx#:~:text=The%20neocortex%20is%20part%20of,main%20lobes%20with%20specific%20functions.
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7612398/#:~:text=Long%2Dterm%20memory%20relating%20to,including%20the%20hippocampus%20(1).
6. https://www.simplypsychology.org/amygdala.html