When Memory Matters

In reading about memory and what it consists of in the brain (“101 Theory Drive”) my mind wondered and I got to thinking about when I was in my mid 40’s and I noticed that my memory was not as keen as it had been. I attributed it to not caring as much about my work so, without the caring and thinking the work was important my memory did not hang onto information as tenaciously as it had. Even though there may have been some truth in that, the failing memory was likely influenced by ageing. More recently memory has been even worse and that is likely influenced by age and medications. Thus I have eliminated Cymbalta, a SSRI like drug which is known to impair memory. I think there may actually have been some improvement in memory and mental acuity but of course that is a subjective impression.

Still, I go back to my original idea that when a person perceives that something is important one is likely to remember it better. I think that when we are young we are learning about the world and many or most facts help us craft our understanding of the world. We think there is nothing more important than seeing how the world and the universe are so, naturally, we remember it vividly. Later we see that many understandings were wrong or are simply replaced by other understandings so it is not so critical to grasp ideas of how the world is. The cost is that we end up with a memory that is not as good. I believe (or at least hypothesize) that if I were to tell myself that something is fascinating and important I would be likely to remember it longer, in more detail and more vividly.

I think that theory is worth a test. If I figure out how to test that theory I’ll write again about this concept.