What really are memories?

   The question may seem simple but really, what are memories? What are they made of and how are they stored in the brain? How does the mind trigger the vivid reconstruction of your whole life to be remembered at any moment? The fundamentals of memory provide the building blocks for who you are; the collection of snapshots of your culture and upbringing that mould your personality. Yet, memory isn't as simple as picking the recollection of a whole day's events from a filing cabinet in your brain, but rather piecing together snippets to get a millisecond's worth of your past. So how does the human brain do this?

   In order to have a full understanding of false memories, I must first understand what memories are before the brain corrupts them. Therefore, I've taken to research to teach myself the science behind a  significant fraction of my EPQ title.

What is the science behind our memory?

   Our brain forms memories through connections between neurons in the form of new circuits bridged by synapses. These being gaps in which electrical signals convert into chemical messages through neurotransmitters which are sent from the axon transmitter site to the dendrite receiver site and then converted back to electrical signals*. The brain has unfathomable flexibility due to the sheer amount of connections that can be made between these neurons to make pathways. These connections encode and retain information and past events as memory. By firing the same neurons that were fired when first exposed to new information, we can remember it.
 
   The more exposure you have of a memory by re-experiencing or triggering the same connections between neurons, the stronger the connections and subsequent memories become. This is why things you repeat more in life are easier to remember than things you have experienced very little such as somebody you have only met once's name.

   The science is far more complex and different areas of the brain are thought to have differing levels of significance in memory retention. Even science itself has a foggy understanding of some aspects of memory however through more and more research, much has become clear.

*Winston, R.M.L. and British Broadcasting Corporation (2007). The human mind : and how to make the most of it. London: Bantam. 

Where are our memories?

   Some scientists believe in the existence of engrams which are hypothetically the physical representations of memory in the brain. The engram is only a hypothetical- much of science is. While some scientists believe the entire brain as a whole is largely involved with all memory, many believe specific areas in the brain are responsible for forming memory.

   Here are the main locations and structures in the brain which are linked to memory formation and storage:

• The Amygdala - This has a main role to regulate emotions and has influence over how memories are stored due to stress hormones released. It also plays a part in the consolidation of new memories into long-term memory which and is most prevalent in emotionally stimulating information.
• The Hippocampus - As well as playing a role in consolidation, the hippocampus is part of normal and spatial (a persons environment and navigation) memory recognition. It also projects information to regions of the brain which give memories meaning and connect them to each other.
• The Cerebellum - This plays a role in implicit memory storage which are memories related to motor functions and classical conditioning (physical memory).
• The Prefrontal Cortex - The prefrontal cortex may have a part in processing and retaining information.

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