Forgetfulness : Scientifically explained.

WHY? :The Dominant Question

The ability to retain ideas, information, past events, studied texts and so on, is solely handled by the brain. The brain is said to possess over 100 billion neurons, according to studies. That is to conveniently say that the brain is the biggest hard drive ever to exist. Wow! If the brain has the ability to retain and efficiently recall whatever information anyone could need all through his lifetime, why do we still have to look at our calendar just to confirm the date we wrote down a few minutes ago? A few reasons to explain this natural phenomenon lie below.

DECAY: This phenomenon is popularly called the ‘message in sand’ effect. Memories are described as words written on the beach sand. When the ocean waves and wind come calling, the words fade gradually.

The hippocampus(a part of the brain), which houses memories, is depicted as the sand while the water waves represents time. As time passes, the memories start to fade. This leads to failure to retrieve information. This means that it is absolutely normal to forget the poem you memorised last year, or the chronological arrangement of occurrences on how you met your first crush in high school. The Decay effect is the most common explanation to why we forget information or events.

INTERFERENCE: . This theory simply argues that memories could get in the way of one another. Interference could either be proactive or retroactive.
Proactive Interference: this occurs when an old memory makes it hard for a person to remember more recent events. I experienced this a few years back with one of our former neighbors. She had moved away from our street, and she popped in on a very hot afternoon. From what I gathered, she had forgotten that she was no longer on our street, and she didn't realize this until she got there. That is an example of how old memories get in the way of new ones.
Retroactive Interference: This occurs when a recent memory pollutes old memories. I can not begin to count the number of times I messed up during a test because the very last formula I memorized got in the way of the way of one I had studied earlier.
Even though there is more than enough space in the brain to efficiently store all information in one’s lifetime, it is very possible for one information to get in the way of another. This is why it is very possible to keep wondering where else you have seen the cashier at the mall where you shop often, until you finally realise she is one of the Ushers in your local church.

REPRESENTATION THEORY: I would like to call this the ‘weak root’ phenomenon. According to Sadeh and her colleagues,

the primary cause of forgetting depends on the nature of the initial memory.

This can be likened to a farmer who is trying to plant a seed but fails to properly fix it in the soil, thereby subjecting it to the limited resources existing at the surface and erosion. According to this theory, the ability to remember things could go in two ways; familiarity and recollection.
Have you ever heard a song on the radio and all you can say is ‘that artiste’s voice sounds like one I know very well’, yet you cannot attach a name to it? That is familiarity. It means you are ‘familiar’ with the singer’s voice. In contrast, if you can say in the same situation "that is Bruno", that is recollection. This means that you have been able to register that artiste’s voice over time due to frequent listening and you can effectively retrieve the information when the need arises.
This is why it is much easier to remember the lyrics to your favourite song of last year, than the theorems or laws you memorise shortly before a physics test. Most people who find it easy to recall past events or information do so because they make sure they create an interesting mental picture that is hard to forget, while trying to store the information.

MOTIVATED FORGETTING: This is particularly used to remove traumatic events from a person’s memory. Psychologists find this method quite effective when dealing with emotionally and psychologically battered patients. This can either be done through suppression or repression. Suppression means to ‘consciously forget’ events while repression is the direct opposite.

Studies have shown that suppression is the more preferred approach, as it is technically impossible to forget traumatic events unconsciously. In the common man’s terms, motivated forgetting is simply called ‘Brain-washing’. Many cases of rape, physical assault and molestation have been addressed using this method, and can only work when the affected person is also willing to let go of the disturbing memories. Interference is a very particular tool in this approach.
Even though memory issues are mostly regarded as normal, some could be to health disorders. For example, research has shown that more than four million citizens of the U.S.A over the age of 65 years are being affected by Alzheimer’s disease; a major cause of memory loss. Named after a German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer, the disease was first identified in 1901. Prior to the identification of the disease, it was simply described as dementia which is common in adults above the age of 60. After more research and observation, symptoms such as insomnia, failure to understand location, high difficulty in remembering recent events, problems in speech, anxiety, paranoia and hostility made it easier to differentiate between Alzheimer’s disease and normal dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is also famously called “presenile dementia”.

If any of the above mentioned symptoms manifests in any elderly person you know, advise him/her to seek medical attention. Even though memory loss is a very strong indication of the disease, inability to retain information is common in the normal aging process, just as discussed in the Decay theory. Forgetting things when you are much older does not necessarily mean you are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Some other health related reasons for poor ability to remember things include;
Medications: if you are on drugs containing muscle relaxants, sleeping pills, anxiety medications, anti-depressants, worry not when you find it hard to remember where you dropped your car keys last night before going to bed.

These drugs contain substances that affect ability to retain information. Cut down on pills with any of these, and you will realise an amazing improvement in your ability to recall events.

Smoking:

Smokers are not just liable to die young, they are also incredibly inclined to die without any memories whatsoever. Smoking causes harm to the brain by starving it of oxygen. If you want to remember things more, quit smoking.

Alcohol: if you have ever had a hangover, then it would not be so difficult to reckon with this reason. Alcohol causes its consumers to leave out details when trying to recall events, especially when taken in excess. If you are preparing for a test, you will do yourself some good if you stay away from alcohol.

Other reasons for memory loss include sleep deprivation, stress, and depression, illness and deficiency in vitamin B12. If you give yourself the appropriate amount of sleep, engage in less stressful activities, try to be more cheerful and happy, and eat food containing vitamin B12 such as eggs, milk, cheese and shellfish, being able to recollect information or memories will not be as tasking as it used to.
Picking out this topic was of personal interest to me because i seem to forget things a lot. From failing to remember the actual reason for my walk down to the kitchen, to staring enthusiastically frustrated at the ceiling during an exam, trying to remember the key word used in stating a theorem, forgetfulness seems to be an unavoidable aspect of our lives. The good thing is, I have been able to pick out a few reasons from the above listed reasons. This means my problem is half-solved! Do well to identify yours.

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