The Human Body
The human body is an amazing machine. The way our organs work can be a mystery, but doctors are working hard to find answers to questions that we don’t yet know. One of the most mysterious parts of the body is the brain. There are so many unanswered questions about how it works that we may never know all that there is to know. Each day, we are learning more. Scientists say that being forgetful is a sign that there is something unusual about your brain.
The Hippocampus
The hippocampus is located near the temporal lobes. It is the link to our memories and our feelings. Memories play a crucial part in our daily lives. You need memories to remember to pick up your dry cleaning. You need memories to remember the people you love. Without memories, you wouldn’t be the person you are. Memories are almost like looking at a photo album full of events from your life. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that helps you retain both long-term and short-term memories.
Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s disease affects your memory. Over time, you forget your loved ones as well as who you are. One of the first parts of the brain to be damaged by the disease is the hippocampus.
Hippocampal Damage
Damage to the hippocampus can result in amnesia, which is a condition where you don’t have memories of the past. It can also make it difficult for you to form new memories of times, locations, or events.
Professor Blake Richards and Paul Frankland
Blake Richards is an expert on the brain, and he co-wrote a paper about memories that was published in June 2017. The other author who worked on the study with him was Paul Frankland. Their in-depth study on memory and the brain brought some very interesting things to light.
Forgetfulness
There are some people who are more forgetful than others. Some people can keep their appointments and obligations organized in their head without missing a thing. Others need to set alarms on their phone, use sticky notes, and write every little thing down just to remember what they need to do that day. Dr. Richard and Dr. Blake think that they understand why this is a little bit better.
Irrelevant Information
The doctors compared our brain to a cell phone. Cell phones only have so much memory; therefore, if you want to have enough room to store important information, you need to clear out things that aren’t important. If you find that you are more forgetful than your friends and family members, it could be due to the fact that you have too much information in your brain that you really don’t need. When you do need to remember something such as a doctor’s appointment or to stop at the supermarket on your way home, there isn’t enough memory left to hold these memories.
Checking Facts On Cell Phones
Now that we have access to the world wide web right in our pockets, our lives are a bit easier. If you want to know who won the game last night, you can check on your phone. If you want to know who the 10th President of the United States was, you can check your phone. Now that you don’t need to hold onto this information because you can check your phone, you can free up space in your brain for memories that you do need to handle your responsibilities.
Exercise
If you want to free up room in your hippocampus, you don’t need to stop reading and stop learning. According to the two doctors, regular exercise can clear your brain of any unnecessary information. This will make room for more memories. This is because exercise increases the number of neurons in the hippocampus. You don’t need to worry that exercising too much will erase all of your memories because that isn’t possible. It will just free up space by removing memories that you don’t really need, such as the menu of your favorite restaurant that went out of business five years ago. This is a memory that you don’t need, and new memories can take its place.
You Have An Excuse
The next time your family makes fun of you because you walk into a room and forget what you went in there for, you have a reason. If you forget to get the mail before pulling into the driveway, you have a reason. You just have too many random facts and memories stored in your hippocampus. If your forgetfulness becomes too severe, you should see a doctor. It could be a sign of a serious problem. If it is minor forgetfulness, you are just too smart for your own good.
