Volatility of Human Memory

prostoalex writes "Scientific Americans looks into the human brain, trying to figure out why some events just tend to stick in our memories forever, while the others are gone: "How does a gene "know" when to strengthen a synapse permanently and when to let a fleeting moment fade unrecorded? And how do the proteins encoded by the gene "know" which of thousands of synapses to strengthen? The same questions have implications for understanding fetal brain development, a time when the brain is deciding which synaptic connections to keep and which to discard. In studying that phenomenon, my lab came up with an intriguing solution to one of these mysteries of memory.""

Comments

Data storage

[DOS-5]

As far as I can tell, there is no perfect storage medium. The media that computers use to store data on are prone to failure and happen to model this type of deterioration - some data decays and becomes unusable over time while others are preserved. The main adavantage that we have is that that data in our brains last a lot longer than data on a hard drive.

And as long as we're talking about "memory stick"..

Auditory memory and distraction

[jesser]

How does a gene "know" when to strengthen a synapse permanently and when to let a fleeting moment fade unrecorded?

I'm sorry, can you repeat that?