How do our past experiences shape our present and future?

We rely on our memories for everything we experience in life, and these memories have a profound impact on our personality, habits, and important decisions. Memories are stored in different parts of the brain, both short-term and long-term, and the process plays an important role in shaping our identity and even our social behavior.

 

We live our lives mortgaged to our memories. Our memories have shaped our personalities, relationships, lifestyles, habits, language, and other essential elements of our lives. Memory is not just a repository of information; it is a key component of our identity. Our past experiences make us who we are today and shape our future decisions. Every decision we make is influenced by the memories we’ve accumulated in the past, and those choices are in turn accumulated into new memories that shape the trajectory of our lives.
As we move forward in life, we make important choices using our memory as a guide. When you think about it, it’s amazing how everything we’ve ever seen, touched, and felt is stored somewhere in our minds with a sense of nostalgia. These memories are not just a tool for reflecting on the past, but a living database that continues to influence us in the present. For example, the phenomenon of being reminded of a specific moment in the past when you smell or hear a certain smell or sound is an example of how deeply ingrained our memories are.
So, how do memories get stored in our brains? Do they roll around in our brains like marbles, accumulating and being stored in long-term memory centers, like in the animated movie Inside Out? Actually, the process of storing memories in our brains is not so different. We use a memory storage system that goes from ultra-short-term memory to short-term memory to long-term memory. While we applaud Pixar’s creativity in reimagining memory marbles as memory storage, let’s take a closer look at this structure.
First, all the stimuli we see, hear, and feel are converted into electrical signals and transmitted to the brain through the body’s nervous system. These electrical signals become short-term memories, which are the afterimages that pass through our minds. The everyday scenery around you when you’re walking down the street or driving in your car is an example of an ultra-short-term memory, which is erased from your mind after a few seconds. However, there are a number of very short-term memories that are strongly stimulating to the brain, and these memories are transferred to short-term memories, which are remembered for several minutes. Short-term memories can be forgotten by distractions or other new stimuli. This is what happens when you memorize a phone number and then forget it when a friend walks by and starts talking to you.
Short-term memory isn’t managed by just one part of the brain. Different sensations or perceptions require different parts of the brain to process them. When you remember the location of an object, the prefrontal area of the right side of your brain is activated. When we engage in verbal activities, such as remembering words, the left prefrontal lobe is activated. As you can see, the brain doesn’t have a single centralized processing unit that aggregates and processes short-term memories. It’s a combination of different parts of the brain that process thoughts through short-term memory.
Short-term memories activate neurotransmission at synapses in neurons, the brain’s neurotransmission system, or they are passed on in a closed circuit. Long-term memories, on the other hand, are stored by changing the structure of the neuron itself, not by modulating its activity at the synapse. In other words, short-term memories are based on the activity of neurotransmitters, not on physical changes in the neuron. Long-term memories, on the other hand, change the structure of the neurons themselves, which makes them less susceptible to other stimuli and allows them to remain in the memory for longer periods of time.
In this sense, long-term memories have a profound impact on our sense of identity. For example, intense events experienced in childhood are stored in long-term memory and can influence our emotions and behavior as adults. Long-term memories are more than just an accumulation of information; they play an important role in shaping our personality.
But where are these long-term memories stored in the brain? Unfortunately, due to the lack of research on the brain, it’s not yet possible to pinpoint exactly which memories are stored in which parts of the brain. However, what we do know is that every part of the nervous system, from the brain to the spinal cord, is capable of storing memories because of plasticity, or the presence of changing neurons. Therefore, even if the brain is partially damaged, we have the potential to function normally, and the brain can even regenerate the damaged part based on the remaining intact parts. Also, memories are stored repeatedly in different parts of the cerebral cortex, so even if one part is damaged, we can still retain memories.
Of course, there are also areas that directly affect memory. This is the medial part of the temporal lobe or the hippocampus, which is located on the side of the brain and is responsible for forming long-term memories. Therefore, if there is a problem in this area, the memories before the problem are preserved intact, but the memories after the problem are not intact, leading to confusion and memory impairment.
It’s important to keep in mind, though, that the brain’s mysterious and intricate world is still very much a mystery. What we know about the brain academically comes from dissections and magnetic resonance imaging to find the parts of the brain that are activated. As a result, our understanding of the brain is still very limited. I think that when new research methods or directions are proposed, we may find new aspects of memory.
Finally, it’s worth noting that memory doesn’t just remain an individual experience. Individual memory is intertwined with social memory, which is closely linked to a group’s history and culture. Social memory is the collective memory of certain events or people, which also influences our behavior and the way we think. This social dimension of memory extends beyond individual lives and plays an important role in shaping the future of communities.