There are two main memory circuits in our memory: The first is the basic memory module, which is connected by the hippocampus and nerve output (fornix) to the anterior thalamus and part of the limbic system. This loop focuses on when something happened and how long it took.
The second is the integration of emotions into memory, the amygdala, the upper and middle thalamus, and the prefrontal cortex. It's an emotional neural circuit that remembers that we've had something to do with someone.
Here, the hippocampus provides a place for memory: time, place, event, and manner.
And the memory neural circuits are connected like this:
When the fornix or amygdala is stimulated by stress and becomes active, it transmits information to the neurons on the hippocampus through the neuronal connection between it and the hippocampus, and at this time, the neurons on the hippocampus will produce potential changes, sometimes protein change traces, and some even cause structural or genetic changes in the neuronsAs a result, neurons on the hippocampus produce instantaneous, long-term, and permanent memories, respectively.
Why do people have problems remembering?
There are four main reasons for this: First, the hippocampus function is atrophied, such as in people with depression, the hippocampus may become smaller, resulting in its functional atrophy and memory loss.
The second is that some memory information is not awakened and used for a long time, resulting in the disappearance of current ** traces and protein traces becoming plaques, so that short-term memories disappear and long-term memories are blurred. That's why we haven't used something we've learned for a long time, or haven't seen someone for a long time, so it's easy to forget or have a vague memory of someone.
The third is that there is a kind of retrieval neuron in our brain, that is, when we want to remember a certain information, the retrieval neuron will go to the corresponding brain area to find it, but once the function of the retrieval neuron is lost or insufficient, even if the memory traces do not disappear, the corresponding information will not be found, and the cause of memory difficulty will occur.
Why do many elderly people have difficulty remembering, and even do not remember what they just did?It's a problem with their retrieval neurons, but in fact, the memory traces are still not gone, so often after a period of emptiness, he remembers what he did and what he said. This is when the function of the retrieved neuron is restored and the information sought is found.
Fourth, sleep effects. In fact, the hippocampus is only a buffer for memories, and people tend to sleep and store these memories in the area of the cerebral cortex where they should be stored.
When people don't sleep well, they can't properly store memories in the cerebral cortex, which is where they should be, resulting in a lack of memory of certain events in the past.
This is also the reason why when people do not sleep well, they have poor learning Xi and have difficulty remembering past events.