1. Memories are like acquired skills, they never go away:
As time goes by and we add more and more experiences to our life, we tend to think that we are losing our memories pertaining to certain things. But even if it seems a temporary memory loss you should know that the memory never goes away. They become less accessible but you never forget a skill you learned do you? Memory just needs to be refreshed just like an old skill you didn’t use like if you didn’t drive for a while.
2. Occasionally we remember things that never happened. Is our mind lying to us?
The Scientific American published research of dozens of people that were given a word list describing cold, snow, ice, winter and more of that topic. When asked to repeat the words each participant added similar words from his own experience that weren’t on the word list. This tells us that the mind associated the words on the list with the person’s previous experiences. So the answer is the mind isn’t really lying, it’s just basing the answer on its previous experiences.
3. Can you rely on your memory as something accurate and exact?
If this would be the case we’d never need memory exercises. One result of the study we mentioned was that the memory is more ‘inventive’ than ‘true’ or in plain English; we don’t remember things in an exact manner. The mind doesn’t create thousands of codes to retrieve everything it remembers so that’s why we tend to create general categories in our minds that are easier to remember.
4. How does our memory work and why are past memories less sharp?
Since space in our brain is at a premium the brain gives chronological priority to the present and the memories of the recent past. What you did yesterday is far clearer than what you did last year. The older memories are stored in long term memory which is not as strong as it is not as relevant. If it becomes relevant the memory can be refreshed and strengthened.
5. Is there a natural method to increase our ability to remember?
The web is full of memory exercises meant to help us remember better and more. In University of North Umbria in England researchers found that sniffing the scent of rosemary helps strengthen long term memory and helps keep the brain younger for many years.