Our Brain

Our brain is a thinking organ that learns and grows by interacting with the world through perception and action. Mental stimulation improves brain function and actually protects against cognitive decline, as does physical exercise. The human brain is able to continually adapt and rewire itself. Even in old age, it can grow new neurons.

Our brains are crammed with a massive amount of memories that we have formed over a lifetime of experiences. These memories range from the profound, to the most trivial.

How does our brain remember things? Our brain is a complex organic machine made up of many complex parts. Each part of the brain has a different function, ranging from operating the automatic actions we perform each day, such as breathing and our heart beat, to allowing us to feel, taste, smell and hear. One of the most complex processes that the brain has is the ability to remember events and information.

Sensory Memory is the first type of memory that the brain uses to remember things.. If the brain thinks this memory is important enough to send to short or long term memory banks, if not it is replaced or forgotten. Most sensory memory only remains in thr sensory registers for a few seconds.

Short-term Memory is different, it lasts up to a few minutes. Once a memory reaches this area of the brain it has been processed into a more complex idea. Short term memory can come in two forms, regular and working short term. .

Long term Memory is where most of the action happens regarding the brain actually remembering things.This starts with encoding. Encoding is where the details of a long-term-memory such as smells , colors or information are stored in the hippocampus and frontal cortex then take all of this information and turn it into electrical signals that can be distributed to different areas of the brain connected by nerve pathways and synapses. One part of the brain may store the smell involved with the memory, while another part of the brain may remember a color, number, or even-emotion.

Synapse==How strong a memory remains in your brain depends on the strength of the synapse between the nerve cells associated with the memory. The more you practice or think about a piece of information stored in your brain, the more that particular synapse is going to be used., it will grow in strength, this allows the memory to be more vivid and clear in your mind. If you do not access the memory often it begins to weaken. This may cause you to forget or have a hard time remembering a memory that has not been accessed in some time. Synapse is a junction that permits a neuron to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another cell.

We need to exercise our minds continually to keep them healthy. Give your mind challenges, use the opposite hand to do things, reading, working puzzle books, these are just a few. Our minds are a great gift, lets put them to good use. I must apologize for being so windy again.