How I understand the mind

Memory

The photo above is not a Christmas tree with lights. No the coloured balls are brain cells or neurons. We've got about 10 billion of them. The fibres between these neurons are called dendrites. So how does a memory in the brain looks like. A memory is not stored in one cell.

No a memory is a pathway or pattern between many cells which can be spread all over the brain (75 % of the memory are however stored in the outer layer of the brain).

The pattern first gets created in our short time memory. This gets quickly lost. Therefore it has to be consolidated in long term memory. You do that to change the physical structure of the pattern. When we concentrate a electrical charge goes through the pattern. The easier it is to

activate the pattern the stronger the memory is. When an electrical signal arrives at a cell it has to pass a gap before entering the cell. Neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) pass the gap. These neurotransmitters stimulate the process to build a bigger entrance to the cell and make it easier to stimulate the next dendrite (fiber between cells).

To make a strong pathway you use repetition of information. Other tricks are to connect the new information to other strong pathways. For example to remember a name for example Quin Washington., you could relate the name quin to the word quintet (five) and think of the city Washington. Picture in your head 5 cities of Washington. Success guaranteed. So imagination and association is very important. When reading new information make a mind map of it. Tony Buzan developed them and they completely relate to how the brain stores a memory.

To create memories you also have to sleep good. During the dream time at night most of our memories get consolidated. Than we are relaxed and the brainwaves are exactly right. Relaxation is also key when taking in new information. Stop every 10 minutes when you learn and relax. When you have an exam week don't go on a strict diet. When you don't get enough nutrients or brain food memory suffers. Fruit and vegetables but also proteins in white meat and milk and fatty fish are for example good brain food.

When we get older our memory doesn't get worse. But if you don't use it you loose it. Same as with muscles. So exercise your brain. The only thing what happens when you are old is that the process to store and retain memory is slower. This is because the circulation of the blood is getting slower which brings oxygen to the brain. Oxygen is very important for good brain functioning. So if we know the right tricks we all can get smarter. Intelligence isn't fixed. So even when you are old you still can raise your IQ. Blogging is a good way for brain exercise I think.

What do you think?