Why doesn't the collection of our memories increase our brainsize?

IT doesnt have to... since with knowledge, skill and memories comes an ever increasing level of desinty in the number of nuerons and the number of connections each cell will have on average with other cells. forming a vast network.

a salesman... brainslice.. shows a comparatively small level of neuron density.. when compared to a mechanic for example.
the mechanic has a greater number and density of connections in his brain slice.
the engineer.. haveing a long education.. may have much more...
and einstiens brain is said to have a radically dense number of and desinty of connections.. showing to the level of his thinking power.

so if you want a thicker brain... study alot.. and think alot.. deeply.

-MT
 
I'm not sure I agree with you Mosheh -although I do appreciate your post, I did a couple of hours of reading by searching "neuron density". Until about a week ago, I really did not know much about the brain so I apologize if my views seem simplistic. I kind of get the feeling that neuron density affects brain processing speed and imagination rather than memory retention - in fact, other than transmitting bits of memory, the term "memory" wasn't used much with regard to neurons. Getting back to what amazes me; I guess I just don't understand how all of life's memories, like walking to the store, good times with friends, hydraulic transmission solenoid design and just remembering where the keys are when I type, are all stored in some form inside my head and no matter how much I learn, remember, and do sub-conciously, my head does not get any bigger and I imagine my brain doesn't weigh any more than it did yesterday. My wife and friends may have something to say about my big head :)
Howard
 
There's not a whole lot of extra space in your skull.

Now. Ask if the collection of your memories makes your brain more complex.
 
More complex than what?
If your answer to that question is: "My brain without the collection of my memories."
Then the answer is:
Yes.
 
In about nineth or tenth grade (many decades ago), a friend of mine and I wondered if our memory had a limited capacity, making it worthwhile to avoid storing unimportant data which might crowd out more important information.

We were unsure, but decided that it would not hurt to avoid storing inconsequential data. I decided that what I ate at my last meal was of no significance. I resolved to not remember. To this day, I seldom remember what I ate yesterday. It might require more brain circuitry to stifle the memory than it would take to remember it, but that is the way my mind still functions.

Oddly enough, for several years, my girl friend has made poached salmon almost every Monday evening. I know (or am almost certain) that I had poached salmon last Monday, but I cannot remember eating it.
 
Mmmm, no. Sorry Dinosaur, it doesn't work that way. You can't consciously force yourself to forget something - you can set up an aversion to wanting to recollect any number of things, but the point is the memory remains whether you want to recall it or not - unless affected by the sort of degenerative condition that causes irrevocable physical brain damage, information once stored can't be erased.

It's not unlike the hard drive on your computer.

Everything y'do, fundamentally speaking, including what you had for breakfast, gets stored whether you want it too or not. You''ve absolutely no way of preventing a memory from forming.
 
You''ve absolutely no way of preventing a memory from forming.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure that's necessarily true.
We have different forms of memory.
We have working memory.
We have short term memory.
And we have long term memory.

Not all experiences make the transition from one form of memory to the next.

However, there are theories about how everything in our lives is stored in there somewhere if only we could find a way to access it. This is the part of the conversation where the autistic savants are usually rolled out with their amazing abilities to recite mundane details of their entire lives ad infinitum.

But, autistic savants are not normal people. Their brains do not function in the way that normal brains function. And thus they are not really suitable for such an example.

There are also people with photographic memories. But, I'd say that there brains also do not operate 'normally'. Even if not so out of the ordinary as the savant.

A key aspect to memory is focus. We must focus our attention on an experience in order for it to be placed into memory. It is for this reason that extreme experiences are placed in memory while drab experiences are generally lost.

An interesting thing to consider is how dreams fade from memory. But, if you wake up and recall the dream. Reflect on the dream. Then the dream can be placed in memory. This shows the importance of focus and attention to the memory-making process.


Also interesting to consider is the accuracy of memory.
You might believe that you recall a specific event with a high degree of accuracy, but this has been shown to be not quite the case in a great deal of cases. Memory is subject to a sort of revisionism. Thus is the credibility of eye witnesses often called into question.
 
invert_nexus said:
But, autistic savants are not normal people. Their brains do not function in the way that normal brains function. And thus they are not really suitable for such an example.

There are also people with photographic memories. But, I'd say that there brains also do not operate 'normally'. Even if not so out of the ordinary as the savant.
Click to expand...
:) ... Well Nexus, with regards to that latter, I happen to be one of those people with a photographic memory - the correct terms being visually eidetic. I assure you, nothing out of the ordinary with the old grey matter in the bonce of Mr Anonymous I'll have y'know.... :p

Not sure at all I take your point regarding Savants to be the case either - certainly there remain aspects where certain structures in the brain haven't formed usually giving rise to all manner of differing levels behavioural development as a consequence - but the question a neurologist would ponder is why are we not in practice more like, say, an individual with extreme autism, or schizophrenia or any one of the other numerous neurological disorders.

Fundamentally speaking, studying the exception gives rise to a better understanding of how the apparently normal actually function, not the other way around.

A savant basically is merely doing exactly what each and everyone of us is actually perfectly capable of doing, but for some reason undisclosed we apparently don't on an automatic basis.

It's no different with the memory thing on a fundamental, physical level. It's you're conscious fore brain that tells you different, you're subconscious mind, on the other hemisphere, doesn't apparently know enough to know that.
 
Memory is complex, but can be unreliable at times. The people who know me consider me to have a very reliable memory which is much better than average. I concur with their assessment. However, I recently discovered an erroneous memory from almost 60 years ago. For at least 30-40 years I have had a memory of going to Beaver College (now Acadia University) as a weekend date for a friend of my Aunt Romayne. Beaver College is about 20 miles from where my parents and I lived until I was an adult.

It was my belief that my Aunt & my cousin Mary attended Beaver College while I was in High School. I recently visited my aunt, whom I had not seen for at least 20 years. In talking over our common history, I discovered that my aunt is 8 years older than I am and that she graduated from Beaver College a few years before I entered ninth grade, rather than still being in college when I was in twelfth grade. I had previously thought that she was only 2-3 years older than I am.

It was obvious that my memory of being a date for one of her friends could not be correct. With her help, we concluded that my mother arranged for me to go to Beaver College as the date of the daughter of one of her friends.

When I first became interested in girls, my aunt was the source of some very good advice. From the time I was 10 or 11 until I was in my twenties (and my aunt moved to another city), Aunt Romayne and I had a very close relationship. I correctly remembered that she had spent 4 years at Beaver College, and that my mother (with me in the car) had often driven her to the college after she had spent a weekend visiting us. I understand how my memory got mixed up and wonder if there are any other anomalies stored there.
 
Mr Anonymous said:

Everything y'do, fundamentally speaking, including what you had for breakfast, gets stored whether you want it too or not. You''ve absolutely no way of preventing a memory from forming.
Click to expand...

Could it really be we never forget anything? Neurons die, everything is constantly being replaced and changing...if we stop recalling certain memories, or make no effort to remember them, such as what i had for breakfast on the 3rd of may, 1992, would the memory ever be lost? either that, or buried beyond all conscious and subconsious recall?

oh, and another thing...
what is the general theory on when memories start forming? I'd really like to remember being born... :rolleyes:
 
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