Why is the human mind like this?

Question

Okay, I read so many books in the past, but I can remember only 5 titles I've read... The Lottery Rose, Star Wars:Star by Star, Bruce Lee: Commentary on the Martial Way, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

If you asked me now about the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I can tell you everything about it, and the same goes for the Goblet of Fire and the other books I've mentioned, but if you ask me if I read this book, and the title sounds familiar to me... I'll be like, "Ugh, I've read it before, but I forgot what it was about." It makes me mad, because I've read the book before, and my memory can't recently comprehend it... is it because when the brain learns newer things, it tends to forget some stuff in the past? I hope I worded that right. LOL

Answer 1

There is actually a lot of research these days on this topic (memory capacity), but there's no one definitive answer. What we do know is that it earlier theories that the brain simply "fills up" and dumps information from memory like a computer's hard drive are probably wrong when talking about long-term memory. Instead, there are a number of neurological switches which allow certain types of information in and out of memory; long term-memories actually affect the neurological structure of the brain.

How much, and what you remember is dependent on a number of things: how often you have to recall the information, how the memory was created (reading, seeing a movie, smelling food, and so on), how old you are, your health, how much you sleep and so on. Studies have shown that exercise, memory exercises, music lessons, and all sorts of activities can help prolong long-term memory.