2007-07-04 07:11:56 · 5 answers · asked by geyamala 7 in Health ➔ Mental Health
Old memories have already been consolidated in long-term memory, a different area of the brain. New memories are first stored in short-term memory and are later consolidated into long-term memory. One of the areas of the brain that seems to degenerate first in older people and people with other problems, such as alcoholism, are the hippocampus and caudate nucleus, to name a couple, which are in the mid-brain. These structures are associated with short-term memory and consolidating information into long-term memory, which is largely located in the parietal cortex and occipital area. In old age attention and concentration skills also waver (decrease in ability) and these processes have a lot to do with passing memories from short-term to long-term memory. There are also information processing theories of memory and levels of processing theories of memory (Craik & Lockhart) you may be interested in.
2007-07-04 08:55:51 · answer #1 · answered by cavassi 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Without getting into a big dissertation about long term vs short term memory, lets just say that our brains change as we get older and we are more likely to remember what happened 25 years ago than what we had for lunch that day.
As we age, we also loose brain cells and that makes a difference to along with problems like Alzheimer's, dementia, etc.
2007-07-04 07:21:04 · answer #2 · answered by MadforMAC 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We did a little experiment back in PSY 101. People were of various ages, and we were all asked what things stuck out in our memories the most.
With no exceptions, it was from age 10 through 20--no matter the age of the various people answering. Incidents in the news, home life, school, etc.--all from those years.
I remember things from when I was under three years old--but I don't remember who called last on the phone. It doesn't matter, though, I have caller ID.
2007-07-04 08:35:32 · answer #3 · answered by Holiday Magic 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
cavassi got it right,short term is stored in a different area after a while,turning into long term as new paths are reconstructed for new short term memory
2007-07-04 10:04:50 · answer #4 · answered by stygianwolfe 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
we tend to lose our short-term memory before our long-term memory
2007-07-04 07:16:57 · answer #5 · answered by ஜSnazzlefrazzஜ 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋