The Power of Forgetting: Decoding the Human Brain

Forgotten memories of us.

 

Being oblivious is always not awry. Our mind has been germinated in such a way that it fades away all our lousy memories, although the imprint of them or whatever we have felt in that particular situation always has a pervasive wallop in our hearts. Our brain synapses learn new information every day and build a deep neural network within themselves. New synapses are created when we adapt to new alterations and are aware of new ideas, and consequently, we conform to that particular and exceptional situation. What is a synapse? Let's open the crust and find the tangible truth of it. You all are cognizant of neurons being taught in the 8th grade science book, thereby skipping the basics and going further. When two neurons come in contact with each other, they form a junction where signals are transferred from one neuron to another. This junction of neurons is called synapses, forming a complex network and enabling the electrical impulses or chemical signals to transverse from neuron to neuron, allowing them to process and store information for a longer period of time.

Well, the story is not stagnant here; research undertook by Brazilian researcher Suzana Herculano-Houzel is about how many average neurons the human encephalon has, and an astonishing figure surfaced: the average human brain contains around 86 billion neurons. There are about 14 billion neurons in the entire baboon brain, and, for additional comparison, 75 million in the mouse brain, 250 million in the cat, and 257 billion in the elephant. With roughly 86 billion neurons, humans have a highly developed encephalon, particularly in the regions associated with memory such as the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain contributes to our ability to learn and retain vast amounts of information. In contrast, animal brains with fewer neurons also have their own neural networks and the nexus of synapses. Having considerable numbers of neurons, they are adaptive to their ecological and social needs. Elephants have the biggest brain of any earthly animal and support complex memory processes necessary for their long lifespan, social structure, and navigation along vast territories. They are also known for their exceptional memory, long-term social relationships, etc.  

Neurons and Synapses

A burning conundrum being studied by neurologists is: what if our synapses retain memory for a longer span of time than they should? or what would happen if our brain disremembered how to forget things? and what if it remembers every itsy-bitsy detail of a day? For instance, what had happened in your previous day you forget and remember a portion of it in your memory and with times when more and more data is being added to your encephalon, it discards the details and store just necessary and important details of that particular day. And there comes a time when your brain goes in the state of limbo, this happens due to various reasons like the weak linkage of unused synaptic connection and etc. but one of the prime factor is due to the defensive mechanism of the human brain, with this mechanism human brain forget the  irrelevant and outdated info and just remember only the useful information; helps brain to prioritize the primal events and aid in cognitive development. Being forgetful is a natural adaptive mechanism of the brain that helps you erase the bad and superfluous memories of your life.  

Neurons signals helps to recall and forget

Coming to our question, what if our brain lost its ability to forget things? Is it good or bad? If you consider it good, then let me tell you it has many adverse effects than you conceive. If a person is unable to let go of his past, he won't be able to move further in his life, he will remain stuck in the memory which he should cast away. Here comes the intro of a disease called hyperthymesia, also called as Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), where a person has extraordinary ability to recall every detail of their past memories, date, time, location, personal incidents without any effortful memorization. Around 62 people in the world have this diseases. Let discuss a scenario of how much affected this ailment is, A man in his 30s able to reminiscence every little detail of his life since the age of 12, the death of his parents in his childhood is the incident of yesterday for him, these incidents chase him like a ghost throughout his life. Would he be able to forget that incident in his life? We know that he can't, the chief reason is just because of his disease. It is a lifelong trauma for him. This is why Allah Almighty has given us the ability to forget things with time, where the scars of the death of our beloved ones faded with time and we move on in our life, but the man with the HSAM can't able to, thereby with every pros there are corns and this is the trade-off and burden one has to bear for having something extraordinary that other don't have. If you are complaining of being forgetful, say thanks to Allah that he has made you like that. According to Richard Feynman,

It is more important to understand things than remember.

When you understand the grasp of any concept you won't be able to forget it because it becomes a part of your synapses and will retain their longer interval of time.   

In the culminating point here is a piece of advice for you, revise when you learn something, it will strengthen the bond of your synapses and information will be stored there for later use. And if you have remembered something but are unable to recall, that is another matter of course: referred to as the retrieval system of memory. Do the 30 min aerobic exercise mostly on weekends, it will promote the brain driven neurotrophic factor (BDNF): a protein that supports the growth and maintenance of neurons and synapses. Maintain your daily diet, try to consume Vitamin B and C, fatty fish, nuts and dry fruits. Getting an adequate sleep of 7-8 hours will boost learning and remembering ability of the brain. And last but not least always learn something new, either from your peers, mentors, pals or whatever person next to you, it also helps your brain to function more smoothly, when it is continuously engaged in a learning process. 

References:

1. Dr Lila Landowski, “FINDING THAT CONNECTION© - neurons connecting to one another in a Petri dish - growth cones,” YouTube. Nov. 14, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvmvt7gscIM

2. “Life Time by Russell Foster,” Penguin Books New Zealand. https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/life-time-9780241529317

How do you feel about this? Give a reaction!