tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/long-term-memory-39157/articlesLong-term memory – The Conversation2023-10-01T19:16:20Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2139962023-10-01T19:16:20Z2023-10-01T19:16:20ZAvoid cramming and don’t just highlight bits of text: how to help your memory when preparing for exams<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550776/original/file-20230928-15-m58d1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C23%2C5168%2C3422&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/library-high-angle-photro-159775/">Pixabay/Pexels</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With school and university exams looming, students will be thinking about how they can maximise their learning.</p>
<p>Memory is a key part of how we learn.</p>
<p>If students understand how memory works, they can prioritise effective study habits. This will help for exams as well as their learning in the longer term. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-how-can-we-concentrate-on-study-without-getting-distracted-146572">Curious Kids: how can we concentrate on study without getting distracted?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is memory?</h2>
<p>According to cognitive psychology (the study of our mental processes), there are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0079742108604223?via%3Dihub">three</a> distinct types of memory. Each plays a different role in effective study:</p>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>sensory memory</strong> temporarily holds vast amounts of new information <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/sensory-memory">from our senses</a>. This includes everything we have just seen, heard, touched or tasted. If we pay attention to that information, it moves into working memory for processing. If we don’t pay attention, it is discarded. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>working memory</strong> is our brain’s control centre. All conscious <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780123943934000066">cognitive activity</a>, including remembering, calculating, planning, problem-solving, decision-making and critical thinking happens in our working memory. However, if we have too much on our minds, working memory can easily become <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2864034/">overloaded</a>. This makes it important to offload knowledge and skills to long-term memory. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>long-term memory</strong> is our brain’s library. When new knowledge or skills are well practised, they are “encoded” from working memory and into <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/long-term-memory">long-term memory</a>. Here they are stored in vast networks called schemas. To use those knowledge and skills again, we retrieve those schemas back into working memory. The more we encode and retrieve knowledge and skills, the stronger those memory pathways become. Well-learned schemas can be retrieved automatically, which creates space in working memory for new thinking and learning. </p></li>
</ol>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1706139868416356588"}"></div></p>
<h2>How to help your memory when preparing for exams</h2>
<p>Not everyone likes exams and educators <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-do-away-with-exams-altogether-no-but-we-need-to-rethink-their-design-and-purpose-67647">often debate</a> their advantages and disadvantages. </p>
<p>But if you are a student who is studying for exams right now, here are some tips to help you use your time well: </p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>create the conditions for attention</strong>: put your phone away and remove distractions. Remember, <a href="https://journalofcognition.org/articles/10.5334/joc.58">your attention is needed</a> to bring information into working memory and keep it there. Loss of attention, or mind wandering, can result in poorer learning. Harvard professor of psychology Dan Schachter calls absent-mindedness one of the “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8285452/">seven sins of memory</a>”. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>consider your subject area</strong>: different disciplines ask different kinds of questions and you should study with these in mind. In a Year 12 English exam, for example, you might be asked to write a response about your interpretation of a particular text. So don’t just re-read the text; effective study involves drawing out themes and insights, practising your arguments and seeking feedback. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>minimise “shallow” study</strong>: most students report <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1529100612453266">re-reading and highlighting</a> text when studying. But these are less effective than other study techniques. Shallow study or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002253717280001X?via%3Dihub">encoding</a> focuses more on surface features and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fergus-Craik-2/publication/11066090_Levels_of_processing_Past_present_and_future/links/0a85e5374cd5c4aebb000000/Levels-of-processing-Past-present-and-future.pdf">less on meaning</a>. This encourages rote recall over genuine understanding and leads to poorer learning. In <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0361476X08000477?via%3Dihub">one study</a>, re-reading a textbook twice in a row offered no advantage over reading it for the first time. </p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A textbook with sticky notes and a highlighted passage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550811/original/file-20230928-23-9i311a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550811/original/file-20230928-23-9i311a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550811/original/file-20230928-23-9i311a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550811/original/file-20230928-23-9i311a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550811/original/file-20230928-23-9i311a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550811/original/file-20230928-23-9i311a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550811/original/file-20230928-23-9i311a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Just highlighting bits of text is unlikely to lead to deep understanding of a topic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-of-photo-of-books-327882/">Lum3n/Pexels</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>maximise “deep” study</strong>: this involves actively using the information you are studying. Depending on your discipline, this might include <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fa0019902">answering practice questions</a>, constructing your own questions, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0361476X79900699?via%3Dihub">summarising</a>, identifying themes, evaluating existing arguments, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tea.3660250103">making decisions</a>, or explaining concepts to others. This deep encoding results in stronger schematic networks, which are more easily reactivated when you need them. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>move beyond worked examples</strong>: worked examples are step-by-step illustrations of the processes to solve a problem. They can be <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_20">powerful starting points</a> because they show you how to use a particular strategy. They also help to reduce working memory load. But as you <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225767816_Expertise_Reversal_Effect_and_Its_Implications_for_Learner-Tailored_Instruction">become more expert</a>, it is more effective to draw those strategies from long-term memory yourself.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>take breaks</strong>: research with Australian <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371689526_Rest_breaks_aid_directed_attention_and_learning">university students</a> shows even a five-minute rest break can support attention – the gateway to learning. Research <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1745691612447308">using brain scans</a> also shows rest can help you consolidate memories. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>don’t cram</strong>: the so-called “spacing effect” shows memory and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-010-9366-y">conceptual understanding </a> both benefit from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010028510000332?via%3Dihub">distributed</a> rather than massed learning. This means six half-hour sessions are better for learning than one three hour block. </p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman naps with a dog. Spectacles are folded on a book." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550812/original/file-20230928-19-ijedgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550812/original/file-20230928-19-ijedgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550812/original/file-20230928-19-ijedgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550812/original/file-20230928-19-ijedgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550812/original/file-20230928-19-ijedgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550812/original/file-20230928-19-ijedgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550812/original/file-20230928-19-ijedgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Make sure you take breaks and get sleep.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/planner-and-eyeglasses-placed-on-table-near-anonymous-woman-and-dog-sleeping-on-sofa-6588937/">Meruyert Gonullu/Pexels</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>mix up your study</strong>: this could mean <a href="https://www.retrievalpractice.org/interleaving">varying</a> questions and activities, so your brain is forced to compare, contrast, refine, and draw distinctions between concepts and approaches. This is known as “<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-interleaving-effect-mixing-it-up-boosts-learning/">interleaving</a>”, and has been shown to boost learning in subjects such as maths, music and medicine. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>don’t skip sleep</strong>: sleep is crucial for the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23589831/">consolidation</a> of memory or <a href="https://www.bostonneuropsa.net/PDF%20Files/Stickgold/Nature_review_2005.pdf">solidifying</a> new connections or insights you have made. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>give yourself enough time</strong>: unfortunately, there are no shortcuts here! Each time you <a href="https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s10648-021-09595-9?sharing_token=BJGF9HIhylvkFTp44loJ1fe4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY68gwFdG3aL3p8m-poI08AnooDPXDRsIbGbAcSfq37HR20RLLZlZUjmOElg_wpKZL36zS0i5zcLfJ5UXBlFREIOi0tNigRAfr47nlSb4RA4e37qH_hZV4z4RSb4Ky31i40=">practise</a> drawing specific knowledge and skills from long-term memory into working memory, you are etching a memory super-highway. The <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2005-13307-006">more you do this</a>, the better and quicker you become – which is what you will need come exam time. </p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/preparing-for-exam-season-10-practical-insights-from-psychology-to-help-teens-get-through-189439">Preparing for exam season: 10 practical insights from psychology to help teens get through</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213996/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Penny Van Bergen receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Association for Psychological Science, and the NSW Department of Education. </span></em></p>According to cognitive psychology there are three distinct types of memory. Each plays a different role in effective study.Penny Van Bergen, Head of School of Education and Professor of Educational Psychology, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1402302020-08-10T19:57:56Z2020-08-10T19:57:56Z3 ways to study better, according to cognitive research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352011/original/file-20200810-24-183txlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C657%2C7061%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The key to long-term retention of information is to practise retrieving that information. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether you are a student or the parent of one contending with coronavirus school closures, this year <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-education-minister-hints-new-measures-possible-for-back-to-school-plan-1.5054166">“back to school” means studying under some unusual circumstances</a>. </p>
<p>Learning and teaching can provide great opportunities for academic and personal growth, but <a href="https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/supporting-your-childs-mental-health-during-covid-19-school-return">in the midst of stressors</a>, it’s worth remembering that some ways of learning and retaining information are more effective than others.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/having-trouble-concentrating-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-neuroscience-explains-why-139185">Having trouble concentrating during the coronavirus pandemic? Neuroscience explains why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For example, students report relying on age-old techniques like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266">re-reading textbooks or notes and highlighting the important parts</a>, but these aren’t the most effective approaches. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354">More than a century of research</a> tells us that testing yourself with practice questions and leaving space between study sessions (sometimes called distributed practice) enhances learning and long-term memory. Ultimately, these approaches save time. </p>
<p>In my educational research in the department of kinesiology at Western University, I am interested in how people learn, and what small changes instructors and students can make to improve their results. My priority is to understand how novice students learn anatomy and which cognitive strategies can optimize learning, both academically and in daily life. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young man sits in front of a computer screen highlighting notes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352015/original/file-20200810-24-zprfp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352015/original/file-20200810-24-zprfp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352015/original/file-20200810-24-zprfp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352015/original/file-20200810-24-zprfp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352015/original/file-20200810-24-zprfp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352015/original/file-20200810-24-zprfp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352015/original/file-20200810-24-zprfp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Highlighting is fine, but don’t let it be your main strategy for retaining information.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Enhancing learning</h2>
<p>When practice testing and spaced studying are used together, researchers call this super technique “successive relearning” and its benefits are clear. </p>
<p>For example, Kent State University researchers found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-013-9240-4">students studying by successive relearning earned test scores 12 per cent higher than their classmates who were using conventional methods</a>. They also retained significantly more information when retested days and weeks after their final exams. Such a situation approximates how you might hope to use knowledge far beyond a course.</p>
<p>Further, a large online study of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-020-0061-1">self-regulated study practices found that spaced learning appears to have the greatest benefits for students with lower final exam grades</a> and can even buffer the effects of completing less learning activities throughout a course.</p>
<p>Let’s talk about how and why this works. </p>
<h2>Retrieving information is key to retention</h2>
<p>Only a portion of the information you learn becomes part of your permanent, or long-term knowledge. When you learn something new, your working memory holds that information in an active state, keeping it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1201">available for you to use and combine with other things you already know (long-term memory) or are experiencing in the moment (short-term memory)</a>. </p>
<p>This is what happens, for example, when you try to remember a phone number. While focusing on the number, you might pull in relevant information about the person you plan to call or memorization tricks you’ve used for phone numbers in the past. </p>
<p>When the information in your working memory stops being used, however, its presence fades. Its transition from newly learned to long-remembered <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2009.11.028">depends on how the information was used or rehearsed</a>. </p>
<p>Practising the <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.1152408">retrieval of information is key to long-term retention</a>. Spacing out these sessions gives you a chance to forget just enough to make your recall effective, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2010.05.004">allowing you to remind yourself about what you learned</a> — which enhances memory and slows forgetting.</p>
<p>Fortunately, almost anything from schoolwork to new languages can be learned this way.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A student rests her head, sleeping on a table, with open books in front of her." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352014/original/file-20200810-16-jdcz8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352014/original/file-20200810-16-jdcz8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352014/original/file-20200810-16-jdcz8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352014/original/file-20200810-16-jdcz8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352014/original/file-20200810-16-jdcz8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352014/original/file-20200810-16-jdcz8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352014/original/file-20200810-16-jdcz8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cramming sessions work for next-day recall, but you’ll soon forget most of what you learned.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Caution for crammers</h2>
<p>Successive relearning may feel hard <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1021069">compared to typical (yet ineffective) strategies like highlighting and re-reading</a>. </p>
<p>If you have been a student who has crammed for an exam, you may know that <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-0663.97.1.70">for next-day recall, cramming sessions actually do work</a>. But students don’t typically realize how much and how quickly they forget content since the course usually ends with the exam. </p>
<p>This means that learners may falsely identify cramming as being an easy and effective strategy and avoid more difficult yet more effective strategies like successive relearning which actually promote long-term retention. </p>
<p>So how do you “successively relearn?” </p>
<h2>Break things down into three steps</h2>
<p><strong>Set a goal:</strong> Figure out what you’ll study — like key topics from a lecture or a driver’s handbook — and when you’ll do it, by creating and following a schedule. Aim for shorter study sessions that are spaced out over time. For example, five <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0021-9010.84.5.795">one-hour sessions are better than one five-hour session</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Practise:</strong> Create opportunities to recall what you have learned to help move information into long-term storage. Online flashcard apps are great (check out free options <a href="https://apps.ankiweb.net/">such as Anki</a> and <a href="https://nkoapps.com/">Flashcards by NKO</a>), though all you really need is paper and a pen. </p>
<p>If you’re a student, try leaving blank spaces in your course notes to recall and write out concepts after class. </p>
<p>If you’re teaching, build informal testing into your lessons. Beyond modelling the technique, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1221764110">it also helps students sustain their attention, take better notes and it reduces test anxiety</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Consolidate success:</strong> Check your work and monitor your progress over time. If you’re successfully recalling something most of the time, you can decrease how often you review that content and replace it with new content as you progress. Deliberately recalling information is the critical ingredient for successive relearning, so be sure to lock it into your memory by writing down and committing to an answer before checking your notes or textbook. </p>
<p>Remember that without deliberate recall practice, little information makes it into your long-term memory, which inhibits effective long-term learning. </p>
<p>So, put down your highlighter and try something new. Just regularly thinking about a topic and recalling the particulars is a real opportunity for success.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140230/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danielle Brewer-Deluce does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Put down the highlighter. Research about the brain and memory shows that leaving time between study sessions and testing yourself frequently are more efficient ways to learn.Danielle Brewer-Deluce, Assistant Professor, School of Kinesiology, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/997312018-08-06T10:39:33Z2018-08-06T10:39:33ZBrains keep temporary molecular records before making a lasting memory<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230467/original/file-20180802-136652-1cvad3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=490%2C475%2C1407%2C958&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Like the day's newspaper, the brain has a temporary way to keep track of events.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/vector-silhouette-human-brain-newspaper-columns-124171039">TonTonic/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The first dance at my wedding lasted exactly four minutes and 52 seconds, but I’ll probably remember it for decades. Neuroscientists still don’t entirely understand this: How was my brain able to translate this less-than-five-minute experience into a lifelong memory? Part of the puzzle is that there’s a gap between experience and memory: our experiences are fleeting, but it takes hours to form a long-term memory.</p>
<p>In recent work <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2018.04.001">published in the journal Neuron</a>, <a href="https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/labs/ln/pi/sdp/index.cfm">my</a> <a href="https://gray.hms.harvard.edu/">colleagues</a> <a href="http://faculty.ucmerced.edu/rsaha3">and</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=en&user=9JkTJUMAAAAJ">I</a> figured out how the brain keeps temporary molecular records of transient experiences. Our finding not only helps to explain how the brain bridges the gap between experience and memory. It also allows us to read the brain’s short-term records, raising the possibility that we may one day be able to infer a person’s, or at least a laboratory mouse’s, past experience – what they saw, thought, felt – just by looking at the molecules in their brain.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230615/original/file-20180803-41320-ye2h39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230615/original/file-20180803-41320-ye2h39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230615/original/file-20180803-41320-ye2h39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230615/original/file-20180803-41320-ye2h39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230615/original/file-20180803-41320-ye2h39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230615/original/file-20180803-41320-ye2h39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230615/original/file-20180803-41320-ye2h39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230615/original/file-20180803-41320-ye2h39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Electrical pulses carry signals along the branches of neurons.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cajal_actx_inter.jpg">Santiago Ramón y Cajal</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Electrifying experience</h2>
<p>To uncover how the brain keeps track of an animal’s experience, we started by asking how the brain records its electrical activity. Every experience you have, from chatting with a friend to smelling french fries, corresponds to its own unique pattern of electrical activity in the nervous system and brain. These activity patterns are defined by which neurons are active and in what way they’re active.</p>
<p>For example, say you’re at the gym lifting weights. Which neurons are active is fairly straightforward: If you’re lifting with your right arm, different neurons will be active than if you’re lifting with your left arm because different neurons are connected to the muscles of each arm.</p>
<p>The way in which a neuron is active, on the other hand, encompasses an infinite number of possibilities. Neuronal activity consists of pulses of electricity that can occur in pretty much any pattern over time that you can imagine. Electrical activity can vary in duration, or whether the pulses occur in clumps or steadily. In this case, lifting a heavier weight will lead to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1514782/?page=1">more pulses per minute</a>.</p>
<p>So, it’s a combination of which neurons are active and how frequently they’re pulsing that makes your experience of lifting a 10-pound weight with your right hand different from that of lifting a 5-pound weight with your left hand.</p>
<h2>Activated neurons activate genes</h2>
<p>In our experiments, we couldn’t test every possible pattern of electrical activity, so we focused just on the way neurons record how long they are active.</p>
<p>We predicted they’d keep these records by turning on genes. All the cells in your body have pretty much the same genes encoded in their DNA. But different genes turn on depending on the type of cell and what it’s encountered in its life. Which genes are activated in a particular cell are what makes it different from other cells.</p>
<p>For about 30 years, researchers have known that neurons <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0896-6273(90)90106-P">turn on certain genes</a> when they’re electrically active. When a gene in a neuron is turned on, the cell sends a molecular Xerox machine to that gene’s place in the DNA. The molecular Xerox makes lots of copies of the gene in the form of new molecules. These new molecules aren’t made of DNA, but rather the closely-related RNA. These RNA molecules remain in the cell for hours to days and serve as the brain’s record of which neurons were active.</p>
<p>But we wanted to know whether the genes that are on in neurons can record not just that they’ve been at all active but also the way they’ve been active. That is, do neurons that are activated differently – for longer or shorter time periods, for instance – turn on different genes?</p>
<p>We thought they would: Long-term memories are stored in physical changes to the neurons themselves, and the type of change is determined by the pattern of electrical activity the neuron experiences. So we predicted that the brain would need to keep track not only of which neurons were active, but also the way those neurons were active in order to make those lasting changes.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230510/original/file-20180803-41351-1ovxv3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230510/original/file-20180803-41351-1ovxv3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230510/original/file-20180803-41351-1ovxv3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230510/original/file-20180803-41351-1ovxv3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230510/original/file-20180803-41351-1ovxv3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230510/original/file-20180803-41351-1ovxv3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230510/original/file-20180803-41351-1ovxv3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230510/original/file-20180803-41351-1ovxv3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Researchers activated mouse neurons growing in a dish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kelsey Tyssowski</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In our experiments, we activated mouse neurons growing in a dish by exposing them to a chemical that turned them on. As long as the chemical was there, the neurons were active, allowing us to keep them turned on for various lengths of time.</p>
<p>We found that, indeed, neurons in a dish that are activated for different lengths of time turn on different genes. And this genetic record-keeping is unexpectedly simple: The longer neurons are active, the more genes they turn on.</p>
<p>This turned out to be true not only in neurons growing in a dish, but also in the brains of living mice. By exposing mice to bright lights, we were able to activate the neurons in the vision center of their brains for as long as the lights were on. The longer the lights shone, the more different genes turned on, their RNA copies building up in the cell. This means that the set of molecules found in a briefly active neuron is different from that found in a neuron that was active for a long time.</p>
<p>That this simple record-keeping was present in the brains of living mice suggests it’s likely also in the brains of humans.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230502/original/file-20180803-41338-15m8wpe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230502/original/file-20180803-41338-15m8wpe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230502/original/file-20180803-41338-15m8wpe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230502/original/file-20180803-41338-15m8wpe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230502/original/file-20180803-41338-15m8wpe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230502/original/file-20180803-41338-15m8wpe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230502/original/file-20180803-41338-15m8wpe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230502/original/file-20180803-41338-15m8wpe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Each neuron contains a metaphorical machine that translates its electrical activity into molecular records.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anastasia Nizhnik and Kelsey Tyssowski</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Temporary records of breaking news</h2>
<p>Our work only explains how neurons keep track of how long they were active, but we think neurons may well keep track of all aspects of their activity in the same way. But why would the brain keep this molecular record of an animal’s experiences?</p>
<p>I think of these molecular records as being like a newspaper. The brain writes an article about each experience by turning on a specific set of genes in a specific set of neurons. These articles – in the form of RNA molecules – will remain around for hours to days. But just as days-old newspapers are usually tossed out, the copies of the activated genes are not how the brain stories memories for decades.</p>
<p>Instead, the brain reads its temporary newspaper-like records to write its history books: long-term memories. When your brain stores a memory of an experience, it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a021741">physically changes the connections</a> between the neurons that the experience activated. Those changes can last a lifetime – like my wedding memories. Our group thinks the genes that are on in a neuron probably tell it what kinds of changes to make, like the articles in a newspaper tell scholars what to write in history books.</p>
<h2>Reading records</h2>
<p>My colleagues and I thought that if the brain is able to read these molecular records when writing its long-term memories, we should be able to read them, too. Like any reliable record, the genes that turned on in response to short versus long activity were predictable. They were actually so predictable that we were able to figure out if a group of neurons had been activated for a long time or a short time just by looking at which genes they had turned on.</p>
<p>So far we can only read how long a neuron’s been active, but if we could fully read the brain’s records, we might be able to infer someone’s experience of their day just by looking at the RNA molecules present in their brain. We could look at the genes that are on in your neurons and figure out that in your workout this morning you lifted a 5-, not 10-, pound weight with your right, not left, hand. And we could tell that you were daydreaming about your date tonight while you did it.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for aspiring mind-readers who are willing to put aside any ethical qualms, it’s not actually possible to look at the molecules present in the brain of a living person and probably won’t be in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, we don’t entirely understand which brain activity patterns correspond to which experiences. So even if we could read these records fluently, we wouldn’t be able to infer experience.</p>
<p>Instead, we hope that understanding the brain’s record-keeping will provide an easier way to measure brain activity in lab animals for researchers trying to figure out the correspondence between experience and brain activity. Current technologies are somewhat inefficient and can only measure activity in real time, so reading the brain’s genetic records could make these experiments more feasible.</p>
<p>So while molecular mind-reading in humans stays relegated to science fiction for now, our work begins to allow scientists to read the records in the brains of lab mice. It’s a step toward understanding how the brain converts experience to electrical activity to memory.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99731/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelsey Tyssowski received funding from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. The research described here was also funded by the NIH, the Canadian Institute of Health Research, the Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation, a McKnight Scholar Award, a Harvard Brain Science Initiative Bipolar Disorder Seed Grant, the Kaneb family and Kent and Liz Dauten.</span></em></p>How do brains convert experiences into memories? New research explores the chain of events by focusing on what genes shift into gear when neurons are firing.Kelsey Tyssowski, Graduate Student in Biomedical Science, Harvard UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/759602017-06-05T01:45:23Z2017-06-05T01:45:23ZWorking memory: How you keep things ‘in mind’ over the short term<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171522/original/file-20170530-23699-itx0un.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C181%2C2987%2C2163&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's a crucial cog in the your ability to perform a variety of mental tasks.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/brain-loss-losing-memory-intelligence-due-98211377">Lightspring via Shutterstock.com.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When you need to remember a phone number, a shopping list or a set of instructions, you rely on what psychologists and neuroscientists refer to as working memory. It’s the ability to hold and manipulate information in mind, over brief intervals. It’s for things that are important to you in the present moment, but not 20 years from now.</p>
<p>Researchers believe working memory is central to the functioning of the mind. It correlates with many more general abilities and outcomes – things like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00023-5">intelligence</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17470210500162854">scholastic attainment</a> – and is linked to basic sensory processes.</p>
<p>Given its central role in our mental life, and the fact that we are conscious of at least some of its contents, working memory may become important in our quest to understand consciousness itself. Psychologists and neuroscientists focus on different aspects as they investigate working memory: Psychologists try to map out the functions of the system, while neuroscientists focus more on its neural underpinnings. Here’s a snapshot of where the research stands currently.</p>
<h2>How much working memory do we have?</h2>
<p>Capacity is limited – we can keep only a certain amount of information “in mind” at any one time. But researchers debate the nature of this limit.</p>
<p>Many suggest that working memory can store a <a href="http://memory.psych.missouri.edu/doc/articles/2001/Cowan%20BBS%202001.pdf">limited number of “items” or “chunks” of information</a>. These could be digits, letters, words or other units. Research has shown that the number of bits that can be held in memory can depend on the type of item – flavors of ice cream on offer versus digits of pi. </p>
<p>An alternative theory suggests working memory acts as a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3655">continuous resource</a> that’s shared across all remembered information. Depending on your goals, different parts of the remembered information can receive different amounts of resource. Neuroscientists have suggested this resource could be <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2015.06.004">neural activity</a>, with different parts of the remembered information having varying amounts of activity devoted to them, depending on current priorities.</p>
<p>A different theoretical approach instead argues that the capacity limit arises because different <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13423-012-0272-4">items will interfere with each other in memory</a>. </p>
<p>And of course memories decay over time, though rehearsing the information that’s in working memory seems to mitigate that process. What researchers call maintenance rehearsal involves repeating the information mentally without regard to its meaning – for example, going through a grocery list and remembering the items just as words without regard to the meal they will become. </p>
<p>In contrast, elaborative rehearsal involves giving the information meaning and associating it with other information. For instance, mnemonics facilitate elaborative rehearsal by associating the first letter of each of a list of items with some other information that is already stored in memory. It seems only elaborative rehearsal can help consolidate the information from working memory into a more lasting form – called long-term memory.</p>
<p>In the visual domain, <a href="http://gocognitive.net/interviews/rehearsal-visual-spatial-sketchpad">rehearsal may involve eye movements</a>, with visual information being tied to spatial location. In other words, people may look at the location of the remembered information after it has gone in order to remind them of where it was.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171666/original/file-20170531-25652-1y4et61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171666/original/file-20170531-25652-1y4et61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171666/original/file-20170531-25652-1y4et61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171666/original/file-20170531-25652-1y4et61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171666/original/file-20170531-25652-1y4et61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171666/original/file-20170531-25652-1y4et61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171666/original/file-20170531-25652-1y4et61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171666/original/file-20170531-25652-1y4et61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lots of things we need to remember over the short term can soon be forgotten with no ill effect.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/steering-wheel-covered-notes-reminder-errands-445215337">Suzanne Tucker via Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Working memory versus long-term memory</h2>
<p>Long-term memory is characterized by a much larger storage capacity. The information it holds is also more durable and stable. Long-term memories can contain information about episodes in a person’s life, semantics or knowledge as well as more implicit types of information such as how to use objects or move the body in certain ways (motor skills).</p>
<p>Researchers have long regarded working memory as a <a href="http://gocognitive.net/interviews/how-are-long-term-and-working-memory-related">gateway into long-term storage</a>. Rehearse information in working memory enough and the memory can become more permanent.</p>
<p>Neuroscience makes a clear distinction between the two. It holds that working memory is related to temporary activation of neurons in the brain. In contrast, long-term memory is thought to be related to physical changes to neurons and their connections. This can explain the short-term nature of working memory as well as its greater susceptibility to interruptions or physical shocks.</p>
<h2>How does working memory change over a lifetime?</h2>
<p>Performance on tests of working memory improves throughout childhood. Its capacity is a major driving force of cognitive development. Performance on assessment tests increase steadily <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2016.00015">throughout infancy</a>, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/87565640709336889">childhood and the teenage years</a>. Performance then reaches a peak in young adulthood. On the flip side, working memory is one of the cognitive abilities most sensitive to aging, and performance on <a href="http://www.dana.org/News/Details.aspx?id=43176">these tests declines in old age</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171667/original/file-20170531-25704-1n75kz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171667/original/file-20170531-25704-1n75kz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171667/original/file-20170531-25704-1n75kz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171667/original/file-20170531-25704-1n75kz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171667/original/file-20170531-25704-1n75kz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171667/original/file-20170531-25704-1n75kz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171667/original/file-20170531-25704-1n75kz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171667/original/file-20170531-25704-1n75kz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What was I going to write on my list again?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/memory-disorder-181673666">Image Point Fr via Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The rise and fall of working memory capacity over a lifespan is thought to be related to the normal development and degradation of the prefrontal cortex in the brain, an area responsible for <a href="http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/prefrontal-cortex">higher cognitive functions</a>.</p>
<p>We know that damage to the prefrontal cortex causes working memory deficits (along with many other changes). And recordings of neuronal activity in the prefrontal cortex show that <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/content/16/16/5154">this area is active during the “delay period”</a> between when a stimulus is presented to an observer and when he must make a response – that is, the time during which he’s trying to remember the information.</p>
<p>Several mental illnesses, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.31613">schizophrenia and depression</a>, are associated with decreased functioning of prefrontal cortex, which can be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.07060945">revealed via neuroimaging</a>. For the same reason, these illnesses are also associated with decreased working memory ability. Interestingly, for schizophrenic patients, this deficit appears <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.114.4.599">more marked in visual rather than verbal</a> working memory tasks. In childhood, working memory deficits are linked to <a href="http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/our-research/gathercole/">difficulties in attention, reading and language</a>. </p>
<h2>Working memory and other cognitive functions</h2>
<p>The prefrontal cortex is associated with a wide array of other important functions, including <a href="http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/prefrontal-cortex">personality, planning and decision-making</a>. Any decrease in the functioning of this area is likely to affect many different aspects of cognition, emotion and behavior.</p>
<p>Critically, many of these prefrontal functions are thought to be intimately linked to, and perhaps dependent on, working memory. For instance, planning and decision-making require us to already have “in mind” the relevant information to formulate a course of action.</p>
<p>A theory of cognitive architecture, called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Workspace_Theory">Global Workspace Theory</a>, relies on working memory. It suggests that information held temporarily “in mind” is part of a “global workspace” in the mind which connects to many other cognitive processes and also determines what we are conscious of in any given moment. Given that this theory suggests working memory determines what we are conscious of, understanding more about it may become an important part of solving the mystery of consciousness.</p>
<h2>Improving your working memory</h2>
<p>There is some evidence that it’s possible to train your working memory using interactive tasks, such as simple games for children that involve memory ability. It has been suggested that this training can help improve scores on other types of tasks, <a href="http://editlib.org/p/36119/">such as those involving vocabulary and mathematics</a>. There is also some evidence that training to beef up working memory can <a href="http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep05/workout.aspx">improve performance for children with specific conditions</a>, such as ADHD. However, research reviews often conclude that benefits are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0028228">short-lived and specific to the trained task</a>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the enhancements found in some of these studies could be due to learning how to more efficiently use one’s working memory resources, as opposed to increasing its capacity. The hope for this kind of training is that we can find relatively simple tasks which will both improve performance not just on the task itself but also transfer to a range of other applications.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75960/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Burmester does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Both psychologists and neuroscientists are interested in how working memory holds on to items over brief intervals – and are investigating from different angles.Alex Burmester, Research Associate in Perception and Memory, New York UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.