Memory, our brain computer

1987/04/01 Agirre, Jabier - Medikua eta OEEko kidea Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Anatomia/Fisiologia

Today computer science is on everyone's lips, we could say that the last toy of our society is the computer. And in this age of computing, praise and praise for computers are heard and read everywhere. Not all these daughters are wrong, of course, but have we realized that the "computer" is in our brain? And what is that computer? the reader asks. The answer is very simple: memory.

Equating memory with a computer is no sum, and this comparison is not new at all. We could say without fear that our memory is more skillful and skillful than the most powerful and fast computer, although we do not work as a computer.

When a child is born, his brain is completely structured. From now on it will change very little. Unlike other cells in the body, brain cells (called neurons) remain exactly the same from the first few months. And while all cells of the body are renewed non-stop, why don't neurons? If others replace it, because all the information they contain would be lost and the brain would be destroyed and gradually destroyed.

It is believed that the complex system that constitutes our memory is made up of 15,000 million nerve cells. Yes, you read well; 15x10 9 neurons are located through the brain. Each of these cells is linked to many other neurons forming a mesh cleft between them as a central telephone. Neurons would play the role of cables. But our memory does not work as a computer, as we said before. When a piece of brain is missing (either because it has been extracted or because it has remained unaffected by a disease), the information stored in the brain is kept in the remaining part of the brain. However, if a computer is removed from a component, the data that is stored in it will be lost.

And where is the memory? What part of the brain? Memory is not a visible organ like the heart or liver. With the aim of knowing the exact location of the memory, American researcher Karl Lashley conducted experiments for almost 25 years using a group of rats shown. Each of the rats was torn apart from the skin of the brain, and thus, if they forgot what they had learned before, they could know where the memory was located. However, it did not achieve any concrete effect: regardless of the area extracted, the animals did not forget anything. At most, his memories appeared more outlined. It is the sign that memory, far from being situated in a particular place, is dispersed throughout the brain.

Returning to computers, the device is called XVIII. If we ask you the list of Basque writers of the twentieth century, first you will present the list of all writers and then, XVIII. Selection of subordinates. Our brain does not work like this, presenting some knowledge before and after others. Our memory presents all the data at the same time.

On the other hand, in the human being (and apparently in other animals, of course, at different levels) is distinguished between short-term memory and long-term memory. An example facilitates your understanding. When we go down the street we see one thing: traffic signs, ads, other pedestrians that cross with us, cars that go up and down, traffic lights, shops of all kinds… We realize everything, but in a few minutes we do not remember anything.

And less bad! If we remembered everything that happens every day and year before our eyes, we would be crazy. Normally, the impression received at any time gathers memories in a very short time and pass to the neuron. But if the emotion has not been very strong, that electric current is exhausted and the memory dies. When it occurs backwards, that is, when there has been a hard (or interesting) impression or impression, these currents reach the long-term memory through special synopsis, where they accumulate.

We have analyzed a little the memory. But what to say about forgetting? Who has not been met with a friend on the street and forgotten his name. Or not being able to remember that data we have in the "tip of the tongue"? These cases seem insignificant, but in other situations (for example, in exams or oppositions) they may have a much more serious effect. Regarding oblivion, let's say there are several types. On the one hand, the one we have when we forget data that we had never learned well (that only reached the nearby memory). On the other hand, at a given time, we cannot forget a date or a name, although this detail is well engraved in our brain (and when we least expect it comes back out of the depth): In these cases, especially in emergency situations, the hormones secreted block the synapses and the pathways through which we transmit knowledge are interrupted.

And how are the famous of so many coasts lost in school? Did they really know and why has it not been recorded? For it seems that at that time it did not seem so important to us, we were not really excited. No one forgets, however, the books or films that in their day had a great meaning for him, or did it with great taste.

The human memory is similar to that of a book, which opens in insistently underlined pages.

"Memory is the gift of the innocent," said Menéndez and Pelayo. Thus he explained his little relationship with intelligence.

Our memory does not work as a computer or a video recorder: it selects data… but attends to feelings.