Reply With Quotetristen (13-01-15)
Human brain keeps memories tidy by pruning inaccurate ones
The mechanism, which prevents the human brain from being littered up by outdated and useless memories, has been uncovered by US scientists.
"Before encountering any familiar situations the brain makes a subconscious prediction on what it expects to come across. But if this prediction turns out to be wrong the memories related to it diminish and are more likely to be completely forgotten." the researchers at Princeton University and the University of Texas-Austin said.
Full report:
tristen (13-01-15)
| Look Here -> |
Huh ?
Yes I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
It's true Trash. What? Where am I?
__________________________________________________ __
Statistically, if you wait long enough, everything will happen!
Oh I get it, that explains senior moments as we get older.
Every time we look in the wrong place for the car keys our memory gets wiped a little until we cant remember anything at all.
Last edited by Tiny; 13-01-15 at 06:48 PM.
Cheers, Tiny
"You can lead a person to knowledge, but you can't make them think? If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
The information is out there; you just have to let it in."
gulliver (13-01-15)
hahaha...
working in the shed... need glasses... where are glasses?.. in the house... walk to house, mrs talks to you for more than 20 seconds... bugger, what did I come up here for?... walk to shed because it's more peaceful... what was I doing? oh yeah, fixing the shed stereo... hmmm need glasses... farrrkkk... walk to house, where are my glasses? looking, looking, looking... Hmm give up and go back to shed for a beer instead... hey, there's my glasses......
Not so bad the first time in the day, but after about the third time.....
gordon_s1942 (15-01-15),lsemmens (14-01-15),Skepticist (15-01-15),Tiny (14-01-15)
How does the Brain know its memories are inaccurate unless it has something accurate to begin with ?
Take this example by watch a baby sitting on its bum and you put something attractive just out of its reach and see how the eyes may now focus on this and the hands and arms will try after a few moments to reach for it with either or both hands.
Now depending on the age of the baby and how many times this has been done before will determine what success the baby has in reaching the item.
As we get older and the brain stores more and more situations and passes the point of reacting to a single situation to being able to make 'judgements' before reaching for that 'just out of reach object', the variables must be enormous and are done in microseconds, mostly without us being aware its happening.
So is it any wonder with all that going on in our brain that we end up doing as Bob_m_54 describes so succinctly?
Despite what they claim with this survey I dont believe the brain ever deletes any memories but instead modifies them with information to hand.
I stand unequivicably behind everything I say, I just dont ever remember saying it !!
jwoegerbauer's post has a bearing on a topic in which I have had an interest for some time, viz. the nature of human consciousness and identity. Thank you for the post.
Recent research has led to a new understanding of how the brain works, particularly in relation to its ability to adapt and change over time.
I have seen many documentaries and read a number of articles in such publications as the scientific journal, Nature, relating to "brain plasticity".
Brain plasticity is a comparatively new discipline in neuroscience and challenges the old notion that the brain is a static (unchanging) organ, and demonstrates instead, that it is a dynamic part of the human body, which changes in relation to various external and internal stimuli during its lifetime.
As usual, Wikipedia offers a useful outline at .
See also one of the many articles published in Nature such as that relating to the ageing brain at .
In addition, there are many Youtube video presentations which are easy to watch, such as...
An extremely interesting lecture concerning the nature of memory by Professor Eleanor Maguire of University College London can be viewed at .
See how you score on her test.
Last edited by tristen; 16-01-15 at 06:56 PM.
LeroyPatrol (16-01-15),Tiny (17-01-15)
Wouldn't you know it....
Brain cells come and brain cells go, but FAT cells live forever.
and at my age "Getting lucky" means walking into a room and remembering what I came in there for.
Last edited by Seymour Butts; 16-01-15 at 10:51 PM.
In hindsight I should have posted my Facebook status as: "I've blown the head gasket on my 1997 XR3i" rather than "I've just buggered a 14 year old escort".
The police still haven't seen the funny side, my lap top's been confiscated and the wife has gone off to her mum's.
I have 21% permanent brain damage....I reckon it was in the part I never used anyway.... Seriously I have noticed some improvement over the years, so the brain must heal or adapt. Straight after my accident I couldn't have decided to save myself if the house was on fire, now, I might actually manage to ring the fire brigade, too.
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