memory – Harmonia Philosophica

Aging…

Zachariah Reagh, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis found that brain activity in older adults isn’t necessarily quieter when it comes to memory. “It’s just different,” he said.

What he found out is that while a 20-year-old notes all details in a movie, an older viewer might be paying more attention to the broader picture – What kind of room are the characters in? Have the characters transitioned from a formal dinner setting to a more relaxed, after-dinner location? Did a loud, tense conversation resolve into a friendly one? “[…] older adults […] may be shifting away from the more detailed contextual information,” Reagh said. “[…] things might become more schematic. More ‘gist-like.'”, he added. (1)

Same picture.

Different perspectives.

So simple.

So hard to understand.

So obvious.

So difficult to accept.

Would you trust your younger self?

Will you trust you when you get old?

Could you both be wrong?

Could one of them be right?

Does it matter?

The movie has started.

And regardless of what you understand or not.

One thing is for sure.

You wanted so bad to go to the movies…

Come, dad.

Give me some pop-corn…

Here, kid.

The movie has not started yet.

And yet I feel like…

I understood it all.

Essence over Form…

What clues does our memory use to connect a current situation to a situation from the past? A study conducted by researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, – working in collaboration with CY Cergy Paris University in France – demonstrated that similarities in structure and essence (the heart of a situation) guide our recollections rather than surface similarities (the general theme, for example, or the setting or protagonists). It is only when individuals lack sufficient knowledge that they turn to the surface clues — the easiest to access — to recollect a situation.

The research calls into question the received idea that our memory is guided by the principle of the easiest option and that surface features dominate recall. “A human being’s way of remembering is less superficial than was thought, and in all likelihood favours structure over surface,” adds professor Sander. “It’s only out of ignorance that superficial clues will take precedence.” says professor Clément by way of conclusion. (1)

Think.

Remember.

The essence. Not the surface.

How can you think of the surface anyway?

There is nothing to see in the waves of the ocean.

It is its depths that hold the light.

Yes, you can swim well.

Only because you are afraid to drown…

Remember.

Think.

Was there any point in time when you couldn’t ride the waves?

Listen to the flowers.

Remember.

What could be deeper than the surface?

Remembering…

A study published in Science Advances found that certain types of materials have a “memory” of how they were processed, stored, and manipulated. Researchers were then able to use this memory to control how a material ages and to encode specific properties that allow it to perform new functions. This creative approach for designing materials was the result of a collaboration between Penn’s Andrea Liu and Sidney R. Nagel, Nidhi Pashine, and Daniel Hexner from the University of Chicago. (1)

A material which remembers its past.

But can it be another way?

A human who recollects his beginning.

But could he forget it?

A universe which is constantly guided by its first moment.

Could it follow any other path?

The sword is drawn now.

Death is here.

But the sword remembers that it was in the earth once.

And it will go back there.

Seeding life.

Spreading death…

Secret brain waves… Memory…

Photo by **Ludvig Hedenborg** from **Pexels**

Making a specific type of brain pattern last longer improves short-term memory in rats, a new study finds.

Published online by the journal Science on June 14, the study addressed “working memory,” the temporary activation of brain cells that happens as we tour a new neighborhood, for instance, and remember our way around later that day.

Led by researchers at NYU School of Medicine, the new study finds that signals created by brain cells (neurons) — called sharp wave ripples — are longer by tens of milliseconds and capture more information when an animal is learning about a new place than when in a familiar setting.

When the research team artificially doubled the length of the signals involved in memory recall of the best route through a maze, rats with extended ripples were found to be 10-15 percent better at finding a sugary reward than rats without the manipulation. (1)

Waves.

Making memories last.

In a fluid cosmos.

The past is not carved in stone.

But on water.

The sea is calm now.

But watch closely and you will notice…

There is blood in the water.

Tears.

Laughter.

Hope.

Despair.

Throw a stone in. And everything will go away…

Wait. And the cosmos will explode.

Tears. Laughter. Hope. Despair.

Besides a perfectly calm lake, lingering in the air…

Memory. Doing better next time…

Photo by **Francesco Ungaro** from **Pexels**

We may not be able to change recent events in our lives, but how well we remember them plays a key role in how our brains model what’s happening in the present and predict what is likely to occur in the future, finds new research in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.

“Memory isn’t for trying to remember”, said Jeff Zacks, professor of psychology and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and an author of the study. “It’s for doing better the next time”. (1)

Obsessed with “doing something”.

But we don’t need to.

Stay under the tree.

Smell the forest.

There is nothing to do.

There is nothing to remember.

You are already doing everything.

By doing nothing.

You are already remembering everything.

Because there is nothing to remember.

Existing. Being.

Wise butterfly.

You will be dead soon…