Images of the word memories

These top 240 memories quotes will remind you of who you are and where you plan to go.

The good, the bad, the exciting, the wonderful—every quote you might want or need would probably be included in our list, so be sure you check them all out.

Memories are wonderful things, and though a chunk of our memories may be faded or may even hurt, they’re all part of what makes us who we are.

So, let’s delve into this curated list of the best quotes about memories.

Check them out now.

1. “The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.” – Lois Lowry

2. “You may have lost things, persons in your life. But you can capture them in your memories forever.” – Anonymous

3. “Life is shorter, live it. Love is rare, grab it. Anger is bad, dump it. Fear is awful, face it. Memories are sweet, cherish them.” – Anonymous

4. “What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” – Karl Lagerfeld

5. “Those sweet memories of my life spent with you are the best. They make me smile no matter what is going on in my present life.” – Anonymous

6. “We never realize the value of something in our life until it becomes a memory.” – Dr. Seuss

7. “I knew that looking back on the tears would make me laugh, but I never knew that looking back on the laughs would bring tears.” – Cat Stevens

8. “A moment lasts for seconds, but the memories last forever.” – Anonymous

9. “At some part of life or the other, we all become memories for others. So make sure you be a good one.” – Anonymous

Unforgettable Memories Quotes

10. “A picture is worth a thousand words, but a memory is priceless.” – Anonymous

11. “You don’t just take a picture with a camera, you take it with your heart.” – Anonymous

12. “It takes one thought, one second, one moment, or positive memory to act as a catalyst for the light to gradually seep in again.” – Fearne Cotton

13. “The best thing about memories is making them.” – Anonymous

14. “The real moment has disappeared, but you will always have the memories to remind you.” – Anonymous

15. “Things end but memories last forever.” – Kumar Milan

16. “A moment lasts all of a second, but the memory lives on forever.” – Anonymous

17. “Sometimes, things become possible if we want them bad enough.” – T.S. Elliot

18. “Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.” – L.M. Montgomery

19. “There are just too many things we have to think about everyday, too many new things we have to learn. But still, no matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away. They remain with us forever, like a touchstone.” – Haruki Murakami

Good Memories Quotes

20. “Never forget those memories of your life that made you both cry and laugh.” – Anonymous

21. “People change. Memories don’t.” – Anonymous

22. “Every moment comes on when I hear that old song that we used to sing with the words all wrong.” – Anonymous

23. “People say that bad memories cause the most pain, but actually it’s the good ones that drive you insane.” – Anonymous

24. “Memories are dangerous things. You turn them over and over, until you know every touch and corner, but still you’ll find an edge to cut you.” – Mark Lawrence

25. “Memories, even bittersweet ones, are better than nothing.” – Jennifer L. Armentrout

26. “What are we, if not an accumulation of our memories?” – S.J. Watson

27. “We do not remember days; we remember moments.” – Cesare Pavese

28. “Memory is the treasure house of the mind wherein the monuments thereof are kept and preserved.” – Thomas Fuller

29. “Sometimes, a perfect memory can be ruined if put into words.” – Nova Ren Suma

Happy Memories Quotes

30. “Memories play a very confusing role. They make us laugh when we remember the times we cried, but make us cry when we remember the times we laughed!” – Anonymous

31. “Make sure that your life is full of happy memories in the end.” – Anonymous

32. “Remembering is easy. It’s forgetting that’s hard.” – Brodi Ashton

33. “Sometimes, I think the things I remember are more real than the things I see.” – Arthur Golden

34. “When you are joyful, when you say yes to life,and have fun, and project positivity all around you, you become a sun in the center of every constellation, and people want to be near you.” – Shannon L. Alder

35. “The happiest memories are of moments that ended when they should have.” – Robert Brault

36. “Isn’t it funny how the memories you cherish before a breakup can become your worst enemies afterwards?” – Allyson Braithwaite Condie

37. “When it comes to memories, the good and the bad never balance.” – Jodi Picoult

38. “Some memories are realities and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again.” – Willa Cather

39. “I think the only answer is to live life to the fullest while you can and collect memories like fools collect money. Because in the end, that’s all you have—happy memories.” – Sarah Strohmeyer

Great Memories Quotes

40. “Live your life so when you’re dying, you are smiling, even if everyone else is crying.” – Anonymous

41. “Life brings tears, smiles, and memories. The tears dry, the smiles fade, but the memories last forever.” – Anonymous

42. “Humans, not places, make memories.” – Ama Ata Aidoo

43. “There are memories that time does not erase. Forever does not make loss forgettable, only bearable.” – Cassandra Claire

44. “The things we do outlast our mortality. The things we do are like monuments that people build to honor heroes after they’ve died. They’re like the pyramids that the Egyptians built to honor the pharaohs. Only instead of being made of stone, they’re made out of the memories people have of you.” – R.J. Palacio

45. “People leave strange little memories of themselves behind when they die.” – Haruki Murakami

46. “I am a dreamer. I know so little of real life that I just can’t help re-living such moments as these in my dreams, for such moments are something I have very rarely experienced. I am going to dream about you the whole night, the whole week, the whole year.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

47. “You don’t deserve my image in your head. You don’t deserve my memories in your chest.” – Jamie Weise

48. “Our memories give us a voice and bear witness to history, so that others might learn. So they might celebrate our triumphs and be warned of our failures.” – Mohinder Suresh

49. “I find out more and more every day how important it is for people to share their memories.” – Fred Rogers

Heartfelt Memories Quotes

50. “Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.” – Oscar Wilde

51. “The best memories of our life can never be captured in pictures, they are always captured by heart.” – Anonymous

52. “Your memory feels like home to me. So whenever my mind wanders, it always finds its way back to you.” – Ranata Suzuki

53. “When the remembering was done, the forgetting could begin.” – Zara Zarr

54. “I could tell you it’s the heart, but what is really killing him is loneliness. Memories are worse than bullets.” – Carlos Ruiz Zafón

55. “If you cannot hold me in your arms, then hold my memory in high regard. And if I cannot be in your life, then at least let me live in your heart.” – Ranata Suzuki

56. “There’s something about a place you’ve been with someone you love. It takes on a meaning in your mind. It becomes more than a place. It becomes a distillation of what you felt for each other. The moments you spend in a place with someone, they become part of its bricks and mortar. Part of its soul.” – Cassandra Clare

57. “Their memory was something tangible and heavy, and I would carry it with me.” – Ransom Riggs

58. “We cannot change the past, but we can reshape the future. Young people have the opportunity to create a happier, better future.” – Dalai Lama

59. “If bad memories are keeping you from being happy, try crowding out the destructive memories with new and interesting thoughts. Stay busy—in mind and body—and time is on your side.” – Scott Adams

Beautiful Memories Quotes

60. “Someone said that God gave us memories so that we might have roses in December.” – J.M. Barrie

61. “The only real treasure is in your head. Memories are better than diamonds and nobody can steal them from you.” – Rodman Philbrick

62. “Dreams are hopeful because they exist as pure possibilities. Unlike memories, which are fossils, long dead and buried deep.” – Shaun David Hutchinson

63. “Let us not burthen our remembrance with a heaviness that’s gone.” – William Shakespeare

64. “The worst feeling in the world is when you can’t love anyone else because your heart still belongs to the one who broke it.” – Anonymous

65. “Now that I have opened that bottle of memories, they’re pouring out like wine—crimson and bittersweet.” – Ellen Hopkins

66. “What you remember saves you.” – W. S. Merwin

67. “Souls and memories can do strange things during trance.” – Bram Stoker

68. “Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away, just for this time in my life.” – Anonymous

69. “The streets looked small, of course. The streets that we have only seen as children always do, I believe when we go back to them.” – Charles Dickens

70. “Enjoy good memories. But don’t spend your remaining days here looking back, wishing for the good old days.” – Randy Alcorn

71. “And the memories of all we have loved stay and come back to us in the evening of our life. They are not dead but asleep, and it is well to gather treasure for them.” – Vincent van Gogh

72. “Memories, important yesterdays, were once todays. Treasure and notice today.” – Gloria Gaither

73. “For some, life lasts a short while, but the memories it holds last forever.” – Laura Swenson

74. “When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, but I shall hold something which I have traded for it. It may be no more than a memory, but if it is a worthy one I shall not regret the price.” – Anonymous

Painful Memories Quotes

75. “It’s sad when someone can walk right by you and pretend you were never a big part of their life.” – Jessica Butil

76. “Sad memories are bad, but good memories are the worst.” – Anonymous

77. “Once upon a time, you said I was your life, but now I’m not even a part of it.” – Anonymous

78. “It’s regrets that make painful memories. When I was crazy, I did everything just right.” – Mark Vonnegut

79. “Letting go of your painful past is how you open yourself to a wonderful future.” – Anonymous

80. “I cry for the time that you were almost mine. I cry for the memories I’ve left behind. I cry for the pain, the lost, the old, the new. I cry for the times I thought I had you.” – Neil Pathrick Aman

81. “Sometimes, you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” – Anonymous

82. “Good times become good memories and bad times become good lessons.” – Anonymous

83. “The past beats inside me like a second heart.” – John Banville

84. “There comes a time in your life when you have to choose to turn the page, write another book or simply close it.” – Shannon L. Alder

85. “Sometimes, remembering hurts too much.” – Jess Rothenberg

86. “Memories are bullets. Some whiz by and only spook you. Others tear you open and leave you in pieces.” – Richard Kadrey

87. “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.” – Richard Puz

89. “Our bad memories and our bad experiences are what make us who we are and what make us grow and allow us to learn, if we choose to see the lessons in those experiences.” – Elijah Wood

89. “Memories, you see, hurt. The good ones most of all.” – Harlan Coben

Sweet Memories Quotes

90. “Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.” – Kevin Arnold

91. “Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss

92. “You may be gone from my sight, but you are never gone from my heart.” – Anonymous

93. “How lucky you are to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” – Anonymous

94. “He was still too young to know that the heart’s memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good. And that thanks to this artifice, we manage to endure the burden of the past.” – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

95. “When our memories outweigh our dreams, we have grown old.” – Bill Clinton

96. “People leave traces of themselves where they feel most comfortable, most worthwhile.” – Haruki Murakami

97. “In my life, I find that memories of the spirit linger and sweeten long after memories of the brain have faded.” – Harry Connick Jr.

98. “It’s not easy remembering the good times.” – Cecelia Ahern

99. “Even though our lives wander, our memories remain in one place.” – Marcel Proust

Emotional Memories Quotes

100. “Our spirit is mightier than the filth of our memories.” – Melina Marchetta

101. “There are memories I am better off without—things better lost forever.” – S.J. Watson

102. “There is no greater sorrow than to recall in misery the time when we were happy.” – Dante Alighieri

103. “Sometimes, it’s better to bunk a class and enjoy it with friends, because now, when I look back, marks never make me laugh, but memories do.” – A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

104. “But she knew that no matter what beauty lay behind, it must remain there. No one could go forward with a load of aching memories.” – Margaret Mitchell

105. “Feelings are memories. Memories are also feelings.” – Margaret Stohl

106. “You can never be really happy if you keep holding on to those bad memories which makes you sad.” – Anurag Prakash Ray

107. “Good memories are most often created without conscious effort. These are the memories that result from those unselfish acts or behaviors that give of our time, talents, or gifts without any due regard for repayment.” – Byron R. Pulsifer

108. “Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don’t go along with that. The memories I value most, I don’t ever see them fading.” – Kazuo Ishiguro

109. “A healthy relationship requires you to let go of the bitter memories of the past and move on with a new hope.” – Adam Green

Memories Quotes About Friends and Family

110. “It was an opportunity to honor our memories and to make room for new ones.” – Jilly Pretzel

111. “The most memorable people in life will be the friends who loved you when you weren’t very lovable.” – Anonymous

112. “Good times and crazy friends make the best memories.” – Anonymous

113. “Your memory is the glue that binds your life together. Everything you are today is because of your amazing memory.” – Kevin Horsley

114. “Our paths may change as life goes along, but the bond between friends remains ever strong.” – Anonymous

115. “So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.” – Helen Keller

116. “We are no longer bf-gf. We are strangers to each other but with lots of memories.” – Anonymous

117. “A good friend knows all your best stories. A best friend has been there to live them with you.” – Anonymous

118. “If you have two friends in your lifetime, you’re lucky. If you have one good friend, you’re more than lucky.” – Anonymous

119. “The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” – Elisabeth Foley

120. “You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.” – Anonymous

121. “Listen to the people who love you. Believe that they are worth living for even when you don’t believe it. Seek out the memories depression takes away and project them into the future.” – Andrew Solomon

122. “The worst memories stick with us, while the nice ones always seem to slip through our fingers.” – Rachel Vincent

123. “Love is hard to find, hard to keep, and hard to forget.” – Alysha Speer

124. “My family legacy is mainly memories, so I especially cherish my few tangible mementos.” – Maureen Killoran

Memories Quotes About Love

125. “Make memories in people’s hearts because your memories will be all that’s left of you when you’re gone.” – Anonymous

126. “The heart that truly loves never forgets.” – Proverb

127. “Memories are always invisible to the eyes but can be felt with the heart.” – Anonymous

128. “When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.” – Anonymous

129. “I miss the time spent with you, our chats, and definitely you. What lovely memories we both have made together!” – Anonymous

130. “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched—they must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller

131. “When you lose someone you loved, they are never really gone, they are in your heart forever.” – Anonymous

132. “Memories are timeless treasures of the heart.” – Anonymous

133. “I have learned that if you must leave a place that you have lived in and loved and where all your yesteryears are buried deep, leave it any way except a slow way, leave it the fastest way you can.” – Beryl Markham

134. “The thoughts you loved to think about, the memories you wanted to hold up to the light and view from every angle—it suddenly seems a lot safer to lock them in a box, far from the light of day and throw away the key. It’s not an act of bitterness. It’s an act of self-preservation. It’s not always a bad idea to stay behind the window and look out at life instead, is it?” – Allyson Braithwaite Condie

135. “It scares me how hard it is to remember life before you. I can’t even make the comparisons anymore, because my memories of that time have all the depth of a photograph. It seems foolish to play games of better and worse. It’s simply a matter of is and is no longer.” – David Levithan

136. “How do you know when it’s over? Maybe when you feel more in love with your memories than with the person standing in front of you.” – Gunnar Ardelius

137. “I am hopelessly in love with a memory—an echo from another time, another place.” – Michel Foucault

138. “If your mind carries a heavy burden of the past, you will experience more of the same. The past perpetuates itself through lack of presence.” – Eckhart Tolle

139. “Sometimes, letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.” – Eckhart Tolle

Memories Quotes About Travel and Adventures

140. “Never spend your fortune on the tangibles, but on experiences and intangible moments that will someday become memories.” – Jeremiah Say

141. “The greatest legacy we can leave our children is happy memories.” – Og Mandino

142. “Photos capture our memories in print, but our memories are always with us in our minds.” – Catherine Pulsifer

143. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller

144. “Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali.

145. “Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.” – Anonymous

146. “Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion.” – Leigh Hunt

147. “The amazing power of pictures to stay in the memory is well documented.” – Graham Shaw

148. “In the end, kids won’t remember that fancy toy you bought them, they will remember the time you spent with them.” – Kevin Heath

149. “Every day, we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.” – Charles R Swindoll

150. “Take only memories, leave only footprints.” – Chief Seattle

151. “Kids don’t remember their best day of television.” – Anonymous

152. “My favorite childhood memory is my parents paying for my holidays.” – Anonymous

153. “Experience, travel—these are as education in themselves.” – Euripides

154. “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow. ” – Anita Desai

Wise Memories Quotes

155. “That’s the problem with memories—you can visit them, but you can’t live in them.” – Shaun David Hutchinson

156. “Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.” – Saul Bellow

167. “The important thing about having lots of things to remember is that you’ve got to go somewhere afterwards where you can remember them, you see? You’ve got to stop. You haven’t really been anywhere until you’ve got back home.” – Terry Pratchett

158. “I’ve never tried to block out the memories of the past, even though some are painful. I don’t understand people who hide from their past. Everything you live through helps to make you the person you are now.” – Sophia Loren

159. “And the moral of the story is that you don’t remember what happened. What you remember becomes what happened.” – John Green

160. “There were some memories, though, that never faded.” – Cassandra Clare

161. “I guess sometimes the greatest memories are made in the most unlikely of places—further proof that spontaneity is more rewarding than a meticulously planned life.” – J.A. Redmerski

162. “Memories are good, as long as we keep them in the rear-view mirror and keep moving.” – Anonymous

163. “Memories sharpen the past; it is reality that decays.” – Siddhartha Mukherjee

164. “What we call memories are really present thoughts. What we call anticipations are really present thoughts. No one has ever lived in any moment except the present.” – Emmet Fox

165. “Don’t let the good old days be your memory. Make each day a good day so as you are growing older life is an adventure to be enjoyed not a memory.” – Catherine Pulsifer

166. “Memories are like antiques—the older they are, the more valuable they become.” – Marinela Reka

167. “No one can ever take your memories from you. Each day is a new beginning. Make good memories every day.” – Catherine Pulsifer

168. “When time fades memory, and loved ones are no longer with us, what is left? Photos.” – A. R. Knight

169. “Focus on the good memories, discard the not so good.” – Catherine Pulsifer

More Memories Quotes From Famous Authors

170. “Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.” – Haruki Murakami

171. “The town was paper, but the memories were not.” – John Green

172. “I don’t want to repeat my innocence. I want the pleasure of losing it again.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

173. “No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories.” – Haruki Murakami

174. “Never turn back and never believe that an hour you remember is a better hour because it is dead. Passed years seem safe ones, vanquished ones, while the future lives in a cloud, formidable from a distance.” – Beryl Markham

175. “There are moments when I wish I could roll back the clock and take all the sadness away, but I have the feeling that if I did, the joy would be gone as well.” – Nicholas Sparks

176. “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” – L.P. Hartley

177. “Most things are forgotten over time. Even the war itself—the life-and-death struggle people went through is now like something from the distant past. We’re so caught up in our everyday lives that events of the past are no longer in orbit around our minds.” – Haruki Murakami

178. “The hardest thing about the road not taken is that you never know where it might have led.” – Lisa Wingate

179. “Sharing tales of those we’ve lost is how we keep from really losing them.” – Mitch Albom

180. “Experience has taught me that even the most precious memories fade with the passage of time.” – Nicholas Sparks

181. “To observe attentively is to remember distinctly.” – Edgar Allan Poe

182. “Mindfulness can be an extremely grand subject, but on the other hand, it’s very basic. It is basically, memory.” – Joseph Sorensen

183. “The many memories I will forever treasure.” – K. Hooton

184. “Writers, like elephants, have long, vicious memories. There are things I wish I could forget.” – William S. Burroughs

Memories Quotes on Life

185. “You may not think you have a good memory, but you remember what’s important to you.” – Rick Warren

186. “Our childhood memories are often fragments, brief moments or encounters, which together form the scrapbook of our life.” – Edith Eger

187. “Memories were a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.” – Anonymous

188. “We must use time wisely for our development and advancement; so that when we are old, we can look back and recollect the pleasant memories and deeds that we have achieved.” – Michael Lee

189. “Life can be noisy. It can be exhausting too. There are too many things vying for our attention, and sometimes we inadvertently forget how important our wellbeing is.” – Jayne Hardy

190. “Memories may fade as the years go by, but they won’t age a day.” – Michelle C. Ustaszeski

191. “When you are gone, the only truly important thing you will leave behind are the memories you’ve created. How do you want to be remembered?” – Michael Hyatt

192. “I know for certain that we never lose the people we love, even to death. They continue to participate in every act, thought, and decision we make. Their love leaves an indelible imprint in our memories. We find comfort in knowing that our lives have been enriched by having shared their love.” – Leo Buscaglia

193. “Don’t let the good old days be your memory. Make each day a good day so as you are growing older, life is an adventure to be enjoyed, not a memory.” – Catherine Pulsifer

194. “Home is where you change your memories. Home is where you begin to dream again.” – Charles Angoff

195. “Fools try to forget. The wise love.” – Maxime Lagacé

196. “The more shared past there is in a relationship, the more present you need to be. Otherwise, you will be forced to relive the past again and again.” – Eckhart Tolle

197. “The saddest part of life is when the person who gave you the best memories becomes the memory.” – Anonymous

198. “Your memory is a monster; it summons with will of its own. You think you have a memory, but it has you.” – John Irving

199. “Getting caught up in memories of the past or worrying about the future is a form of self-imposed suffering.” – Ram Dass

Memories Quotes on Experience

200. “Memory is a record of your personal experience. It is a record of trial and error, defeat and success. Past failures will warn you against repeating them.” – Wilfred Peterson

201. “Your self is created by your memories, and your memories are created by your mental habits.” – Rick Warren

202. “Those moments you fail are not the end, they are periods in which you recollect thoughts, ideas, and ambitions, and change direction.” – Benjamin Chapin

203. “Figure out how to be keen on it, make it fun, and you will learn quicker, and recollect more.” – Eimantas Gabalis

204. “Love poems are little bits of memory and story that remind and shape us back into the experience of love.” – Tito Tinajero

205. “It doesn’t matter what you did in the past, you can’t change it. The best you can do about your past is to be nostalgic with your family and loved ones about happy memories.” – Zoe McKey

206. “The human brain can remember events, skills, habits, and experiences. The sum of what is remembered is called a memory.” – Frank Knoll

207. “Many incidents of those early years are fixed in my memory, isolated, but clear and distinct—making the sense of that silent, aimless, dayless life all the more intense.” – Helen Keller

208. “The details that we hold so fast are nothing more than memories past.” – Jann Arden

209. “Imagination has a great potential to improve your memory. It allows traveling beyond the horizon, attaching various stories or images to the things you wish to remember. In turn, it will strengthen your memory.” – William D

210. “A memory without the emotional charge is called wisdom.” – Joe Dispenza

211. “Memory is fiction.” – Kamal Ravikant

212. “Memory and identity are burdens from the past preventing us from living freely in the present.” – Naval Ravikant

213. “Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.” – Michel de Montaigne

214. “Allowing the new to happen means putting aside your memory so the past does not interfere.” – Osho

Memories Quote Packed With Life Lessons

215. “Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things.” – Cicero

216. “Accept your past without regrets, and face your future without fears.” – Paulo Coelho

217. “Visit your soul, not your past.” – Paulo Coelho

218. “That’s what the world is, after all—an endless battle of contrasting memories.” – Haruki Murakami

219. “Memories are like salt—the right amount brings out the flavor in food, too much ruins it.” – Paulo Coelho

220.“Make peace with your past so it won’t destroy your present.” – Paulo Coelho

221. “A mind is not alive when it is burdened with centuries of memory.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti

222. “We didn’t realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun.” – Winnie the Pooh

223. “Memory is never a precise duplicate of the original. It is a continuing act of creation.” – Rosalind Cartwright

224. “All that is left will be memories, and eventually they, too, will vanish like dust.” – Haruki Murakami

225. “Memory can never produce everlasting joy.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti

226. “I’ve learned that goodbyes will always hurt, pictures will never replace having been there, and words can never substitute action.” – Paulo Coelho

227. “The biggest lie of human memory is that it feels true.” – Jonah Lehrer

228. “Memories are not fixed or frozen, but are transformed, disassembled, reassembled, and recategorized with every act of recollection.” – Oliver Sacks

229. “It is important to recognize that the memories and past events which make up a man’s historical identity are no more than a selection.” – Alan Watts

Other Meaningful Memories Quotes

230. “I use memories, but do not allow memories to use me.” – Shiva Sutras

231. “One must have a good memory to be able to keep the promises one makes.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

232. “My yesterdays walk with me. They keep step; they are gray faces that peer over my shoulder.” – William Golding

233. “Without memory, there is no healing. Without forgiveness, there is no future.” – Desmond Tutu

234. “I don’t think nostalgia has to be negative.” – Van Morrison

235. “Past is a fiction. You can’t go back. All that remains is a hazy interpretation of a hazy memory.” – Naval Ravikant

236. “Blessed are the forgetful; for they get over their stupidities, too.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

237. “Take care of all your memories, for you cannot relive them.” – Bob Dylan

238. “Time’s the thief of memory.” – Stephen King

239. “Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future.” – Corrie ten Boom

240. “Never let your memories be greater than your dreams.” – Douglas Ivester

Were These Quotes Able to Take You Down Memory Lane?

Memories tell us a lot about who we are. We are built with a million memories within us. And though we can only remember bits and pieces of our childhood, there’s no denying that it’s one of the major pieces of the puzzle that created who we are today. Our memories give us a sense of identity—the kind of life we lived, our pasts, our present, and the future we want to create.

But more than this, memories also remind us of the importance of tradition and lets us appreciate the future better. And though it’s nice to reminisce and live in our memories once in a while, let’s all remember that these are just stepping stones to help us navigate our present and future lives.

Which of these quotes are your favorites? What do you think about your memories? Do they help you with planning for your future in any way? If so, kindly share your thoughts in the comments down below.

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Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action.^[1] If past events could not be remembered, it would be impossible for language, relationships, or personal identity to develop.^[2] Memory loss is usually described as forgetfulness or amnesia.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Memory is often understood as an informational processing system with explicit and implicit functioning that is made up of a sensory processor, short-term (or working) memory, and long-term memory.^[9] This can be related to the neuron.
The sensory processor allows information from the outside world to be sensed in the form of chemical and physical stimuli and attended to various levels of focus and intent. Working memory serves as an encoding and retrieval processor. Information in the form of stimuli is encoded in accordance with explicit or implicit functions by the working memory processor. The working memory also retrieves information from previously stored material. Finally, the function of long-term memory is to store through various categorical models or systems.^[9]

Declarative, or explicit, memory is the conscious storage and recollection of data.^[10] Under declarative memory resides semantic and episodic memory. Semantic memory refers to memory that is encoded with specific meaning,^[2] while episodic memory refers to information that is encoded along a spatial and temporal plane.^[11][12][13] Declarative memory is usually the primary process thought of when referencing memory.^[2] Non-declarative, or implicit, memory is the unconscious storage and recollection of information.^[14] An example of a non-declarative process would be the unconscious learning or retrieval of information by way of procedural memory, or a priming phenomenon.^[2][14][15] Priming is the process of subliminally arousing specific responses from memory and shows that not all memory is consciously activated,^[15] whereas procedural memory is the slow and gradual learning of skills that often occurs without conscious attention to learning.^[2][14]

Memory is not a perfect processor, and is affected by many factors. The ways by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved can all be corrupted. Pain, for example, has been identified as a physical condition that impairs memory, and has been noted in animal models as well as chronic pain patients.^{[16][17][18][19]} The amount of attention given new stimuli can diminish the amount of information that becomes encoded for storage.^[2] Also, the storage process can become corrupted by physical damage to areas of the brain that are associated with memory storage, such as the hippocampus.^[20][21] Finally, the retrieval of information from long-term memory can be disrupted because of decay within long-term memory.^[2] Normal functioning, decay over time, and brain damage all affect the accuracy and capacity of the memory.^[22][23]

Sensory memory[edit]

Sensory memory holds information, derived from the senses, less than one second after an item is perceived. The ability to look at an item and remember what it looked like with just a split second of observation, or memorization, is the example of sensory memory. It is out of cognitive control and is an automatic response. With very short presentations, participants often report that they seem to «see» more than they can actually report. The first precise experiments exploring this form of sensory memory were conducted by George Sperling (1963)^[24] using the «partial report paradigm.» Subjects were presented with a grid of 12 letters, arranged into three rows of four. After a brief presentation, subjects were then played either a high, medium or low tone, cuing them which of the rows to report. Based on these partial report experiments, Sperling was able to show that the capacity of sensory memory was approximately 12 items, but that it degraded very quickly (within a few hundred milliseconds). Because this form of memory degrades so quickly, participants would see the display but be unable to report all of the items (12 in the «whole report» procedure) before they decayed. This type of memory cannot be prolonged via rehearsal.

Three types of sensory memories exist. Iconic memory is a fast decaying store of visual information, a type of sensory memory that briefly stores an image that has been perceived for a small duration. Echoic memory is a fast decaying store of auditory information, also a sensory memory that briefly stores sounds that have been perceived for short durations.^[25][26] Haptic memory is a type of sensory memory that represents a database for touch stimuli.

Short-term memory[edit]

Short-term memory is also known as working memory. Short-term memory allows recall for a period of several seconds to a minute without rehearsal. Its capacity, however, is very limited. In 1956, George A. Miller (1920–2012), when working at Bell Laboratories, conducted experiments showing that the store of short-term memory was 7±2 items. (Hence, the title of his famous paper, «The Magical Number 7±2.») Modern perspectives estimate the capacity of short-term memory to be lower, typically on the order of 4–5 items,^[27] or argue for a more flexible limit based on information instead of items.^[28] Memory capacity can be increased through a process called chunking.^[29] For example, in recalling a ten-digit telephone number, a person could chunk the digits into three groups: first, the area code (such as 123), then a three-digit chunk (456), and, last, a four-digit chunk (7890). This method of remembering telephone numbers is far more effective than attempting to remember a string of 10 digits; this is because we are able to chunk the information into meaningful groups of numbers. This is reflected in some countries’ tendencies to display telephone numbers as several chunks of two to four numbers.

Short-term memory is believed to rely mostly on an acoustic code for storing information, and to a lesser extent on a visual code. Conrad (1964)^[30] found that test subjects had more difficulty recalling collections of letters that were acoustically similar, e.g., E, P, D. Confusion with recalling acoustically similar letters rather than visually similar letters implies that the letters were encoded acoustically. Conrad’s (1964) study, however, deals with the encoding of written text; thus, while memory of written language may rely on acoustic components, generalizations to all forms of memory cannot be made.

Long-term memory[edit]

The storage in sensory memory and short-term memory generally has a strictly limited capacity and duration, which means that information is not retained indefinitely. By contrast, while the total capacity of long-term memory has yet to be established, it can store much larger quantities of information. Furthermore, it can store this information for a much longer duration, potentially for a whole life span. For example, given a random seven-digit number, one may remember it for only a few seconds before forgetting, suggesting it was stored in short-term memory. On the other hand, one can remember telephone numbers for many years through repetition; this information is said to be stored in long-term memory.

While short-term memory encodes information acoustically, long-term memory encodes it semantically: Baddeley (1966)^[31] discovered that, after 20 minutes, test subjects had the most difficulty recalling a collection of words that had similar meanings (e.g. big, large, great, huge) long-term. Another part of long-term memory is episodic memory, «which attempts to capture information such as ‘what’, ‘when’ and ‘where‘«.^[32] With episodic memory, individuals are able to recall specific events such as birthday parties and weddings.

Short-term memory is supported by transient patterns of neuronal communication, dependent on regions of the frontal lobe (especially dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) and the parietal lobe. Long-term memory, on the other hand, is maintained by more stable and permanent changes in neural connections widely spread throughout the brain. The hippocampus is essential (for learning new information) to the consolidation of information from short-term to long-term memory, although it does not seem to store information itself. It was thought that without the hippocampus new memories were unable to be stored into long-term memory and that there would be a very short attention span, as first gleaned from patient Henry Molaison^[33][34] after what was thought to be the full removal of both his hippocampi. More recent examination of his brain, post-mortem, shows that the hippocampus was more intact than first thought, throwing theories drawn from the initial data into question. The hippocampus may be involved in changing neural connections for a period of three months or more after the initial learning.

Research has suggested that long-term memory storage in humans may be maintained by DNA methylation,^[35] and the ‘prion’ gene.^[36][37]

Further research investigated the molecular basis for long-term memory. By 2015 it had become clear that long-term memory requires gene transcription activation and de novo protein synthesis.^[38] Long-term memory formation depends on both the activation of memory promoting genes and the inhibition of memory suppressor genes, and DNA methylation/DNA demethylation was found to be a major mechanism for achieving this dual regulation.^[39]

Rats with a new, strong long-term memory due to contextual fear conditioning have reduced expression of about 1,000 genes and increased expression of about 500 genes in the hippocampus 24 hours after training, thus exhibiting modified expression of 9.17% of the rat hippocampal genome. Reduced gene expressions were associated with methylations of those genes.^[40]

Considerable further research into long-term memory has illuminated the molecular mechanisms by which methylations are established or removed, as reviewed in 2022.^[41] These mechanisms include, for instance, signal-responsive TOP2B-induced double-strand breaks in immediate early genes. Also the messenger RNAs of many genes that had been subjected to methylation-controlled increases or decreases are transported by neural granules (messenger RNP) to the dendritic spines. At these locations the messenger RNAs can be translated into the proteins that control signaling at neuronal synapses.^[41]

Multi-store model[edit]

The multi-store model (also known as Atkinson–Shiffrin memory model) was first described in 1968 by Atkinson and Shiffrin.

The multi-store model has been criticised for being too simplistic. For instance, long-term memory is believed to be actually made up of multiple subcomponents, such as episodic and procedural memory. It also proposes that rehearsal is the only mechanism by which information eventually reaches long-term storage, but evidence shows us capable of remembering things without rehearsal.

The model also shows all the memory stores as being a single unit whereas research into this shows differently. For example, short-term memory can be broken up into different units such as visual information and acoustic information. In a study by Zlonoga and Gerber (1986), patient ‘KF’ demonstrated certain deviations from the Atkinson–Shiffrin model. Patient KF was brain damaged, displaying difficulties regarding short-term memory. Recognition of sounds such as spoken numbers, letters, words and easily identifiable noises (such as doorbells and cats meowing) were all impacted. Visual short-term memory was unaffected, suggesting a dichotomy between visual and audial memory.^[42]

Working memory[edit]

In 1974 Baddeley and Hitch proposed a «working memory model» that replaced the general concept of short-term memory with an active maintenance of information in the short-term storage. In this model, working memory consists of three basic stores: the central executive, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad. In 2000 this model was expanded with the multimodal episodic buffer (Baddeley’s model of working memory).^[43]

The central executive essentially acts as an attention sensory store. It channels information to the three component processes: the phonological loop, the visuo-spatial sketchpad, and the episodic buffer.

The phonological loop stores auditory information by silently rehearsing sounds or words in a continuous loop: the articulatory process (for example the repetition of a telephone number over and over again). A short list of data is easier to remember. The phonological loop is occasionally disrupted. Irrelevant speech or background noise can impede the phonological loop. Articulatory suppression can also confuse encoding and words that sound similar can be switched or misremembered through the phonological similarity effect. the phonological loop also has a limit to how much it can hold at once which means that it is easier to remember a lot of short words rather than a lot of long words, according to the word length effect.

The visuospatial sketchpad stores visual and spatial information. It is engaged when performing spatial tasks (such as judging distances) or visual ones (such as counting the windows on a house or imagining images). Those with Aphantasia will not be able to engage the visuospatial sketchpad.

The episodic buffer is dedicated to linking information across domains to form integrated units of visual, spatial, and verbal information and chronological ordering (e.g., the memory of a story or a movie scene). The episodic buffer is also assumed to have links to long-term memory and semantical meaning.

The working memory model explains many practical observations, such as why it is easier to do two different tasks (one verbal and one visual) than two similar tasks (e.g., two visual), and the aforementioned word-length effect. Working memory is also the premise for what allows us to do everyday activities involving thought. It is the section of memory where we carry out thought processes and use them to learn and reason about topics.^[43]

Types[edit]

Researchers distinguish between recognition and recall memory. Recognition memory tasks require individuals to indicate whether they have encountered a stimulus (such as a picture or a word) before. Recall memory tasks require participants to retrieve previously learned information. For example, individuals might be asked to produce a series of actions they have seen before or to say a list of words they have heard before.

By information type[edit]

Topographical memory involves the ability to orient oneself in space, to recognize and follow an itinerary, or to recognize familiar places.^[44] Getting lost when traveling alone is an example of the failure of topographic memory.^[45]

Flashbulb memories are clear episodic memories of unique and highly emotional events.^[46] People remembering where they were or what they were doing when they first heard the news of President Kennedy’s assassination,^[47] the Sydney Siege or of 9/11 are examples of flashbulb memories.

Anderson (1976)^[48] divides long-term memory into declarative (explicit) and procedural (implicit) memories.

Declarative[edit]

Declarative memory requires conscious recall, in that some conscious process must call back the information. It is sometimes called explicit memory, since it consists of information that is explicitly stored and retrieved. Declarative memory can be further sub-divided into semantic memory, concerning principles and facts taken independent of context; and episodic memory, concerning information specific to a particular context, such as a time and place. Semantic memory allows the encoding of abstract knowledge about the world, such as «Paris is the capital of France». Episodic memory, on the other hand, is used for more personal memories, such as the sensations, emotions, and personal associations of a particular place or time. Episodic memories often reflect the «firsts» in life such as a first kiss, first day of school or first time winning a championship. These are key events in one’s life that can be remembered clearly.

Research suggests that declarative memory is supported by several functions of the medial temporal lobe system which includes the hippocampus.^[49] Autobiographical memory – memory for particular events within one’s own life – is generally viewed as either equivalent to, or a subset of, episodic memory. Visual memory is part of memory preserving some characteristics of our senses pertaining to visual experience. One is able to place in memory information that resembles objects, places, animals or people in sort of a mental image. Visual memory can result in priming and it is assumed some kind of perceptual representational system underlies this phenomenon.^[49]

Procedural[edit]

In contrast, procedural memory (or implicit memory) is not based on the conscious recall of information, but on implicit learning. It can best be summarized as remembering how to do something. Procedural memory is primarily used in learning motor skills and can be considered a subset of implicit memory. It is revealed when one does better in a given task due only to repetition – no new explicit memories have been formed, but one is unconsciously accessing aspects of those previous experiences. Procedural memory involved in motor learning depends on the cerebellum and basal ganglia.^[50]

A characteristic of procedural memory is that the things remembered are automatically translated into actions, and thus sometimes difficult to describe. Some examples of procedural memory include the ability to ride a bike or tie shoelaces.^[51]

By temporal direction[edit]

Another major way to distinguish different memory functions is whether the content to be remembered is in the past, retrospective memory, or in the future, prospective memory. John Meacham introduced this distinction in a paper presented at the 1975 American Psychological Association annual meeting and subsequently included by Ulric Neisser in his 1982 edited volume, Memory Observed: Remembering in Natural Contexts.^[52][53] Thus, retrospective memory as a category includes semantic, episodic and autobiographical memory. In contrast, prospective memory is memory for future intentions, or remembering to remember (Winograd, 1988). Prospective memory can be further broken down into event- and time-based prospective remembering. Time-based prospective memories are triggered by a time-cue, such as going to the doctor (action) at 4pm (cue). Event-based prospective memories are intentions triggered by cues, such as remembering to post a letter (action) after seeing a mailbox (cue). Cues do not need to be related to the action (as the mailbox/letter example), and lists, sticky-notes, knotted handkerchiefs, or string around the finger all exemplify cues that people use as strategies to enhance prospective memory.

Study techniques[edit]

To assess infants[edit]

Infants do not have the language ability to report on their memories and so verbal reports cannot be used to assess very young children’s memory. Throughout the years, however, researchers have adapted and developed a number of measures for assessing both infants’ recognition memory and their recall memory. Habituation and operant conditioning techniques have been used to assess infants’ recognition memory and the deferred and elicited imitation techniques have been used to assess infants’ recall memory.

Techniques used to assess infants’ recognition memory include the following:

• Visual paired comparison procedure (relies on habituation): infants are first presented with pairs of visual stimuli, such as two black-and-white photos of human faces, for a fixed amount of time; then, after being familiarized with the two photos, they are presented with the «familiar» photo and a new photo. The time spent looking at each photo is recorded. Looking longer at the new photo indicates that they remember the «familiar» one. Studies using this procedure have found that 5- to 6-month-olds can retain information for as long as fourteen days.^[54]
• Operant conditioning technique: infants are placed in a crib and a ribbon that is connected to a mobile overhead is tied to one of their feet. Infants notice that when they kick their foot the mobile moves – the rate of kicking increases dramatically within minutes. Studies using this technique have revealed that infants’ memory substantially improves over the first 18-months. Whereas 2- to 3-month-olds can retain an operant response (such as activating the mobile by kicking their foot) for a week, 6-month-olds can retain it for two weeks, and 18-month-olds can retain a similar operant response for as long as 13 weeks.^[55][56][57]

Techniques used to assess infants’ recall memory include the following:

• Deferred imitation technique: an experimenter shows infants a unique sequence of actions (such as using a stick to push a button on a box) and then, after a delay, asks the infants to imitate the actions. Studies using deferred imitation have shown that 14-month-olds’ memories for the sequence of actions can last for as long as four months.^[58]
• Elicited imitation technique: is very similar to the deferred imitation technique; the difference is that infants are allowed to imitate the actions before the delay. Studies using the elicited imitation technique have shown that 20-month-olds can recall the action sequences twelve months later.^[59][60]

To assess children and older adults[edit]

Researchers use a variety of tasks to assess older children and adults’ memory. Some examples are:

• Paired associate learning – when one learns to associate one specific word with another. For example, when given a word such as «safe» one must learn to say another specific word, such as «green». This is stimulus and response.^[61][62]
• Free recall – during this task a subject would be asked to study a list of words and then later they will be asked to recall or write down as many words that they can remember, similar to free response questions.^[63] Earlier items are affected by retroactive interference (RI), which means the longer the list, the greater the interference, and the less likelihood that they are recalled. On the other hand, items that have been presented lastly suffer little RI, but suffer a great deal from proactive interference (PI), which means the longer the delay in recall, the more likely that the items will be lost.^[64]
• Cued recall – one is given a significant hints to help retrieve information that has been previously encoded into the person’s memory; typically this can involve a word relating to the information being asked to remember.^[65] This is similar to fill in the blank assessments used in classrooms.
• Recognition – subjects are asked to remember a list of words or pictures, after which point they are asked to identify the previously presented words or pictures from among a list of alternatives that were not presented in the original list.^[66] This is similar to multiple choice assessments.
• Detection paradigm – individuals are shown a number of objects and color samples during a certain period of time. They are then tested on their visual ability to remember as much as they can by looking at testers and pointing out whether the testers are similar to the sample, or if any change is present.
• Savings method – compares the speed of originally learning to the speed of relearning it. The amount of time saved measures memory.^[67]
• Implicit-memory tasks – information is drawn from memory without conscious realization.

Failures[edit]

• Transience – memories degrade with the passing of time. This occurs in the storage stage of memory, after the information has been stored and before it is retrieved. This can happen in sensory, short-term, and long-term storage. It follows a general pattern where the information is rapidly forgotten during the first couple of days or years, followed by small losses in later days or years.
• Absent-mindedness – Memory failure due to the lack of attention. Attention plays a key role in storing information into long-term memory; without proper attention, the information might not be stored, making it impossible to be retrieved later.

Physiology[edit]

Brain areas involved in the neuroanatomy of memory such as the hippocampus, the amygdala, the striatum, or the mammillary bodies are thought to be involved in specific types of memory. For example, the hippocampus is believed to be involved in spatial learning and declarative learning, while the amygdala is thought to be involved in emotional memory.^[68]

Damage to certain areas in patients and animal models and subsequent memory deficits is a primary source of information. However, rather than implicating a specific area, it could be that damage to adjacent areas, or to a pathway traveling through the area is actually responsible for the observed deficit. Further, it is not sufficient to describe memory, and its counterpart, learning, as solely dependent on specific brain regions. Learning and memory are usually attributed to changes in neuronal synapses, thought to be mediated by long-term potentiation and long-term depression.

In general, the more emotionally charged an event or experience is, the better it is remembered; this phenomenon is known as the memory enhancement effect. Patients with amygdala damage, however, do not show a memory enhancement effect.^[69][70]

Hebb distinguished between short-term and long-term memory. He postulated that any memory that stayed in short-term storage for a long enough time would be consolidated into a long-term memory. Later research showed this to be false. Research has shown that direct injections of cortisol or epinephrine help the storage of recent experiences. This is also true for stimulation of the amygdala. This proves that excitement enhances memory by the stimulation of hormones that affect the amygdala. Excessive or prolonged stress (with prolonged cortisol) may hurt memory storage. Patients with amygdalar damage are no more likely to remember emotionally charged words than nonemotionally charged ones. The hippocampus is important for explicit memory. The hippocampus is also important for memory consolidation. The hippocampus receives input from different parts of the cortex and sends its output out to different parts of the brain also. The input comes from secondary and tertiary sensory areas that have processed the information a lot already. Hippocampal damage may also cause memory loss and problems with memory storage.^[71] This memory loss includes retrograde amnesia which is the loss of memory for events that occurred shortly before the time of brain damage.^[67]

Cognitive neuroscience[edit]

Cognitive neuroscientists consider memory as the retention, reactivation, and reconstruction of the experience-independent internal representation. The term of internal representation implies that such a definition of memory contains two components: the expression of memory at the behavioral or conscious level, and the underpinning physical neural changes (Dudai 2007). The latter component is also called engram or memory traces (Semon 1904). Some neuroscientists and psychologists mistakenly equate the concept of engram and memory, broadly conceiving all persisting after-effects of experiences as memory; others argue against this notion that memory does not exist until it is revealed in behavior or thought (Moscovitch 2007).

One question that is crucial in cognitive neuroscience is how information and mental experiences are coded and represented in the brain. Scientists have gained much knowledge about the neuronal codes from the studies of plasticity, but most of such research has been focused on simple learning in simple neuronal circuits; it is considerably less clear about the neuronal changes involved in more complex examples of memory, particularly declarative memory that requires the storage of facts and events (Byrne 2007). Convergence-divergence zones might be the neural networks where memories are stored and retrieved. Considering that there are several kinds of memory, depending on types of represented knowledge, underlying mechanisms, processes functions and modes of acquisition, it is likely that different brain areas support different memory systems and that they are in mutual relationships in neuronal networks: «components of memory representation are distributed widely across different parts of the brain as mediated by multiple neocortical circuits».^[72]

• Encoding. Encoding of working memory involves the spiking of individual neurons induced by sensory input, which persists even after the sensory input disappears (Jensen and Lisman 2005; Fransen et al. 2002). Encoding of episodic memory involves persistent changes in molecular structures that alter synaptic transmission between neurons. Examples of such structural changes include long-term potentiation (LTP) or spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). The persistent spiking in working memory can enhance the synaptic and cellular changes in the encoding of episodic memory (Jensen and Lisman 2005).
• Working memory. Recent functional imaging studies detected working memory signals in both medial temporal lobe (MTL), a brain area strongly associated with long-term memory, and prefrontal cortex (Ranganath et al. 2005), suggesting a strong relationship between working memory and long-term memory. However, the substantially more working memory signals seen in the prefrontal lobe suggest that this area plays a more important role in working memory than MTL (Suzuki 2007).
• Consolidation and reconsolidation. Short-term memory (STM) is temporary and subject to disruption, while long-term memory (LTM), once consolidated, is persistent and stable. Consolidation of STM into LTM at the molecular level presumably involves two processes: synaptic consolidation and system consolidation. The former involves a protein synthesis process in the medial temporal lobe (MTL), whereas the latter transforms the MTL-dependent memory into an MTL-independent memory over months to years (Ledoux 2007). In recent years, such traditional consolidation dogma has been re-evaluated as a result of the studies on reconsolidation. These studies showed that prevention after retrieval affects subsequent retrieval of the memory (Sara 2000). New studies have shown that post-retrieval treatment with protein synthesis inhibitors and many other compounds can lead to an amnestic state (Nadel et al. 2000b; Alberini 2005; Dudai 2006). These findings on reconsolidation fit with the behavioral evidence that retrieved memory is not a carbon copy of the initial experiences, and memories are updated during retrieval.

Genetics[edit]

Study of the genetics of human memory is in its infancy though many genes have been investigated for their association to memory in humans and non-human animals. A notable initial success was the association of APOE with memory dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease. The search for genes associated with normally varying memory continues. One of the first candidates for normal variation in memory is the protein KIBRA,^{[73][medical citation needed]} which appears to be associated with the rate at which material is forgotten over a delay period. There has been some evidence that memories are stored in the nucleus of neurons.^{[74][medical citation needed]}

Genetic underpinnings[edit]

Several genes, proteins and enzymes have been extensively researched for their association with memory. Long-term memory, unlike short-term memory, is dependent upon the synthesis of new proteins.^[75] This occurs within the cellular body, and concerns the particular transmitters, receptors, and new synapse pathways that reinforce the communicative strength between neurons. The production of new proteins devoted to synapse reinforcement is triggered after the release of certain signaling substances (such as calcium within hippocampal neurons) in the cell. In the case of hippocampal cells, this release is dependent upon the expulsion of magnesium (a binding molecule) that is expelled after significant and repetitive synaptic signaling. The temporary expulsion of magnesium frees NMDA receptors to release calcium in the cell, a signal that leads to gene transcription and the construction of reinforcing proteins.^[76] For more information, see long-term potentiation (LTP).

One of the newly synthesized proteins in LTP is also critical for maintaining long-term memory. This protein is an autonomously active form of the enzyme protein kinase C (PKC), known as PKMζ. PKMζ maintains the activity-dependent enhancement of synaptic strength and inhibiting PKMζ erases established long-term memories, without affecting short-term memory or, once the inhibitor is eliminated, the ability to encode and store new long-term memories is restored. Also, BDNF is important for the persistence of long-term memories.^[77]

The long-term stabilization of synaptic changes is also determined by a parallel increase of pre- and postsynaptic structures such as axonal bouton, dendritic spine and postsynaptic density.^[78]
On the molecular level, an increase of the postsynaptic scaffolding proteins PSD-95 and HOMER1c has been shown to correlate with the stabilization of synaptic enlargement.^[78] The cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) is a transcription factor which is believed to be important in consolidating short-term to long-term memories, and which is believed to be downregulated in Alzheimer’s disease.^[79]

DNA methylation and demethylation[edit]

Rats exposed to an intense learning event may retain a life-long memory of the event, even after a single training session. The long-term memory of such an event appears to be initially stored in the hippocampus, but this storage is transient. Much of the long-term storage of the memory seems to take place in the anterior cingulate cortex.^[80] When such an exposure was experimentally applied, more than 5,000 differently methylated DNA regions appeared in the hippocampus neuronal genome of the rats at one and at 24 hours after training.^[81] These alterations in methylation pattern occurred at many genes that were down-regulated, often due to the formation of new 5-methylcytosine sites in CpG rich regions of the genome. Furthermore, many other genes were upregulated, likely often due to hypomethylation. Hypomethylation often results from the removal of methyl groups from previously existing 5-methylcytosines in DNA. Demethylation is carried out by several proteins acting in concert, including the TET enzymes as well as enzymes of the DNA base excision repair pathway (see Epigenetics in learning and memory). The pattern of induced and repressed genes in brain neurons subsequent to an intense learning event likely provides the molecular basis for a long-term memory of the event.

Epigenetics[edit]

Studies of the molecular basis for memory formation indicate that epigenetic mechanisms operating in brain neurons play a central role in determining this capability. Key epigenetic mechanisms involved in memory include the methylation and demethylation of neuronal DNA, as well as modifications of histone proteins including methylations, acetylations and deacetylations.

Stimulation of brain activity in memory formation is often accompanied by the generation of damage in neuronal DNA that is followed by repair associated with persistent epigenetic alterations. In particular the DNA repair processes of non-homologous end joining and base excision repair are employed in memory formation.^{[citation needed]}

Role of DNA Topoisomerase II Beta in learning and memory[edit]

During a new learning experience, a set of genes is rapidly expressed in the brain. This induced gene expression is considered to be essential for processing the information being learned. Such genes are referred to as immediate early genes (IEGs). DNA Topoisomerase II Beta (TOP2B) activity is essential for the expression of IEGs in a type of learning experience in mice termed associative fear memory.^[82] Such a learning experience appears to rapidly trigger TOP2B to induce double-strand breaks in the promoter DNA of IEG genes that function in neuroplasticity. Repair of these induced breaks is associated with DNA demethylation of IEG gene promoters allowing immediate expression of these IEG genes.^[82]

The double-strand breaks that are induced during a learning experience are not immediately repaired. About 600 regulatory sequences in promoters and about 800 regulatory sequences in enhancers appear to depend on double strand breaks initiated by topoisomerase 2-beta (TOP2B) for activation.^[83][84] The induction of particular double-strand breaks are specific with respect to their inducing signal. When neurons are activated in vitro, just 22 of TOP2B-induced double-strand breaks occur in their genomes.^[85]

Such TOP2B-induced double-strand breaks are accompanied by at least four enzymes of the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) DNA repair pathway (DNA-PKcs, KU70, KU80, and DNA LIGASE IV) (see Figure). These enzymes repair the double-strand breaks within about 15 minutes to two hours.^[85][86] The double-strand breaks in the promoter are thus associated with TOP2B and at least these four repair enzymes. These proteins are present simultaneously on a single promoter nucleosome (there are about 147 nucleotides in the DNA sequence wrapped around a single nucleosome) located near the transcription start site of their target gene.^[86]

The double-strand break introduced by TOP2B apparently frees the part of the promoter at an RNA polymerase-bound transcription start site to physically move to its associated enhancer (see regulatory sequence). This allows the enhancer, with its bound transcription factors and mediator proteins, to directly interact with the RNA polymerase paused at the transcription start site to start transcription.^[85][87]

Contextual fear conditioning in the mouse causes the mouse to have a long-term memory and fear of the location in which it occurred. Contextual fear conditioning causes hundreds of DSBs in mouse brain medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus neurons (see Figure: Brain regions involved in memory formation). These DSBs predominately activate genes involved in synaptic processes, that are important for learning and memory.^[88]

In infancy[edit]

For the inability of adults to retrieve early memories, see Childhood amnesia.

Up until the mid-1980s it was assumed that infants could not encode, retain, and retrieve information.^[89] A growing body of research now indicates that infants as young as 6-months can recall information after a 24-hour delay.^[90] Furthermore, research has revealed that as infants grow older they can store information for longer periods of time; 6-month-olds can recall information after a 24-hour period, 9-month-olds after up to five weeks, and 20-month-olds after as long as twelve months.^[91] In addition, studies have shown that with age, infants can store information faster. Whereas 14-month-olds can recall a three-step sequence after being exposed to it once, 6-month-olds need approximately six exposures in order to be able to remember it.^[58][90]

Although 6-month-olds can recall information over the short-term, they have difficulty recalling the temporal order of information. It is only by 9 months of age that infants can recall the actions of a two-step sequence in the correct temporal order – that is, recalling step 1 and then step 2.^[92][93] In other words, when asked to imitate a two-step action sequence (such as putting a toy car in the base and pushing in the plunger to make the toy roll to the other end), 9-month-olds tend to imitate the actions of the sequence in the correct order (step 1 and then step 2). Younger infants (6-month-olds) can only recall one step of a two-step sequence.^[90] Researchers have suggested that these age differences are probably due to the fact that the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and the frontal components of the neural network are not fully developed at the age of 6-months.^[59][94][95]

In fact, the term ‘infantile amnesia’ refers to the phenomenon of accelerated forgetting during infancy. Importantly, infantile amnesia is not unique to humans, and preclinical research (using rodent models) provides insight into the precise neurobiology of this phenomenon. A review of the literature from behavioral neuroscientist Dr Jee Hyun Kim suggests that accelerated forgetting during early life is at least partly due to rapid growth of the brain during this period.^[96]

Aging[edit]

One of the key concerns of older adults is the experience of memory loss, especially as it is one of the hallmark symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. However, memory loss is qualitatively different in normal aging from the kind of memory loss associated with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s (Budson & Price, 2005). Research has revealed that individuals’ performance on memory tasks that rely on frontal regions declines with age. Older adults tend to exhibit deficits on tasks that involve knowing the temporal order in which they learned information;^[97] source memory tasks that require them to remember the specific circumstances or context in which they learned information;^[98] and prospective memory tasks that involve remembering to perform an act at a future time. Older adults can manage their problems with prospective memory by using appointment books, for example.

Gene transcription profiles were determined for the human frontal cortex of individuals from age 26 to 106 years. Numerous genes were identified with reduced expression after age 40, and especially after age 70.^[99] Genes that play central roles in memory and learning were among those showing the most significant reduction with age. There was also a marked increase in DNA damage, likely oxidative damage, in the promoters of those genes with reduced expression. It was suggested that DNA damage may reduce the expression of selectively vulnerable genes involved in memory and learning.^[99]

Disorders[edit]

Much of the current knowledge of memory has come from studying memory disorders, particularly loss of memory, known as amnesia. Amnesia can result from extensive damage to: (a) the regions of the medial temporal lobe, such as the hippocampus, dentate gyrus, subiculum, amygdala, the parahippocampal, entorhinal, and perirhinal cortices^[100] or the (b) midline diencephalic region, specifically the dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus and the mammillary bodies of the hypothalamus.^[101] There are many sorts of amnesia, and by studying their different forms, it has become possible to observe apparent defects in individual sub-systems of the brain’s memory systems, and thus hypothesize their function in the normally working brain. Other neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease^{[102][better source needed]} can also affect memory and cognition.
Hyperthymesia, or hyperthymesic syndrome, is a disorder that affects an individual’s autobiographical memory, essentially meaning that they cannot forget small details that otherwise would not be stored.^{[103][medical citation needed]} Korsakoff’s syndrome, also known as Korsakoff’s psychosis, amnesic-confabulatory syndrome, is an organic brain disease that adversely affects memory by widespread loss or shrinkage of neurons within the prefrontal cortex.^[67]

While not a disorder, a common temporary failure of word retrieval from memory is the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. Those with Anomic aphasia (also called Nominal aphasia or Anomia), however, do experience the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon on an ongoing basis due to damage to the frontal and parietal lobes of the brain.

Memory dysfunction can also occur after viral infections.^[104] Many patients recovering from COVID-19 experience memory lapses. Other viruses can also elicit memory dysfunction, including SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV, Ebola virus and even influenza virus.^[104][105]

Influencing factors[edit]

Interference can hamper memorization and retrieval. There is retroactive interference, when learning new information makes it harder to recall old information^[106] and proactive interference, where prior learning disrupts recall of new information. Although interference can lead to forgetting, it is important to keep in mind that there are situations when old information can facilitate learning of new information. Knowing Latin, for instance, can help an individual learn a related language such as French – this phenomenon is known as positive transfer.^[107]

Stress[edit]

Stress has a significant effect on memory formation and learning. In response to stressful situations, the brain releases hormones and neurotransmitters (ex. glucocorticoids and catecholamines) which affect memory encoding processes in the hippocampus. Behavioural research on animals shows that chronic stress produces adrenal hormones which impact the hippocampal structure in the brains of rats.^[108] An experimental study by German cognitive psychologists L. Schwabe and O. Wolf demonstrates how learning under stress also decreases memory recall in humans.^[109] In this study, 48 healthy female and male university students participated in either a stress test or a control group. Those randomly assigned to the stress test group had a hand immersed in ice cold water (the reputable SECPT or ‘Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Test’) for up to three minutes, while being monitored and videotaped. Both the stress and control groups were then presented with 32 words to memorize. Twenty-four hours later, both groups were tested to see how many words they could remember (free recall) as well as how many they could recognize from a larger list of words (recognition performance). The results showed a clear impairment of memory performance in the stress test group, who recalled 30% fewer words than the control group. The researchers suggest that stress experienced during learning distracts people by diverting their attention during the memory encoding process.

However, memory performance can be enhanced when material is linked to the learning context, even when learning occurs under stress. A separate study by cognitive psychologists Schwabe and Wolf shows that when retention testing is done in a context similar to or congruent with the original learning task (i.e., in the same room), memory impairment and the detrimental effects of stress on learning can be attenuated.^[110] Seventy-two healthy female and male university students, randomly assigned to the SECPT stress test or to a control group, were asked to remember the locations of 15 pairs of picture cards – a computerized version of the card game «Concentration» or «Memory». The room in which the experiment took place was infused with the scent of vanilla, as odour is a strong cue for memory. Retention testing took place the following day, either in the same room with the vanilla scent again present, or in a different room without the fragrance. The memory performance of subjects who experienced stress during the object-location task decreased significantly when they were tested in an unfamiliar room without the vanilla scent (an incongruent context); however, the memory performance of stressed subjects showed no impairment when they were tested in the original room with the vanilla scent (a congruent context). All participants in the experiment, both stressed and unstressed, performed faster when the learning and retrieval contexts were similar.^[111]

This research on the effects of stress on memory may have practical implications for education, for eyewitness testimony and for psychotherapy: students may perform better when tested in their regular classroom rather than an exam room, eyewitnesses may recall details better at the scene of an event than in a courtroom, and persons with post-traumatic stress may improve when helped to situate their memories of a traumatic event in an appropriate context.

Stressful life experiences may be a cause of memory loss as a person ages. Glucocorticoids that are released during stress cause damage to neurons that are located in the hippocampal region of the brain. Therefore, the more stressful situations that someone encounters, the more susceptible they are to memory loss later on. The CA1 neurons found in the hippocampus are destroyed due to glucocorticoids decreasing the release of glucose and the reuptake of glutamate. This high level of extracellular glutamate allows calcium to enter NMDA receptors which in return kills neurons. Stressful life experiences can also cause repression of memories where a person moves an unbearable memory to the unconscious mind.^[67] This directly relates to traumatic events in one’s past such as kidnappings, being prisoners of war or sexual abuse as a child.

The more long term the exposure to stress is, the more impact it may have. However, short term exposure to stress also causes impairment in memory by interfering with the function of the hippocampus. Research shows that subjects placed in a stressful situation for a short amount of time still have blood glucocorticoid levels that have increased drastically when measured after the exposure is completed. When subjects are asked to complete a learning task after short term exposure they often have difficulties. Prenatal stress also hinders the ability to learn and memorize by disrupting the development of the hippocampus and can lead to unestablished long term potentiation in the offspring of severely stressed parents. Although the stress is applied prenatally, the offspring show increased levels of glucocorticoids when they are subjected to stress later on in life.^[112] One explanation for why children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds tend to display poorer memory performance than their higher-income peers is the effects of stress accumulated over the course of the lifetime.^[113] The effects of low income on the developing hippocampus is also thought be mediated by chronic stress responses which may explain why children from lower and higher-income backgrounds differ in terms of memory performance.^[113]

Sleep[edit]

Making memories occurs through a three-step process, which can be enhanced by sleep. The three steps are as follows:

1. Acquisition which is the process of storage and retrieval of new information in memory
2. Consolidation
3. Recall

Sleep affects memory consolidation. During sleep, the neural connections in the brain are strengthened. This enhances the brain’s abilities to stabilize and retain memories. There have been several studies which show that sleep improves the retention of memory, as memories are enhanced through active consolidation. System consolidation takes place during slow-wave sleep (SWS).^{[114][medical citation needed]} This process implicates that memories are reactivated during sleep, but that the process doesn’t enhance every memory. It also implicates that qualitative changes are made to the memories when they are transferred to long-term store during sleep. During sleep, the hippocampus replays the events of the day for the neocortex. The neocortex then reviews and processes memories, which moves them into long-term memory. When one does not get enough sleep it makes it more difficult to learn as these neural connections are not as strong, resulting in a lower retention rate of memories. Sleep deprivation makes it harder to focus, resulting in inefficient learning.^[114] Furthermore, some studies have shown that sleep deprivation can lead to false memories as the memories are not properly transferred to long-term memory.
One of the primary functions of sleep is thought to be the improvement of the consolidation of information, as several studies have demonstrated that memory depends on getting sufficient sleep between training and test.^[115] Additionally, data obtained from neuroimaging studies have shown activation patterns in the sleeping brain that mirror those recorded during the learning of tasks from the previous day,^[115] suggesting that new memories may be solidified through such rehearsal.^[116]

Construction for general manipulation[edit]

Although people often think that memory operates like recording equipment, this is not the case. The molecular mechanisms underlying the induction and maintenance of memory are very dynamic and comprise distinct phases covering a time window from seconds to even a lifetime.^[117] In fact, research has revealed that our memories are constructed: «current hypotheses suggest that constructive processes allow individuals to simulate and imagine future episodes,^[118] happenings, and scenarios. Since the future is not an exact repetition of the past, simulation of future episodes requires a complex system that can draw on the past in a manner that flexibly extracts and recombines elements of previous experiences – a constructive rather than a reproductive system.»^[72] People can construct their memories when they encode them and/or when they recall them. To illustrate, consider a classic study conducted by Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer (1974)^[119] in which people were instructed to watch a film of a traffic accident and then asked about what they saw. The researchers found that the people who were asked, «How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?» gave higher estimates than those who were asked, «How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?» Furthermore, when asked a week later whether they had seen broken glass in the film, those who had been asked the question with smashed were twice more likely to report that they had seen broken glass than those who had been asked the question with hit (there was no broken glass depicted in the film). Thus, the wording of the questions distorted viewers’ memories of the event. Importantly, the wording of the question led people to construct different memories of the event – those who were asked the question with smashed recalled a more serious car accident than they had actually seen. The findings of this experiment were replicated around the world, and researchers consistently demonstrated that when people were provided with misleading information they tended to misremember, a phenomenon known as the misinformation effect.^[120]

Research has revealed that asking individuals to repeatedly imagine actions that they have never performed or events that they have never experienced could result in false memories. For instance, Goff and Roediger^[121] (1998) asked participants to imagine that they performed an act (e.g., break a toothpick) and then later asked them whether they had done such a thing. Findings revealed that those participants who repeatedly imagined performing such an act were more likely to think that they had actually performed that act during the first session of the experiment. Similarly, Garry and her colleagues (1996)^[122] asked college students to report how certain they were that they experienced a number of events as children (e.g., broke a window with their hand) and then two weeks later asked them to imagine four of those events. The researchers found that one-fourth of the students asked to imagine the four events reported that they had actually experienced such events as children. That is, when asked to imagine the events they were more confident that they experienced the events.

Research reported in 2013 revealed that it is possible to artificially stimulate prior memories and artificially implant false memories in mice. Using optogenetics, a team of RIKEN-MIT scientists caused the mice to incorrectly associate a benign environment with a prior unpleasant experience from different surroundings. Some scientists believe that the study may have implications in studying false memory formation in humans, and in treating PTSD and schizophrenia.^{[123][124][medical citation needed]}

Memory reconsolidation is when previously consolidated memories are recalled or retrieved from long-term memory to your active consciousness. During this process, memories can be further strengthened and added to but there is also risk of manipulation involved. We like to think of our memories as something stable and constant when they are stored in long-term memory but this isn’t the case. There are a large number of studies that found that consolidation of memories is not a singular event but are put through the process again, known as reconsolidation.^[125] This is when a memory is recalled or retrieved and placed back into your working memory. The memory is now open to manipulation from outside sources and the misinformation effect which could be due to misattributing the source of the inconsistent information, with or without an intact original memory trace (Lindsay and Johnson, 1989).^[126] One thing that can be sure is that memory is malleable.

This new research into the concept of reconsolidation has opened the door to methods to help those with unpleasant memories or those that struggle with memories. An example of this is if you had a truly frightening experience and recall that memory in a less arousing environment, the memory will be weaken the next time it is retrieved.^[125] «Some studies suggest that over-trained or strongly reinforced memories do not undergo reconsolidation if reactivated the first few days after training, but do become sensitive to reconsolidation interference with time.»^[125] This, however does not mean that all memory is susceptible to reconsolidation. There is evidence to suggest that memory that has undergone strong training and whether or not is it intentional is less likely to undergo reconsolidation.^[127] There was further testing done with rats and mazes that showed that reactivated memories were more susceptible to manipulation, in both good and bad ways, than newly formed memories.^[128] It is still not known whether or not these are new memories formed and it’s an inability to retrieve the proper one for the situation or if it’s a reconsolidated memory. Because the study of reconsolidation is still a newer concept, there is still debate on whether it should be considered scientifically sound.

Improving[edit]

A UCLA research study published in the June 2008 issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry found that people can improve cognitive function and brain efficiency through simple lifestyle changes such as incorporating memory exercises, healthy eating, physical fitness and stress reduction into their daily lives. This study examined 17 subjects, (average age 53) with normal memory performance.
Eight subjects were asked to follow a «brain healthy» diet, relaxation, physical, and mental exercise (brain teasers and verbal memory training techniques). After 14 days, they showed greater word fluency (not memory) compared to their baseline performance. No long-term follow-up was conducted; it is therefore unclear if this intervention has lasting effects on memory.^[129]

There are a loosely associated group of mnemonic principles and techniques that can be used to vastly improve memory known as the art of memory.

The International Longevity Center released in 2001 a report^[130] which includes in pages 14–16 recommendations for keeping the mind in good functionality until advanced age. Some of the recommendations are:

• to stay intellectually active through learning, training or reading
• to keep physically active so to promote blood circulation to the brain
• to socialize
• to reduce stress
• to keep sleep time regular
• to avoid depression or emotional instability
• to observe good nutrition.

Memorization is a method of learning that allows an individual to recall information verbatim. Rote learning is the method most often used. Methods of memorizing things have been the subject of much discussion over the years with some writers, such as Cosmos Rossellius using visual alphabets. The spacing effect shows that an individual is more likely to remember a list of items when rehearsal is spaced over an extended period of time. In contrast to this is cramming: an intensive memorization in a short period of time. the spacing effect is exploited to improve memory in spaced repetition flashcard training. Also relevant is the Zeigarnik effect which states that people remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed ones. The so-called Method of loci uses spatial memory to memorize non-spatial information.^[131]

In plants[edit]

Plants lack a specialized organ devoted to memory retention, so plant memory has been a controversial topic in recent years. New advances in the field have identified the presence of neurotransmitters in plants, adding to the hypothesis that plants are capable of remembering.^[132] Action potentials, a physiological response characteristic of neurons, have been shown to have an influence on plants as well, including in wound responses and photosynthesis.^[132] In addition to these homologous features of memory systems in both plants and animals, plants have also been observed to encode, store and retrieve basic short-term memories.

One of the most well-studied plants to show rudimentary memory is the Venus flytrap. Native to the subtropical wetlands of the eastern United States, Venus Fly Traps have evolved the ability to obtain meat for sustenance, likely due to the lack of nitrogen in the soil.^[133] This is done by two trap-forming leaf tips that snap shut once triggered by a potential prey. On each lobe, three triggers hairs await stimulation. In order to maximize the benefit to cost ratio, the plant enables a rudimentary form of memory in which two trigger hairs must be stimulated within 30 seconds in order to result in trap closure.^[133] This system ensures that the trap only closes when potential prey is within grasp.

The time lapse between trigger hair stimulations suggests that the plant can remember an initial stimulus long enough for a second stimulus to initiate trap closure. This memory isn’t encoded in a brain, as plants lack this specialized organ. Rather, information is stored in the form of cytoplasmic calcium levels. The first trigger causes a subthreshold cytoplasmic calcium influx.^[133] This initial trigger isn’t enough to activate trap closure, so a subsequent stimulus allows for a secondary influx of calcium. The latter calcium rise superimposes on the initial one, creating an action potential that passes threshold, resulting in trap closure.^[133] Researchers, to prove that an electrical threshold must be met to stimulate trap closure, excited a single trigger hair with a constant mechanical stimulus using Ag/AgCl electrodes.^[134] The trap closed after only a few seconds. This experiment gave evidence to demonstrate that the electrical threshold, not necessarily the number of trigger hair stimulations, was the contributing factor in Venus Fly Trap memory. It has been shown that trap closure can be blocked using uncouplers and inhibitors of voltage-gated channels.^[134] After trap closure, these electrical signals stimulate glandular production of jasmonic acid and hydrolases, allowing for digestion of the prey.^[135]

The field of plant neurobiology has gained a large amount of interest over the past decade, leading to an influx of research regarding plant memory. Although the Venus flytrap is one of the more highly studied, many other plants exhibit the capacity to remember, including the Mimosa pudica through an experiment conducted by Monica Gagliano and colleagues in 2013.^[136] To study the Mimosa pudica, Gagliano designed an apparatus with which potted mimosa plants could be repeatedly dropped the same distance and at the same speed. It was observed that the plants defensive response of curling up its leaves decreased over the 60 times the experiment was repeated per plant. To confirm that this was a mechanism of memory rather than exhaustion, some of the plants were shaken post experiment and displayed normal defensive responses of leaf curling. This experiment also demonstrated long-term memory in the plants, as it was repeated a month later and the plants were observed to remain unfazed by the dropping.^[136]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

Sources[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

• Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). «Memory». Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Memory-related resources from the National Institutes of Health

память, воспоминание, запоминающее устройство, запись, регистрация

существительное ↓

Словосочетания

a picture imprinted in my memory — образ, запечатлевшийся в моей памяти  
the fewest birds in recent memory — наименьшее количество птиц за последнее время  
to call to mind / memory — припомнить, вспомнить  
chased on her memory — запечатлевшийся в её памяти  
memory cleaning — очистка памяти  
that day is embedded in my memory — этот день запечатлелся в моей памяти  
to fade from the memory — исчезать из памяти  
memory impairment — ухудшение памяти  
irretention of memory — слабая память  
lapse of memory — провал памяти  
leaky memory — дырявая память  
long memory — долгая, хорошая память  

Примеры с переводом

Возможные однокоренные слова

memorable  — памятный, незабываемый, достопамятный, незабвенный, легко запоминающийся
memorize  — запоминать, заучивать наизусть, увековечивать память

Формы слова

noun
ед. ч.(singular): memory
мн. ч.(plural): memories