Memory Systems
Discover how your brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information. Test your memory and explore the neuroscience of remembering.
01 / Types
Memory is not a single system but a complex process involving multiple stages, each with distinct characteristics and neural mechanisms.
The briefest form of memory, holding sensory information for fractions of a second before it's processed or discarded.
A temporary storage system that holds information we're currently aware of and working with.
The relatively permanent storage of information, with virtually unlimited capacity and duration.
02 / Process
Memory formation is a three-step process that transforms experiences into lasting neural patterns.
Converting sensory input into a form that can be stored. This involves attention, perception, and the initial processing of information by the hippocampus and surrounding cortex.
The retention of encoded information over time. Memories are stored across distributed networks in the cortex, with the hippocampus serving as an index.
Accessing stored information when needed. Reactivation of the same neural patterns that were active during encoding brings memories back to consciousness.
03 / Interactive
Try this classic memory span test to see how many items you can hold in your short-term memory.
The average person can hold 7 ± 2 items in their working memory. This is why phone numbers are typically 7 digits long!
04 / Systems
Long-term memory is divided into distinct systems, each serving different purposes and involving different brain regions.
Conscious memories we can verbally describe
Personal experiences and events from your life
Example: Your first day of schoolGeneral knowledge and facts about the world
Example: Paris is the capital of FranceUnconscious memories that influence behavior
Motor skills and habits performed automatically
Example: Riding a bicycleUnconscious influence of prior exposure on behavior
Example: Recognizing a word faster after recent exposure05 / Forgetting
Discovered by Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885, the forgetting curve shows how information is lost over time when there is no attempt to retain it.
06 / Technique
An ancient technique used by memory champions to remember vast amounts of information by associating items with specific locations in an imagined space.
Choose a familiar place (your home, a route you know)
Create a mental path through specific locations
Associate each item to remember with a location
Mentally walk through to recall the items
Discover how emotions influence memory formation and how decisions are shaped by what we remember.