Counseling Sheet

Agatha M. Thrash, M.D.
Preventive Medicine

Memory is an extremely complex but interesting faculty of the mind which is dependent on a properly functioning brain (the equipment), and a proper attitude toward the activities of life (the experience). The proper functioning of memory is also dependent on a proper chemical quality of the blood, proper environment, and a number of other important factors.

Some interesting items about memory follow:‍

Input of Information

‍All information that can be stored in the memory comes to the brain by means of the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. If the senses are functioning normally, not irritable or hypersensitive, the input of information will be received by the brain in such a way as to make the next steps of the memory process more efficient.‍

Recognition and Comparison‍

When information is received through the senses, the brain sorts the information, determines which things are recognized, and compares each bit of new information with what has been stored already. The process is very similar to ribbon matching, but it goes on a rate of several thousand events per minute.‍

Evaluation‍

Determining whether something is beneficial or harmful is the next step. If material is harmful a response from the endocrine system can be expected immediately. Such conditioning as fight or flight will occur promptly through the action of adrenals, thyroid, and other endocrines. If the information is beneficial, a certain contentment will result from the recognition of the beneficial information.

‍Types of Memory

Immediate Recall‍

Much information is not valuable for storage and is needed only to assist one to protect one's self or to adapt to the immediate environment. Such information as the approach of a vehicle from a side road as one proceeds along a superhighway is in this category. As long as one is in the vicinity of the side road, the information is important, but after that, it would only clutter the mind. Immediate recall is probably a purely electrical process.‍

Short-Term Memory

‍Some bits of information are useful only for a limited time. A convenient mechanism is designed to handle this class of knowledge. It is probably entirely or chiefly electrical in nature. What kind of bread one must buy to complement tomorrow morning's breakfast falls in this category. Whether one's son will need the family car this evening is another example. From hours to months may comprise the length of the short-term memory.‍

Long-Term Memory‍

Certain concepts and factual information at first received into the short-term memory need permanent storage in the memory, as these facts make up the bulk of information from which one can make judgments, reason, do long-range planning, and understand who one is and what duties devolve upon one. This type of memory is chemical in nature and brings about a permanent change in the chemical structure of the brain. Exactly where memory is stored in the brain is not understood, and memory may involve many parts of the gray matter. Memory lost during injuries or operations is mainly determined by the quantity of brain tissue lost. If 50 grams of brain tissue are lost from the frontal lobes, the damage to the memory is essentially the same as if 50 grams of brain tissue were lost from the temporal or occipital lobes.‍

Memory Retrieval‍

Items are brought into the consciousness from storage by a process of retrieval which we do not understand. There are things that can interfere with retrieval such as the use of drugs, caffeine, alcohol, stimulants such as amphetamine or strychnine, chemicals from recent meals, and a variety of gastrointestinal waste products that find their way into the blood. Strong emotions such as fear, embarrassment, anger, and jealousy can interfere with memory retrieval. An improper lifestyle can result in faulty retrieval. Telling a falsehood can result in faulty retrieval. If one is asked how many children came to a party and one deliberately falsely reports 10 when there were really 50, the memory will be weakened by the falsehood, and soon one truly does not know whether 10 or 50 persons attended.‍

Relationship to Information‍

When information is stored in the memory, the proper relationship of the individual to that information, based on the evaluation as to whether it is good or bad for the person, is to act promptly in accordance with the knowledge of its goodness or badness. It is destructive to the personality and character to act in such a way as to bring evil to the person. Therefore, if one understands that smoking is harmful, to accept a cigarette weakens the entire personality and character structure.

‍The Will‍

Will always implies action. Will is not the straining of the courage to keep from doing some act that will bring evil to the individual. The will is the directional indicator for actions, and is always properly used with action. Once one understands the direction one should go, the will should be activated to accomplish the journey. The will is similar to the rudder on a ship. When one decides that a dessert is not necessary, the will should cause the individual to take immediate and decisive steps to avoid taking the dessert, such as a decided, "No thank you" or leaving the table.‍

Wrong Circuits for the Will‍

Will power is not a passive resistance such as steeling the courage to ward off yielding to some temptation. The longer one looks at the tempting article, considers the matter, and keeps the attention riveted on it, the weaker the courage becomes. The individual erroneously thinks that he has no will power. Will is not correctly used when applied in this way. The will should be used strongly, wholeheartedly, and decisively to accomplish the action that the evaluation has indicated represents beneficial action.