It turns out that a good memory does not always indicate outstanding mental abilities. Neuroscientists have found that the brain intentionally erases irrelevant details to make room for more important information and to push us to make informed decisions.
Most often forget dates, birthdays or the names of casual acquaintances. Only a few have got an efficient brain that easily remembers any information, the rest have problems with this.
But don’t get discouraged: University of Toronto scientists Paul Frankland and Blake Richards argue that occasional memory lapses are quite natural. The brain automatically deletes obsolete information and replaces it with more recent information. Neuroscientists have also found that people with good memories are not necessarily smarter than others, and have concluded that forgetting minor details is more beneficial than remembering everything.
Brain stem cells produce new neurons that infiltrate the hippocampus, the structure responsible for processing encoded memories. These neurons “overwrite” previously stored information and update associative links. Perhaps this is why children so often forget important things: the young brain produces more new neurons.
According to Professor Richards, the brain deliberately cuts out irrelevant details in order to focus on the important. The balance of the processes of remembering and forgetting allows you to make rational decisions in a constantly changing environment.
The ability to forget increases cognitive flexibility: prevents outdated data from influencing decision making
For example, salespeople deal with a lot of people on a daily basis, so they rarely remember customers. But it’s easier for designers to remember the names and faces of clients, because there are far fewer of them. When we recall only the general meaning of the conversation in memory and hardly remember what each interlocutor said, this means that the brain has “erased” everything superfluous and retained the most valuable information that may be useful in the future.
The authors believe that the main task of memory is not to store information, but to optimize choices. The ability to forget increases cognitive flexibility: it prevents outdated data from influencing decision making, blocks binding to specific events, and allows you to generalize from past experience.
Thus, the function of forgetting is no less important than the ability to remember. It is highly likely that “bad” memory is the very mechanism that signals the brain to make room for relevant information and prevents it from being overloaded by processing useless memories.
So if you find that you have begun to forget large amounts of important information, then, of course, you should consult a doctor. And if minor little things fly out of your head, don’t worry, the memory system is in order and works as expected.
Source: Healthy Food House.