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FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION

State educational institution

Higher professional education

"MATI" - RUSSIAN STATE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY named after K.E. TSIOLKOVSKY

Department " IndustrialecologyAndsafetyproduction"

CourseworkJob

Bytopic

" Physiologicalbasicsmemory"

Student: Aurora V.B.

Moscow 2013

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Section 1 Structure and functions of the main organs of this system
• Types of memory
• Deviations
• Pathology of memory
• Conclusion
• Bibliography

Introduction

Memorizing material, storing it and subsequently reproducing it is one of the amazing properties of our brain. No wonder I.M. Sechenov called memory “perhaps the most important miracle of animal and especially human organization.”

It has been established that starting from the 20th century. For every 50 years, the level of human psychological development increases by approximately 2 times compared to the previous 50 years. At the same time, neither externally, nor anatomically, nor physiologically does a person change at all. This happens due to the fact that people have learned to preserve and transmit from generation to generation the knowledge and skills they have accumulated. They invented languages, sign systems, means of recording and storing information and continue to actively improve them in our time. Thus, people improved their ancestral memory, and it, in turn, played an important role in accelerating their psychological development. However, what is given to a person from birth is clearly not enough to live normally in modern society, to lead a civilized, cultural, that is, precisely human, way of life. It is necessary to have at least a minimum of knowledge and skills that humanity has accumulated in order to live in human society. Even constituting a very insignificant part of the knowledge and skills that all of humanity has at a given moment in time, individually necessary knowledge and skills are still large enough in volume and difficult enough in content for a newly born person to master them independently. To do this, he needs a good and strong memory, since a person must retain the corresponding knowledge and skills throughout his life.

Almost from birth, a person begins to acquire new life experiences. From about one year of age, and sometimes even earlier, a person begins to be systematically taught something. Gradually, with age, this process intensifies and becomes most active during the school years, as well as when a person receives professional education. The period of compulsory and active learning for modern people takes from 10-12 to 15-20 years. But the learning doesn't end there either. In other, perhaps less active and less organized, forms it continues further, often throughout a person’s life. It is clear that without a good memory it is almost impossible to learn anything. This is one of the main functions of human memory; if a person did not have a powerful, fast-acting memory, if people had not learned to preserve and pass on from generation to generation the knowledge they acquired and the skills they developed, then humanity would never have reached the level of development that it has reached. where it is now. If we imagine a catastrophe, as a result of which people would survive as physical beings, but would lose their memory of the past, then this would lead to the fact that humanity in its development would be thrown back thousands of years. Under these conditions, people would have to reinvent almost all the knowledge, skills and abilities, the entire culture accumulated over thousands of years. Memory made a person a person and keeps him that way - this is a completely fair statement that does not require additional proof in the light of the above.

In this work, I will try to understand the mechanisms that occur in the brain during memorization, when working with received information and other aspects. We will also consider the main deviations from the norm, diseases associated with memory, methods of treating and improving its condition, and the influence of the surrounding world on its performance.

memory brain pathology remembering

Section 1. Structure and functions of the main organs of this system

Of all other cognitive processes, human memory is represented most widely in the structures of his brain. The cerebral cortex, subcortex, and cerebellum are associated with memory. There are many physiological theories that explain various types of memory (we will look at them in more detail later). The longest human memory in terms of time of storing information in it, capable of storing and transmitting information by inheritance, without training, is called genetic. It is associated with the structures and processes that occur in genes. They are known to include two main types of molecules, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid). RNA molecules encode probably the most durable and immutable genetic memory of a person, which determines his anatomical and physiological structure, innate behaviors and innate psychological phenomena. Human long-term memory is associated with DNA molecules.

It has been established: when a person remembers something firmly and for a long time, biochemical processes occur in the structure of DNA molecules, with the help of which this information is encoded and stored in the person’s long-term memory. Encoding is carried out by the sequence of arrangement of amino acid bases in the molecule.

Several more physiological theories that explain the mechanism of action of human long-term memory link the memorization, preservation and reproduction of information with the processes occurring in individual biological cells that make up a living organism. The neural theory of memory associates memory with neurons - the cells that make up the nervous system. Each neuron has three main parts: the body of the neuron, its short processes (dendrites) and the longest of the processes, which carries nerve impulses from the body of the neuron to other nerve cells (axon). According to the neural theory of memory, when a person remembers something for a long time, new complex biochemical compounds are formed in the body of the neuron, in which the memorized information is encoded and stored.

A similar hypothesis concerns other biological cells that, along with neurons, make up the human nervous system - the so-called glial cells. It is assumed that they are also involved in the operation of the long-term memory mechanism, that when remembering and storing information, processes also occur in them that contribute to the memorization and storage of information. An important role in the physiological support of memory is played by the places of contact of nerve cells with each other in the brain. They are called synapses. If the conduction of nerve impulses through synapses is good enough, then a person’s memory, including the processes of memorization and recall, works normally. If the conductivity of synapses is poor, then these processes also occur with difficulty. In turn, the conductivity of synapses depends on many reasons: on the youth of the body (it is higher in youth, but worsens in old age); on the physical state of the body at a given time (in a healthy body the conductivity of synapses is higher, in a patient it is lower); on the psychological state of a person (if a person is cheerful and in a good mood, then the conductivity of synapses is better than when he is tired or in a bad mood). Using the mechanism of synaptic transmission of nerve impulses, it is possible to physiologically explain the processes of memorization and difficulties in recall. If the synaptic mechanism of transmission of nerve impulses works well, then both storing and recalling information is easy; if this mechanism does not work well, then both remembering new information and recalling known information will be difficult. Another interesting physiological theory concerns the mechanism that ensures the functioning of human short-term memory, that is, memory that is capable of retaining information for 20 - 30 seconds. The physiological process associated with this type of memory is presented in the hypothesis of the so-called reverberation circles. This hypothesis assumes the following. When a person remembers something to solve a problem with the goal of then immediately forgetting what he remembered, closed chains of neurons are formed in the cerebral cortex, along which for some time in encoded form, in the form of specific combinations and sequences of nerve impulses circulates (reverberates) ) relevant information.

At least three large blocks can be distinguished in the brain, of which:

one provides cortical tone and regulation of general states of excitability;

the second is a block for receiving, processing and storing incoming information;

the third - the block of program formation, regulation and control of behavior.

This fact alone indicates the unequal participation of individual structures of the cerebrum in memory processes.

We also know that the neurophysiological characteristics of individual neurons belonging to different brain systems are not the same. If in the projection systems of the visual, auditory and cutaneous-kinesthetic zones of the cortex, the overwhelming number of receptor cells are modality-specific and respond to narrowly selective signs of stimuli, then there are other areas (which, for example, include the hippocampus, caudate body), which primarily consist from neurons that do not have a modality-specific character and respond only to changes in excitation. Naturally, these facts give reason to assume:

1) the hippocampus and related formations (amygdala, thalamus nuclei, mamillary bodies) play a special role in fixing and preserving memory traces;

2) the neurons included in their composition are an apparatus adapted for storing traces of excitations, comparing them with new stimuli, and are designed to either activate discharges (if the new excitation is different from the old one) or inhibit them.

The above facts make us think that these systems are an apparatus that provides not only an orienting reflex, but also an apparatus that carries the function of fixing and comparing traces that play a significant role in memory processes.

That is why, as observations have shown, bilateral damage to the hippocampus leads to severe memory impairment, and patients with such damage begin to show a picture of the inability to record irritations reaching them, which is known in the clinic as “Korsakoff syndrome.” These facts were established by many researchers (B. Milner, Scoville, V. Penfield) during operations and are of great theoretical importance.

Very important data were obtained in special experiments conducted by the Canadian neuropsychologist B. Milner. A patient with a unilateral lesion of the hippocampus was injected into the carotid artery of the second hemisphere with a hypnotic substance (sodium amytal); this led to a brief (for several minutes) shutdown of the functions of the cortex of the second hemisphere and led to the fact that for a short period of time both hippocampus turned off from work.

The result of such an intervention was a temporary switching off of memory and the impossibility of any kind of fixation of traces, which lasted for several minutes and then disappeared.

It is easy to see how important these studies are for understanding the role of the hippocampus in fixation and storage of memory traces.

No less important for understanding the role played by the hippocampus and associated formations in memory processes are clinical observations showing that lesions in these areas of the brain, closely associated with the reticular formation, lead not only to a general decrease in cortical tone, but and to a significant impairment of the ability to capture and store traces of current experience. Such disorders were observed in the clinic with any lesion that blocked normal movement along the so-called hippocampo-thalamo-mammillary circle ("Peipetz circle"), which includes the hippocampus, thalamus nuclei, mamillary bodies and amygdala. The cessation of the normal circulation of excitation in this circle disrupted the normal functioning of the reticular formation and led to severe memory disorders.

All this does not mean that other parts of the cerebrum and, in particular, the cerebral cortex do not take part in memory processes. The essential point, however, is that damage to the occipital or temporal zones of the cortex can lead to loss of the ability to consolidate traces of modality-specific (visual, auditory) stimulation, but never leads to a general impairment of memory traces.

This means that memory is a complex process in its neural basis and different brain systems take part in providing memory, each of which plays its own role and makes its own specific contribution to the implementation of mnestic activity.

Section 2. Operation and regulation

Excitations coming to the brain from external and internal stimuli leave “traces” in it that can persist for many years (sometimes throughout life). In the cerebral cortex, paths for excitations seem to be paved, as a result of which nerve connections subsequently arise more easily and quickly.

Connections are preserved and come to life if the excitations are repeated,” or they fade away if the excitations are not repeated. In the latter case, what has been learned is forgotten. The formation and preservation of temporary connections constitutes the physiological basis of memory.

The fact that external impressions leave some kind of “traces” in the human cerebral cortex is evidenced by modern experiments conducted by neurosurgeons. When certain parts of the brain were irritated with an electric current, the patient sometimes had memories of events in which he participated.

The speed of formation of connections in the cerebral cortex and their preservation depend on the ability of the brain to respond to stimuli and retain “traces” of previous excitations. Along with the natural qualities of the nervous system, the nature of a person’s activity, his exercises, and training play a big role here.

Active mental work and the presence of a large number of connections in the cerebral cortex contribute to the fact that new associations arise more easily. This explains that specialists who know any field of knowledge well easily and firmly assimilate new information in this scientific field.

A student also remembers new educational material better if he knows well what he has already covered.

Memory includes the following mental processes: memorization, retention of what has been learned, recognition and reproduction.

Memory processes begin with memorization, i.e. establishing connections between objects and phenomena. The physiological basis of memorization is temporary nerve connections in the cerebral cortex.

Most of what our memory stores is remembered by us involuntarily. This is the result of so-called involuntary memorization. What is especially well remembered is that which arouses interest or is associated with a person’s feelings. If a teenager is interested in cars, he easily, without any special memorization, learns the names of car parts, their structure and purpose, etc. In the same way, some events in life that caused joyful or sad feelings in us are firmly stored in memory.

But human life and activity also require so-called voluntary memorization, when you have to force yourself to remember. Studying the basics of science at school and preparing for work in a particular profession usually require voluntary memorization. Without it, it is impossible to acquire the necessary knowledge and master skills and abilities.

Memorization can be semantic or mechanical.

When remembering semantically, thinking processes are of great importance. Here a person usually tries to understand what needs to be remembered, to establish a connection between new material and old, unknown - with what is already familiar. Thus, when memorizing the proof of a theorem, you should not engage in meaningless repetition of what is written in the textbook, but you must first of all try to understand what it says, to figure out what previously studied mathematical principles the proof is based on. Only after this should you repeat it in order to better understand it.

Mechanical memorization consists only of repetitions, and repetitions are often carried out without understanding the material being learned. This leads to the fact that the student simply memorizes difficult, unclear material. Such memorization is usually difficult, takes a lot of time, and what is learned is quickly forgotten.

But sometimes you have to resort to rote memorization. So, after repeating several times, we remember the phone number or address of a friend, as well as foreign words, difficult terms, etc. However, even here it is advisable to somehow connect what is memorized with what is already familiar, to comprehend the assimilation, since semantic memorization is more productive than mechanical memorization.

Voluntary memorization, which is carried out systematically to acquire certain knowledge, is called memorization. It is an important part of a student’s educational work.

Of what we remember, only a relatively small part is retained in memory for a long time, sometimes throughout our entire lives. Most of what is learned is gradually forgotten, since there is no reinforcement of those irritations that previously occurred. Therefore, in order to retain what you have learned in your memory, you need to repeat it.

Material that is well understood is retained in memory much better than material that is learned verbatim, but without complete understanding.

In the process of retention, a peculiar phenomenon is sometimes observed: the material being learned is better remembered not immediately, but after some time (a day, two or more). During this time, the acquired material seemed to be fixed in the cerebral cortex, and it became easier to restore it. This phenomenon is partly explained by the fatigue of the corresponding cortical cells. Only after some time does it disappear, and the necessary excitations can again arise in the cerebral cortex and the corresponding nerve connections appear.

If, after mastering educational material, students are asked to remember something different, but similar to the previous one (for example, after literature, a student will study history), then memorizing similar material will be difficult. Vigorous follow-up activities that cause high arousal can also cause complete or partial forgetting of the material. This is explained by the fact that subsequent activity seems to erase those “traces” in the cortex that remained as a result of memorization.

The material that was learned in the middle of the day and then repeated before going to bed and in the morning after waking up is well retained in memory. This is explained by the fact that during sleep there are no strong impressions that can displace or erase what has been learned in memory.

We are talking about the need to retain what has been learned firmly and for a long time in memory. But this does not mean that forgetting has only a negative meaning in a person’s life. If we never forgot anything, our brains would be overloaded with unnecessary information, which would only make it more difficult to form new, useful connections. Forgetting allows us to store in memory only what has some meaning to us.

Much of what we perceived or did is remembered (reproduced) without any effort on our part, involuntarily. Thus, while studying history, a student can remember a historical novel that he read. This is involuntary (or unintentional) reproduction.

But very often we remember something with some effort. For example, a student may not immediately remember the Pythagorean theorem. He tries to recall in his memory the drawing given in the textbook, remembers that we are talking about a right triangle, about squares built on its sides, etc. Finally, he manages to remember the content of the theorem.

This is an example of voluntary (or intentional) reproduction. You have to resort to it very often, especially in educational work.

Reproduction associated with significant volitional efforts, requiring a certain amount of effort from a person, is called recollection. It involves the active work of thought and proceeds more easily if we reproduce those facts and circumstances in which we perceived the recalled object or phenomenon.

Recognition can also be involuntary and voluntary. The process of recognition is usually easier than reproduction, since it relies on repeated perception. Therefore, even when remembering, we sometimes use recognition.

So, having forgotten the name of our friend, we begin to go through the names in our minds: Petya, Vanya, Seryozha. Having said to ourselves: “Kolya,” we recognize in this word the name of a friend. But recognition cannot be a criterion (measure) of the strength and completeness of memorization. Sometimes, when students re-read educational material, it seems that they have mastered it. In fact, they just recognized him. When schoolchildren try to reproduce the material without looking at the book, it becomes clear to them that memorization is still a long way off. Therefore, the quality of memorization can only be judged by reproduction.

Memory qualities. Memory qualities include:

a) volume, i.e. the number of objects or facts that a person is able to remember at a certain time;

b) accuracy of reproduction;

c) speed of memorization;

d) the duration of retention of what has been learned and e) the readiness of memory, i.e. the ability to quickly remember what is required.

The best memory is possessed by the person who has sufficiently developed all of these properties. But this happens relatively rarely. Typically, people are better developed in some memory qualities and worse in others. Some have a large amount of memory, but remember slowly and soon forget the material, others can quickly assimilate, but a relatively small amount of material, and do not reproduce (remember) it accurately enough.

Types of memory

Depending on the activity of storing material, instantaneous, short-term, operational, long-term and genetic memory are distinguished.

Instant (iconic) memory represents a direct reflection of the image of information perceived by the senses. Its duration is from 0.1 to 0.5 s.

Short term memory retains for a short period of time (on average about 20 s.) a generalized image of the perceived information, its most essential elements. The volume of short-term memory is 5 - 9 units of information and is determined by the amount of information that a person is able to accurately reproduce after a single presentation. The most important feature of short-term memory is its selectivity. From instant memory, only that information comes into it that corresponds to the current needs and interests of a person and attracts his increased attention. “The brain of the average person,” Edison said, “does not perceive even a thousandth part of what the eye sees.”

Operational memory designed to store information for a certain, predetermined period of time necessary to perform some action or operation. The duration of RAM is from several seconds to several days.

Long-term memory capable of storing information for an almost unlimited period of time, while there is (but not always) the possibility of its repeated reproduction. In practice, the functioning of long-term memory is usually associated with thinking and volitional efforts.

Genetic memory is determined by the genotype and is passed on from generation to generation. It is obvious that human influence on this type of memory is very limited (if it is possible at all).

Depending on the analyzer that predominates in the process of memory functioning, motor, visual, auditory, (tactile, olfactory, gustatory), emotional and other types of memory are distinguished.

In humans, visual perception is predominant. For example, we often know a person by sight, although we cannot remember his name. Responsible for preserving and reproducing visual images visual memory. It is directly related to a developed imagination: what a person can visually imagine, he, as a rule, more easily remembers and reproduces. The Chinese have a proverb: “It is better to see once than to hear a thousand times.” Dale Carnegie explains this phenomenon by saying that “the nerves leading from the eyes to the brain are twenty-five times thicker than those leading from the ear to the brain.”

Auditory memory - This is a good memorization and accurate reproduction of various sounds, for example, musical, speech. A special type of speech memory is verbal-logical, which is closely related to word, thought and logic.

Motor memory represents the memorization and preservation, and, if necessary, reproduction with sufficient accuracy of a variety of complex movements. She participates in the formation of motor skills. A striking example of motor memory is handwritten text reproduction, which, as a rule, involves the automatic writing of once learned characters.

Emotional memory - it is a memory of experiences. It is involved in all types of memory, but is especially evident in human relationships. The strength of memorizing material is based on emotional memory: what evokes emotions in a person is remembered without much difficulty and for a longer period.

The capabilities of tactile, olfactory, gustatory and other types of memory compared to visual, auditory, motor and emotional memory are very limited; and do not play a special role in a person’s life.

The types of memory discussed above only characterize the sources of initial information and are not stored in memory in its pure form. In the process of memorization (reproduction), information undergoes various changes: sorting, selection, generalization, coding, synthesis, as well as other types of information processing.

According to the nature of the participation of the will in the process of memorizing and reproducing material, memory is divided into arbitrary And involuntary.

In the first case, a person is given a special mnemonic task (memorization, recognition, preservation and reproduction), carried out through volitional efforts. Involuntary memory functions automatically, without much effort on the part of the person. Involuntary memorization is not necessarily weaker than voluntary; in many cases in life it is superior to it.

Peculiarities of memory as personality traits influence the development of abilities and human activity. People with less developed memory spend more time and effort on mastering educational material than those who remember easily. Many professions require a good memory.

Depending on the characteristics of memorizing and retaining in memory what has been learned (the qualities of memory), people can be divided into four groups: a) those who remember quickly and firmly, those who forget slowly (good memory); b) quickly, but fragilely assimilate the material, quickly forgetting the material; c) those who remember slowly, but remember what they have learned for a long time; d) those who learn slowly and quickly forget (the weakest memory).

People also differ in which analyzers usually take the greatest part in the process of assimilation and reproduction of memorized material. So, to remember something, you definitely need to look at the object or read about it yourself. When reproducing the material, these people seem to see the text they read before their eyes, remember the page where it was printed, the pictures that are depicted there. Such people are said to have a visual type of memory.

Others learn better when text they need to remember is read aloud to them. By reproducing it, they seem to hear the speech of the reader and repeat after him. These are people who have an auditory type of memory.

Some people are helped to remember the material by certain movements; for example, when learning a foreign word, such people try to write it, at least with their finger on the table or in the air. These people have a well-developed motor, or motor, type of memory.

If a person’s predominance of one or another type of memorization and reproduction makes him more suitable for the corresponding activity, then, in turn, a certain profession helps the development of the type of memory necessary for it. Therefore, artists often have a well-developed visual type of memory, while musicians often have a well-developed auditory type. Motor memory is well developed in athletes.

There are people who have exceptionally highly developed one type of memory associated with their professional activities. Thus, the following incident is told about Rachmaninov, when he was a student at the conservatory. The composer Glazunov once came to his teacher Taneyev to perform his new piece. Taneyev, knowing Rachmaninov's exceptional musical memory, decided to joke and hid the student in the next room. Glazunov performed a complex musical piece he had composed. After some time, Rachmaninov appeared. After greeting Glazunov, he sat down at the piano and played this new work by the composer.

A significant proportion of people have a mixed type of memory, which combines elements of visual, auditory and motor memory.

Deviations

Memory weakens with age, but the effectiveness of its work is not the same in older people, just as it is not the same in children. Middle-aged people are the most homogeneous in this regard. Children and older people experience many identical difficulties in relation to memory functioning. In particular, they have a shorter attention span than usual. They have difficulty analyzing information and are not capable of spontaneous organization of the thought process. They do not know how to accurately assess the meaning of perceived information for themselves and have difficulty forming associations related to information that needs to be remembered. Both of them do not record information in memory well. The main difference between children and old people is that children remember recent events better, while old people remember events more distant in time (since they do not process new impressions effectively enough).

In general, memory adapts to living conditions and functions normally until old age, but only if a person constantly uses it. With insufficient motivation, she weakens and often switches to work in other areas.

The quality of human memory is influenced by many factors. The main reasons for poor memory performance are psychological in nature (with the exception of pathological cases).

The mind of such a person is occupied exclusively with negative thoughts, and there is no room left for anything else that could stimulate memory. In the mind of an upset person, the thought of trouble that has befallen him entails a long chain of memories of past troubles. Such a painful state is aggravated by obsessive thoughts, when a person becomes overwhelmed and cannot remember a fact that is completely irrelevant to the essence of the matter. Nervous tension finally blocks memory

If you are faced with a difficult question and you cannot immediately retrieve the necessary information from your memory, simply ignore it and continue the conversation on the same topic. This way, you will be able to cope with your anxiety and not lose the thread of the conversation. In addition, this saves the time necessary to restore the forgotten memory. Memory rarely returns instantly, and the more factors that impede its functioning, the more time it takes the subconscious to find the necessary information.

Having forgotten a word, a person begins to worry, worry, not realizing that by doing so he is only worsening his situation. Memory has a paradoxical feature: the longer and harder we try to remember the word that is “on the tip of our tongue,” the more time it takes us to consciously retrieve it from memory. The fact is that when we try to speed up the process of remembering, we become nervous and thereby complicate the functioning of the brain. Only by switching our attention to another subject do we allow our subconscious to search for the necessary information at a speed convenient for it.

All chemicals and medications that cause drowsiness have a detrimental effect on memory functioning. The list of them is very long. These are sedatives, antidepressants, antihistamines and many antiepileptics.

One of the main causes of memory problems is the abuse of sleeping pills, since they are used more often and more regularly than other drugs. Sleeping pills cause drowsiness and lethargy, dulling vigilance and attention. Some heart medications have a similar effect. Memory impairment is noticeable in alcoholics of any age. Alcohol reduces learning ability and slows down thinking processes, resulting in poor recording and storage of information. Just a few sips of alcohol are enough to impair short-term memory. Even moderate doses of alcohol have a detrimental effect on the cognitive processes of the brain (abstract thinking, information processing, memorization).

The consequences of alcohol intoxication affect the functioning of the brain for a very long time.

Excess caffeine in the blood causes nervousness, excitability, and palpitations, which are incompatible with attention. Ideally, for memory to function properly, the brain should be both alert and relaxed. Abuse of tobacco and coffee deprives a person of the opportunity to relax.

There are many other physical disorders that have a bad effect on memory function: high blood pressure, diabetes (even in mild forms), thyroid disease, the effects of anesthesia, hearing and vision loss, pesticide poisoning, vitamin deficiency (especially alcoholic).

Memory problems occur with various brain tumors, although the latter mainly provoke epilepsy and impaired motor function of the body.

The most dangerous disease that causes complete or partial amnesia (memory loss) is disease Alzheimer's . In the patient’s brain, the number of neurotransmitters responsible for memory and attention is catastrophically reduced. The affected areas are first localized in the hippocampus and in the amygdala nucleus, which is part of the limbic system. A deficiency of acetylcholine in these areas of the brain leads to fatal consequences. The patient can rarely remember the name of the objects shown to him. The causes of this disease are still not well understood.

Pathology of memory

Pathological conditions of the brain are very often accompanied by memory impairment; However, until recently, very little was known about what psychological features distinguish memory impairments in brain lesions of different locations and what physiological mechanisms underlie them.

There are widely known facts indicating that, as a result of acute injuries or intoxications, the phenomena of retrograde and anterograde amnesia can occur. In these cases, patients, retaining memories of long-past events, reveal significant memory impairments for current events, essentially exhausting the knowledge that psychiatrists and neurologists had at their disposal when describing memory changes in organic brain lesions. These data are joined by evidence indicating that lesions in the deep parts of the brain can lead to profound impairments in the ability to record traces and reproduce what is remembered, but the nature of these impairments remains unclear.

Data obtained by numerous researchers over the past decades have significantly enriched our knowledge about the nature of memory impairment in lesions of various locations and have made it possible to clarify both the basic data on the role of individual brain structures in memory processes and the physiological mechanisms underlying its impairments.

Defeats deep departments brain - areas of the hippocampus and the system known as the “circle of Peipetz” (hippocampus, thalamus nuclei, mamillary bodies, amygdala) usually lead to To massive violations memory, Not limited any one modality. Patients in this group, while retaining memories of distant events (long consolidated in the brain), are, however, unable to capture traces of current influences; in less pronounced cases, they complain of poor memory and indicate that they are forced to write everything down so as not to forget. Massive lesions in this area cause severe amnesia for current events, sometimes leading to the fact that a person loses a clear idea of ​​where he is and begins to experience significant difficulties in orienting himself in time, being unable to name the year, month, date, day weeks, and sometimes the time of day.

It is characteristic that memory impairments in these cases are not selective in nature and are equally manifested in difficulties in retaining visual and auditory, visual and verbal material. In cases where the lesion involves both hippocampi, these memory impairments are especially pronounced.

Detailed neuropsychological studies made it possible to further characterize both the psychological structure of these memory defects and to approach the analysis of the physiological mechanisms underlying its disorders.

It has been shown that in cases of relatively mild lesions of these areas of the brain, the disturbances are limited to defects in elementary, immediate memory, leaving the possibility of compensating for these defects through the semantic organization of the material. Patients who cannot remember a series of isolated words, pictures or actions are able to perform this task much better by resorting to auxiliary means and organizing the memorized material into known semantic structures. The impairment of immediate memory in these patients is not accompanied by any significant impairment of intelligence, and these patients, as a rule, do not show signs of dementia.

Essential facts were obtained by analyzing possible physiological memory impairments in these cases.

As these studies have shown, patients with lesions of the deep parts of the brain can retain relatively long series of words or actions and reproduce them after an interval of 1-1.5 minutes. However, a slight distraction by any interfering activity is enough to make the reproduction of a just memorized series of elements impossible. The physiological basis of memory impairment in these cases is not so much the weakness of the traces as increased braking traces interfering influences. These mechanisms of memory impairment in the described cases are easily explained by the fact that the persistent preservation of dominant foci and selective orientation reflexes is easily disrupted due to a decrease in the tone of the cortex and the isolation from the normal functioning of those primary trace comparison apparatuses, which, as stated above, is a direct function of the hippocampus and related entities.

The picture of memory impairment changes significantly when damage to the deep parts of the brain is accompanied by damage to the frontal lobes (and especially their medial and basal parts). In these cases, the patient ceases to be critical of the shortcomings of his memory, is unable to compensate for its defects and loses the ability to distinguish between genuine performance and uncontrollably emerging associations. Confabulations and memory errors (“pseudo-reminiscences”) that appear in these patients join gross memory disorders (“Korsakoff syndrome”) and lead to those phenomena of confusion that stand on the borders of memory impairment and consciousness impairment.

Memory impairments that occur with local lesions differ significantly from all variants of the picture described above. external (convexital) surface of the brain.

Such lesions are never accompanied by a general memory impairment and never lead to the emergence of “Korsakov’s syndrome,” much less disturbances of consciousness with the disintegration of orientation in space and time.

Patients with local lesions of the convexital parts of the brain may exhibit private violation mnestic activities, usually worn modal-specific character, in other words, manifesting themselves in one particular area.

Thus, patients with lesions left temporal region show signs of impairment auditory-verbal memory, cannot hold any long series of syllables or words. However, they may not show any defects in visual memory and in some cases, relying on the latter, they can compensate for their defects by logical organization of the material being fixed.

Patients with local lesions of the left parieto-occipital region may exhibit visual-spatial impairment memory, but, as a rule, they retain auditory-verbal memory to a much greater extent.

Patients with lesions frontal shares brain, as a rule, they do not lose memory, but their mnestic activity may be significantly hampered pathological inertia once stereotypes have arisen and difficult switching from one link of the memorized system to another; attempts to actively remember the material proposed to them are also complicated by the pronounced inactivity of such patients, and any memorization of a long series of elements, requiring intense work on the memorized material, turns into a passive repetition of those links in the series that are remembered immediately, without any effort. Therefore, the “memory curve,” which normally has a distinct progressive nature, ceases to increase in them, continuing to remain at the same level, and begins to have the character of a “plateau,” reflecting the inactivity of their mnestic activity. It is characteristic that local lesions of the right (subdominant) hemisphere can occur without noticeable disturbances in mnestic activity.

Research conducted over the past decades has made it possible to come closer to the characteristics of those memory impairments that arise when general cerebral mental disorders.

If these disorders cause weakness and instability of excitations in the cerebral cortex (and this can occur with various vascular lesions, internal hydrocephalus and cerebral hypertension), memory impairments can be expressed in a general decrease in memory capacity, difficulty in learning and easy inhibition of traces by interfering influences; they lead to sharp exhaustion of the patient, as a result of which memorization becomes very difficult and the “learning curve” begins to not increase, and even decreases with subsequent repetitions.

Analysis of the “learning curve” can be of great diagnostic value, making it possible to distinguish between different syndromes of changes in mental processes with brain lesions of different nature.

Characteristic features of memory impairment are: organic dementia ( Pick's disease, Alzheimer's disease) and in cases of mental retardation.

The central location for such lesions is usually is violation higher forms memory, and above all logical memory. Such patients are unable to apply the necessary techniques for the semantic organization of memorized material and exhibit particularly pronounced defects in experiments with indirect memorization.

It is characteristic that in cases of mental retardation (oligophrenia), these violations of logical memory can sometimes appear against the background of well-preserved mechanical memory, which in some cases can be satisfactory in its volume.

Memory research is very important for clarifying the symptoms of brain diseases and their diagnosis.

Methods for improving information memorization

Those who complain that they have a bad memory often simply do not know how to remember and do not take into account the conditions necessary for successful memorization.

1. An important condition for learning material to be remembered quickly and for a long time is the presence of interest in what you remember and attention in the process of assimilation and reproduction of the material. A.S. Pushkin showed exceptional interest in poetry. He loved poetry very much, read it with enthusiasm and therefore remembered it easily. The poet's contemporaries noted that Pushkin only had to read a page or two of a poem once or twice, and he could already repeat it by heart. Vladimir Mayakovsky also had an exceptional memory for poetic works.

2. Feelings are of great importance for remembering. Everything that is associated with joy, sadness, anger, as a rule, is remembered better than something to which a person is indifferent.

3. An important condition for good memorization is understanding what needs to be learned. If the thoughts that need to be remembered are not clear to the student, he begins to memorize them mechanically, memorizing them word for word; such educational work only harms his mental development, and what is learned in this way is quickly forgotten.

4. It is also very important to set yourself the task of mastering it firmly and for a long time. If a student learns a lesson only in order to answer the teacher tomorrow (and then forget everything), then usually what he has learned for this purpose is quickly lost in memory. If a student learns with the idea that this material must be remembered for a long time, since it will be useful in life, then its assimilation will be faster and more durable.

In one experiment, a group of students were read two passages of a literary text of equal difficulty, and they were told that they would ask the first one tomorrow, and the second one in a week. But in reality, both passages were proposed to be told two weeks later. It turned out that the students almost completely forgot the first passage, since they had an involuntary intention to remember it for a short time (until tomorrow), and the second passage was better preserved in their memory (here they had the intention not to forget it for a long time).

5. Of great importance for the assimilation of educational material is the combination of memorization with human activities that require thinking and activity. If a student compares, generalizes, and draws conclusions in the process of memorizing, then under these conditions the process of assimilation becomes especially conscious and therefore proceeds more successfully. We carried out such an experiment. Students were given sentences to read, each of which was based on a specific spelling rule. At the same time, the children were asked what rules these sentences were based on. Then they had to make their own proposals for these rules. A few days later they asked how the schoolchildren remembered all the sentences. It turned out that they remembered three times more of the sentences that were invented by the students themselves than the sentences given in finished form.

6. Having knowledge of the academic subject in which the material is being learned also serves as a favorable condition for memorization, since in this case the new is more easily and more firmly connected with what is already known.

7. Memorization is work, and the work is sometimes not easy, so an important condition for mastering educational material is perseverance, perseverance in work, the ability not to give up halfway through, but to achieve complete and lasting memorization. These are strong-willed qualities, without which serious mental work is impossible.

Basic methods, directed on improvement memorization information

Memorization, recollection, reproduction, recognition, which are included in memory, are built on the basis of the elementary ability to capture and restore data. It is very important to develop and improve memorization at school age.

One of the techniques that facilitate memorization and increase memory capacity is mnemonics, based on the formation of additional associations. A specially developed system for retaining any information in memory is called “mnemonics” or “mnemonics” (“mnemo” from Greek means memory). Mnemonics involves the creation of a fixed series of reference images and its constant storage in activated memory. Mnemonics relies on the creation of visual associations with reference images. In addition to mnemonics, there are other methods that make memory work better. Recommendations for improving memorization can be summarized as the following main methods.

1 . Controlattention. To improve memory, first of all, you need to learn to control your attention to the necessary information and isolate only essential information from it. Attention is the concentration of the psyche on certain sources of information: both external and internal. Human attention is designed in such a way that it is easily attracted by bright signs of objects, sounds, etc. Therefore, it is difficult to focus attention on the necessary information. It is necessary to make an effort to concentrate. The capacity of short-term memory is limited, therefore, only significant information needs to be highlighted in the memorized information; attention must work like a filter that allows only significant data to penetrate into short-term memory and blocks it from overloading with minor details from the world of information.

2 . Structuringinformation. The ability and strength of memorizing new material depends on how quickly and efficiently we can prepare them for storage in long-term memory. Techniques for structuring information include:

a) Semantic division.

b) Identification of semantic support points.

c) Use of visual images.

d) Correlation with already known knowledge.

a) Semantic division. It is very difficult to remember material that is large in volume, because... The capacity of short-term memory is very small. Typically, any educational material contains several main thoughts and micro-topics. Therefore, when memorizing, it is necessary to highlight the main micro-topics and, according to them, divide the material into parts. Next, absorb the material in parts. It is convenient to carry out such a breakdown by drawing up “plans for yourself” or flowcharts that reflect the main thoughts and connections between them. Structuring the material is made easier by relying on external signs: headings, underlined or highlighted key sentences, starting new thoughts with a red line .

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Everything that happens to our psyche, in a sense, remains there. Sometimes - forever. It remains as a “trace” of the past, an image. What is repeatedly perceived and experienced is recognized precisely as a repetition of the “known.” Memory is, first of all, accumulation, for consolidation, preservation and subsequent reproduction by a person of his experience, that is, of everything that happened to him. Memory is a way of existence of the psyche in time, retention of the past. There are three main processes, the synthesis of which forms memory as an integral functional formation of the psyche. The first is memorization (analysis and identification of various characteristics of incoming information, its encoding). The second is storage (organizing and retaining information). Forgetting is a disappearance from memory. These two processes, opposite in nature, represent different characteristics of one process. Forgetting is a very expedient and necessary process and should not always be assessed negatively. Forgetting allows the brain to get rid of excess information. But a person often forgets what he needs and is important to remember. Preservation is the fight against forgetting what is necessary and useful. The third is reproduction, involuntary or voluntary (the process of the appearance in the consciousness of previously perceived thoughts; it is based on the revival of traces, the emergence of excitations in them). This is the main function of memory, giving a person the opportunity to use the data of his experience. Forms of reproduction: recognition (occurs when the object is re-perceived) memory (carried out in the absence of perception of the object); recollection is the most active form.

Memory is based on associations or connections. Objects or phenomena that are connected in reality are also connected in human memory. Having encountered one of these objects, we can, by association, remember another one associated with it. To remember something means to connect the memorization with what is already known, to form an association. From a physiological point of view, association is a temporary neural connection. There are two types of associations: simple and complex. Three types of associations are considered simple: by contiguity, by similarity and by contrast.

Associations by contiguity combine two phenomena related in time or space.

Associations by similarity connect two phenomena that have similar features: when one is mentioned, the other is remembered. Associations rely on the similarity of neural connections that are evoked in the brain by two objects.

Associations by contrast connect two opposite phenomena. This is facilitated by the fact that in practical activity these opposite objects (health and illness, etc.) are usually juxtaposed and compared, which leads to the formation of corresponding neural connections.

There are complex associations - semantic ones. They connect two phenomena that, in fact, are constantly connected (cause and effect, etc.). These associations are the basis of our knowledge.

Physiological basis of memory: nervous tissue changes under the influence of stimuli, retaining traces of nervous excitation. Traces are specific electrochemical and biochemical changes in neurons. These traces can, under certain conditions, become animated, i.e. a process of excitation occurs in them in the absence of a stimulus, caused by these changes. The formation and preservation of temporary connections, their extinction and revival represent the physiological basis of associations.

At present there is no unified theory of memory mechanisms. The neural theory is more convincing: neurons form circuits through which biocurrents circulate. Under the influence of biocurrents, changes occur at the junctions of nerve cells, which facilitates the subsequent passage of biocurrents along these paths. The different nature of neuron circuits corresponds to one or another fixed information. Another theory of memory, molecular, believes that under the influence of biocurrents, special protein molecules are formed in the protoplasm of neurons, on which information entering the brain is “recorded”.

The most common hypothesis about the physiological mechanisms underlying memory was that of D.O. Hebb on two memory processes: short-term and long-term. It was assumed that the mechanism of short-term memory is the reverberation of electrical impulse activity in closed circuits of neurons, and long-term storage is based on stable morphofunctional changes in synaptic conductivity. A memory trace passes from a short-term form to a long-term form through the process of consolidation (fixation), which develops with the repeated passage of nerve impulses through the same synapses. Thus, a reverberation process lasting at least several tens of seconds is assumed to be necessary for long-term storage. There are known hypotheses that allow for a slightly different temporal and functional relationship between the mechanisms of short-term and long-term memory.

Testing of these hypotheses is based on the use of the experimental amnesia method. Pharmacological drugs, ultra-low and ultra-high temperatures, gas mixtures, and hypoxia are used as amnestic agents; The most widespread use of electroconvulsive shock. Amnestic agents would interrupt the reverberation of electrical activity by physically destroying the trace and thereby preventing its consolidation. Indeed, exposure to an amnestic agent before or after learning results in memory impairment in the form of anterograde or retrograde amnesia. The maximum time interval from the end of training to the application of an amnestic agent that is still capable of causing memory impairment is called the amnestic gradient.

According to the consolidation hypothesis, beyond the amnestic gradient, the fixed memory trace becomes invulnerable to the action of disruptive stimuli. However, the results of experiments in which they tried to determine the amnestic gradient (for retrograde amnesia) did not allow us to find a specific value: it turned out to be a value dependent on many factors. Its duration varied from a fraction of a second to several days. The possibility of obtaining retrograde amnesia for old reactivated memory traces, which were undoubtedly consolidated long ago, was also shown. Currently, ways have been found to restore memory exposed to amnestic agents. Although a definitive interpretation of the results has not yet been found, general understanding of the physiological mechanisms of memory is rapidly changing.

With the development of microelectrode technology, it became possible to study the electrophysiological processes underlying memory at the neural level. The most effective method turned out to be the intracellular recording of the electrical activity of an individual neuron, which allows one to analyze the role of synaptic phenomena in the plastic transformations of neuronal activity. The neural mechanisms of the simplest form of learning—habituation—have been studied most fully. It has been shown that habituation is associated with changes in the effectiveness of postsynaptic potentials. The identification of the sensory, motor and intermediate components in the arc of the unconditioned reflex and the consistent analysis of their role in the development of the decrement of the neuron reaction made it possible to localize addiction in the intermediate link - interneurons. Presynaptic inhibition, self-generated depression, and localization of the memory trace formed during habituation directly in the soma of certain neurons are considered as possible mechanisms of this effect. In experiments carried out using the method of intracellular recording in the situation of closing a conditioned reflex connection, the phenomenon of heterosynaptic facilitation was discovered, which consists in improving the conduction of signals along a specific synaptic input. The same method made it possible to identify a new type of electrical activity of neurons - endogenous pacemaker activity. The participation of pacemaker potentials in plastic changes in neuronal activity - habituation and facilitation - has been shown. Experiments show that neuronal plasticity is not based solely on the plasticity of synaptic potentials. Certain transformations also appear in pacemaker activity. Thus, repeated injections of anions or cations through an electrode inserted into the soma of a neuron lead to changes completely analogous to those that occur during true addiction.

A common approach in studying the neural basis of memory is to search for structures whose neurons exhibit plastic changes during learning. The achievement of this direction is the neuroanatomical localization of the memory trace of passive avoidance behavior. It has been shown that the hippocampus, amygdala and caudate nucleus contain neurons that carry out this type of behavior. Studies using the method of extracellular recording of the electrical activity of individual neurons have shown that in various learning situations, neurons of the hippocampus, reticular formation and motor cortex exhibit plasticity.

There are suggestions about the role of glial elements in memory. R. Galambos believes that long-term memory is associated specifically with the function of glial elements. Other studies have shown that glia, namely oligodendrocytes, take part in the closure of the conditioned reflex. However, definite data on the role of glia in memory processes have not yet been obtained.

G. Hiden put forward a hypothesis about the role of RNA in memory processes. It is assumed that memory is associated with a change in the sequence of bases in the RNA molecule. Qualitative and quantitative changes in RNA content during the learning process are shown. A certain role is also assigned to proteins that are synthesized thanks to RNA. However, experiments performed using pharmacological drugs that affect the synthesis of proteins, RNA, etc. have not yet provided any convincing evidence of these ideas.

3 . Types of memory

In modern psychology, there are three main classifications of memory.

The classification of types of memory according to the nature of mental activity was first proposed by P.P. Blonsky. Although all four types of memory he identified (motor, emotional, figurative and verbal-logical) do not exist independently of each other, and moreover, are in close interaction,

Blonsky was able to determine the differences between individual types of memory.

Let's look at the characteristics of these four types of memory.

Motor (or motor) memory is the memorization, storage and reproduction of various movements. Motor memory is the basis for the formation of various practical and work skills, as well as the skills of walking, writing, etc.

Motor memory develops very early in a child. Its first manifestations date back to the first month of life. Initially, it is expressed only in motor conditioned reflexes developed in children already at this time.

Subsequently, memorization and reproduction of movements begin to take on a conscious character, closely connecting with the processes of thinking, will, etc. It should be especially noted that by the end of the first year of life, the child’s motor memory reaches a level of development that is necessary for the acquisition of speech.

It should be noted that the development of motor memory is not limited to infancy or the first years of life. Memory development also occurs at a later time. Thus, motor memory in preschool children reaches a level of development that allows them to perform finely coordinated actions associated with the acquisition of written speech. Therefore, at different stages of development, the manifestations of motor memory are qualitatively heterogeneous.

Emotional memory is memory for feelings. This type of memory is our ability to remember and reproduce feelings. Emotions always signal how our needs and interests are satisfied, how our relationships with the outside world are carried out. Therefore, emotional memory is very important in the life and activities of every person. Feelings experienced and stored in memory act as signals that either encourage action or deter actions that caused negative experiences in the past.

Figurative memory is a memory for ideas, pictures of nature and life, as well as sounds, smells, tastes, etc. The essence of figurative memory is that what was previously perceived is then reproduced in the form of ideas. When characterizing figurative memory, one should keep in mind all those features that are characteristic of ideas, and above all their pallor, fragmentation and instability. These characteristics are also inherent in this type of memory, so the reproduction of what was previously perceived often diverges from its original.

Verbal-logical memory is expressed in memorizing and reproducing our thoughts. We remember and reproduce the thoughts that arose in us during the process of thinking, thinking, we remember the content of a book we read, a conversation with friends.

The peculiarity of this type of memory is that thoughts do not exist without language, which is why memory for them is called not just logical, but verbal-logical. In this case, verbal-logical memory manifests itself in two cases: a) only the meaning of the given material is remembered and reproduced, and precise preservation of the original expressions is not required; b) not only the meaning is remembered, but also the literal verbal expression of thoughts (memorization of thoughts).

There is a division of memory into types, which is directly related to the characteristics of the activity itself. So, depending on the goals of the activity, memory is divided into involuntary and voluntary. In the first case, we mean memorization and reproduction, which is carried out automatically, without volitional efforts of a person, without control by consciousness. In this case, there is no special goal to remember or remember something, i.e., no special mnemonic task is set. In the second case, such a task is present, and the process itself requires volitional effort.

Involuntary memory is not necessarily weaker than voluntary memory. On the contrary, it often happens that involuntarily memorized material is reproduced better than material that was specifically memorized. For example, an involuntary heard phrase or perceived visual information is often remembered more reliably than if we specifically tried to remember it. Material that is in the center of attention is involuntarily remembered, and especially when certain mental work is associated with it.

There is also a division of memory into short-term and long-term.

Short-term memory is a type of memory characterized by very brief retention of perceived information. From one point of view, short-term memory is somewhat similar to involuntary memory. As in the case of involuntary memory, short-term memory does not use special mnemonic techniques. But unlike involuntary memory, with short-term memory we make certain volitional efforts to remember.

A manifestation of short-term memory is the case when the subject is asked to read words or is given very little time to memorize them (about one minute), and then is asked to immediately reproduce what he remembers. Naturally, people differ in the number of words they remember.

This is because they have different amounts of short-term memory.

Short-term memory plays a very important role in human life. Thanks to it, a significant amount of information is processed, unnecessary information is immediately eliminated and potentially useful remains. As a result, long-term memory is not overloaded. In general, short-term memory is of great importance for organizing thinking, and in this it is very similar to working memory.

The concept of operative memory refers to mnemonic processes that serve actual actions and operations directly carried out by a person. When we perform any complex operation, such as arithmetic, we carry it out in parts. At the same time, we keep in mind some intermediate results as long as we deal with them. As we move towards the final result, specific material used may be forgotten.

Without good short-term memory, normal functioning of long-term memory is impossible. Only what was once in short-term memory can penetrate into the latter and be deposited for a long time, therefore short-term memory acts as a kind of buffer that passes only the necessary, already selected information into long-term memory. At the same time, the transition of information from short-term to long-term memory is associated with a number of features. Thus, short-term memory mainly contains the last five or six units of information received through the senses. Transfer from short-term memory to long-term memory is carried out through volitional effort. Moreover, much more information can be transferred into long-term memory than the individual capacity of short-term memory allows.

This is achieved by repeating the material that needs to be memorized. As a result, the total volume of memorized material increases.

In scientific psychology, the problem of memory is “the same age as psychology as a science” (P.P. Blonsky).

Human memory can be defined as psychophysical and cultural processes that perform the functions of remembering, preserving and reproducing information in life. Memory is a vitally important fundamental human ability. Without memory, normal functioning of the individual and its development are impossible. This is easy to see if you pay attention to people suffering from serious memory disorders. All living organisms have memory, but it is most highly developed in humans.

In general, human memory can be represented as a kind of tool that serves to accumulate and use life experience. Excitations coming from external and internal stimuli to the brain leave “traces” in it that can persist for many years. These “traces” (combinations of nerve cells) create the possibility of excitation even when the stimulus that causes it is absent.

Based on this, a person can remember and save, and subsequently reproduce his feelings, perceptions of any objects, thoughts, speech, actions.

In other words memory - This is an amazing property of human consciousness, this renewal of the past in our consciousness, the formation of what once impressed us.

The physiological basis of memory is the formation of temporary nerve connections that can be restored and updated in the future under the influence of various stimuli (N.P. Pavlov). Research in recent years, conducted at the neurophysiological and biochemical levels, allows us to distinguish two phases in the construction of connections. In the first - labile phase, the preservation of the trace occurs due to the reverberation of nerve impulses. During the second - stable phase, the preservation of the trace is carried out due to changes that arise on the basis of the first phase: according to various data, such changes are either the growth of protoplasmic nerve processes or changes in synoptic endings, in the properties of cell membranes or in the composition of the cell's ribonucleic acids.

Scheme 1 “Types of memory and their features”

Depending on the method of storing the material distinguish instant, short-term, operational, long-term and genetic memory.

Instant(iconic) memory represents a direct reflection of the image of information perceived by the senses. Its duration is from 0.1 to 0.5 s.

Short-term memory retains for a short period of time (on average about 20 s.) a generalized image of the perceived information, its most essential elements. The volume of short-term memory is 5 - 9 units of information and is determined by the amount of information that a person is able to accurately reproduce after a single presentation. The most important feature of short-term memory is its selectivity. From instant memory, only that information comes into it that corresponds to the current needs and interests of a person and attracts his increased attention. “The average person’s brain,” said Edison, “does not perceive a thousandth part of what the eye sees.”

RAM designed to store information for a certain, predetermined period of time necessary to perform some action or operation. The duration of RAM is from several seconds to several days.

Long-term memory capable of storing information for an almost unlimited period of time, while there is (but not always) the possibility of its repeated reproduction. In practice, the functioning of long-term memory is usually associated with thinking and volitional efforts.

Genetic memory is determined by the genotype and is passed on from generation to generation. It is obvious that human influence on this type of memory is very limited (if it is possible at all).

Depending on the predominant memory of the analyzer in the process of functioning distinguish motor, visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, emotional and other types of memory.

In humans, visual perception is predominant. For example, we often know a person by sight, although we cannot remember his name. Responsible for preserving and reproducing visual images visual memory. It is directly related to a developed imagination: what a person can visually imagine, he, as a rule, more easily remembers and reproduces.

Auditory memory- this is a good memorization and accurate reproduction of various sounds, for example, musical, speech. A special type of auditory memory is verbal-logical, which is closely related to word, thought and logic.

Motor memory represents the memorization and preservation, and, if necessary, reproduction with sufficient accuracy of a variety of complex movements. She participates in the formation of motor skills. A striking example of motor memory is handwritten text reproduction, which, as a rule, involves the automatic writing of once learned characters.

Emotional memory- this is a memory of experiences. It is involved in all types of memory, but is especially evident in human relationships. The strength of memorizing material is based on emotional memory: what evokes emotions in a person is remembered without much difficulty and for a longer period.

The capabilities of tactile, olfactory, gustatory and other types of memory compared to visual, auditory, motor and emotional memory are very limited; and do not play a special role in a person’s life.

By the nature of the participation of the will in the process of memorizing and reproducing material memory is divided into voluntary and involuntary.

In the first case, a person is given a special mnemonic task (memorization, recognition, preservation and reproduction), carried out through volitional efforts. Involuntary memory functions automatically, without much effort on the part of the person. Involuntary memorization is not necessarily weaker than voluntary; in many cases in life it is superior to it.

Memory is based on the property of nervous tissue to change under the influence of stimuli and to retain traces of nervous excitation. Of course, traces of previous influences cannot be understood as some kind of imprints, like human footprints on wet sand. In this case, traces are understood as certain electrochemical and biochemical changes in neurons (the strength of traces depends on what changes, electrochemical or biochemical, took place). These traces can, under certain conditions, be revived (or, as they say, actualized), that is, a process of excitation occurs in them in the absence of the stimulus that caused these changes.

Memory mechanisms can be considered at different levels, from different points of view. If we proceed from the psychological concept of associations, then the physiological mechanism of their formation is temporary nerve connections. The movement of nervous processes in the cortex leaves a trace, new neural paths are blazed, that is, changes in neurons lead to something that facilitates development. Thus, the formation and preservation of temporary connections. their extinction and revival are physiological. the basis of associations. This is what I was talking about I. P. Pavlov:“Temporary nervous connection is the most universal physiological phenomenon in the animal world and in ourselves. And at the same time, it is also mental - what psychologists call association, whether it is the formation of connections from all kinds of actions, impressions or from letters, words and thoughts” 15.

Currently, there is no unified theory of memory mechanisms.

More convincing neural theory, which comes from the idea that neurons form chains through which biocurrents circulate. Under the influence of biological currents, changes occur in synapses (the junctions of nerve cells), which facilitates the subsequent passage of biological currents along these paths. The different nature of neuron circuits does not correspond to one or another fixed information.

Another theory molecular theory of memory, believes that iodine, under the influence of biocurrents, forms special protein molecules in the protoplasm of neurons, on which information entering the brain is “recorded” (much like words and music are recorded on a tape recorder). Scientists are even trying to extract these, as they call, “memory molecules” from the brain of a deceased animal. And then there are absolutely fantastic assumptions that someday it will be possible to extract “memory molecules” from the brain of a deceased person (or even synthesize them in laboratories), produce “memory tablets” or a special liquid for injection and thus transplant knowledge into the head another man. This kind of fabrication, of course, can only discredit the molecular theory of memory.

1. § 3. Memory processes

Memory is a complex mental activity. In its composition, individual processes can be distinguished. The main ones are remembering, storing (and correspondingly forgetting), playback And recognition.

Memorization. The activity of memory begins with memorization, that is, with the consolidation of those images and impressions that arise in consciousness under the influence of objects and phenomena of reality in the process of sensation and perception. From a physiological point of view, memorization is the process of formation and consolidation of traces of excitation in the brain.

Achievement in a student’s educational activities largely depends on the success of memorizing educational material. Memorization can be involuntary when it is performed without a pre-set goal of remembering, it proceeds without volitional efforts, as if by itself. Of course, not everything that a person needs to remember is remembered involuntarily. More often, a person sets a special goal for himself - to remember, and makes certain efforts and special techniques for this.

The educational activities of schoolchildren - the assimilation of knowledge, the acquisition of skills and abilities - are based primarily on arbitrary memorization. Systematic, systematic, specially organized memorization using certain techniques is called by memorization.

Preservation and forgetting. Retention is the retention of what has been learned in memory, that is, the preservation of traces and connections in the brain. Forgetting is a disappearance, falling out of memory, i.e. the process of fading, elimination, “erasing” traces, inhibiting connections. These two processes, opposite in nature, essentially represent different characteristics of one process: we talk about storing material in memory when there is no forgetting, and forgetting is poor preservation of memory material. Therefore, preservation is nothing more than a fight against forgetting.

Generally speaking, forgetting is a very expedient, natural and necessary process and should not always be assessed negatively. If we did not have the ability to forget, our memory would be filled with a mass of small and unnecessary information, facts, details, details. Our brain would be overloaded with information. And forgetting allows the brain to free itself from excess information. Many people with phenomenal (outstanding) memory complain that their brain is literally “clogged” with many unnecessary facts and this often prevents them from remembering the necessary and necessary information.

You may ask the question: why then are we talking about the need to combat forgetting? The fact is that a person, Unfortunately, often forgets what he needs and is important to remember.

Therefore, we are not talking about the fight against forgetting in general, but about the fight against forgetting necessary, important, useful material. Forgetting is expressed either in the inability to remember or recognize, or in erroneous recollection and recognition. What is forgotten first of all is that which is not of vital importance to a person, does not arouse his interest, does not occupy a significant place in his activity and therefore does not receive sufficient reinforcement.

Recognition and playback The results of memorization and preservation are manifested in uzzhaaaniya and voeshrFivvededaga. What is the difference between the teravtseos ethics from each other?

You are undoubtedly familiar with such facts when you want and cannot remember a melody you heard, a person’s memory, the content of a story you read, or the material of a school subject. If you can’t remember, does that mean you forgot? But then you again hear this melody or the person’s last name, read the book or a section of the textbook, and you have a peculiar feeling of similarity, that is, you realize that you have already perceived all this before. This means that it was not completely forgotten, otherwise a feeling of familiarity would have appeared.

So, reproduction is the process of the appearance in consciousness of memory representations, previously perceived thoughts, the implementation of memorized movements, which is based on the revival of traces, the emergence of excitement in them: Recognition is the appearance of a feeling of familiarity upon repeated perception (due to the presence of a weak, minimal trace that remains in the cerebral cortex after the previous perception).

Reproduction, in contrast to recognition, is characterized by the fact that images fixed in memory are updated (revitalized) without support and secondary perception of certain objects. Fiimshichgaeski et® means the presence of various traces - persistent, strong (reproduction) or weak, unstable and fragile “(uvnavaiye).

Recognition, of course, is a simpler process than reproduction. It's easier to learn than to reproduce. This is evidenced by simple words. Čedázek was presented with 50 different objects (elephant, drawings). After a thorough acquaintance with them, the subject had to recall all the remembered objects. After that, 100 objects (also words, drawings) were presented to him; among them, 150 were the same ones that were presented to him, and 50 were unfamiliar ones. It was necessary to fly among these 100 objects those, which were presented earlier. The average indicator of perception was 15 objects, recognition - 35 objects.

It follows from this that it is no longer possible to use an indicator of the strength of memorization, and when assessing the effectiveness of memorization, one must be guided by the study of memory. A lack of understanding of this explains frequent cases of unsuccessful student responses.

on material that he believed he had studied conscientiously. The fact is that, when deciding on mastering the material, the student was guided by recognition. He reads the material from the textbook again, and everything is familiar to him. Familiar means learned, the student believes. But the teacher demands from the child not recognition, but reproduction. Therefore, when memorizing, you need to test yourself for reproduction and consider the material mastered only when*, having closed the textbook, you can accurately recite the contents of the corresponding section, prove the theorem, and solve the problem.

Reproduction also happens involuntary and voluntary... At the will of the boar, you take images, m&shh" and feelings exist without conscious intention and in Nahgrdmer, involuntary reproduction can be based on associations. In contrast to the meproiavalyvyyu aoe-production, the reproduction of irlazvolywe arise & |№zul-tate active and conscious. aamdregshya.

When a student remembers material that is well known to him, for example, a poem he has learned by heart, or a mathematical formula, then he reproduces it easily,” without any strong-willed efforts.” or If the student has mastered the material very clearly in his studies or has not repeated it for a long time, please reproduce it. its already difficult. Here they run to I remember:

Recall is the most active reproduction, associated with tension and requiring certain volitional efforts. The process of recall is successful when a forgotten fact is not reproduced in isolation, but in connection with other facts, events, circumstances and actions preserved in memory. When a student recalls one or another historical fact that he had forgotten, he more easily reproduces it in connection with other facts and events. The success of recall depends, therefore, on the understanding of the logical connection in which the forgotten material is located with the rest of the material preserved in memory. It is also important to try to evoke a chain of associations that indirectly help to remember what is needed. Remembering where he forgot the book, the boy tries to remember everything that happened to him during the day, where he last was, when the book was in his hands, with whom he was talking, what he was thinking about. Recalling all these circumstances, the boy actively reproduces those associations that recreate the sequence of events and facilitate the recall of forgotten things.

The teacher should remember the advice K. D. Ushiisky- do not impatiently prompt a student who is trying to memorize the material, since the process of memorization itself is useful; what the student himself managed to remember will be remembered well in the future.