Memory and the brain's complex systems work together to store, process, and retrieve information through various interconnected mechanisms. The brain's memory systems involve multiple regions and processes that enable both short-term and long-term retention of information.
• Parts of the brain involved in memory storage include the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and thalamus, which work in concert to process and store different types of memories.
• The encoding processes in long term memory involve three main types: acoustic (sound-based), visual (picture-based), and semantic (meaning-based) coding.
• Memory systems can be significantly impacted by various factors, with effects of brain damage on memory systems potentially resulting in conditions like retrograde or anterograde amnesia.
• Different memory types serve distinct purposes: episodic (event-based), semantic (knowledge-based), procedural (task-based), explicit (conscious), implicit (unconscious), and flashbulb (emotional) memories.
• Memory formation follows the three-box information processing model: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.