It definitely is a gift to have the memory that most of us have, from our short term, long term to our working memory. Short term of course being something that includes what we have just learned and once it has been interrupted it and not rehearsed as much it can be lost forever. Long term has a lot of capacity to retain material even if it has been years. and has been rehearsed or heard of many times.
It really amazes me how far back our long term memory can remember things we are given a hint about something or shown pictures of our childhood. I experienced this a couple weeks ago actually as I was looking through some childhood pictures when I was about 4 yrs old and the things that I was doing in the picture took me back to that day. It's a crazy feeling when you actually think about it. It would be even better if we could actually develop memories from when we are in the womb or even as infants. Now that would really be something.
Its definitely a disappointment when we know that our working memory will disintegrate as we approach old age, because our prefrontal cortex will have declining activity as it changes.
reading this section reminded me so much on the movie 50 first dates! it was cool to read about anterior grade and retrograde amnesia! also it must be difficult to see someone close to you suffer from either one of those... it was cool to read up on how they effect others.
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