The loss of memories, often perceived as a failure, is actually an essential mechanism of memory, according to a study from the University of Toronto.
It is always annoying to realize that you have forgotten a first name, a phone number or a specific event. But rest assured: forgetting is part of our memorization system. It would even be essential.
In any case, this is what two neuroscientists from the University of Toronto (Canada), Blake Richards and Paul Frankland, claim. In a literature review they publish in the journal Neuron, they explain how memory loss in healthy people is not worrying, but rather a good sign.
To make room
“There is a lot of evidence from recent research that there are mechanisms that promote memory loss, and that are very distinct from those governing information storage,” says Paul Frankland. This research even tends to show that the two processes would be equally useful for memorization.
Thus, mechanisms weaken, and even eliminate, the synaptic connections between the neurons which support the storage of information. On the other hand, newly produced neurons sometimes “crush” old memory connections. A phenomenon that Paul Frankland was able to show at the level of the hippocampus.
Memory ultimately works much like a hard drive. To store new information, it is essential to free up space.
Eliminate parasitic details
Besides this need for space, forgetting also has an essential interest for intelligence. “If you are trying to navigate the world and your brain continually brings up conflicting information, it becomes difficult to make an informed decision,” says Blake Richards.
This principle is also essential in the development of artificial intelligence. This is regularization: it prioritizes raw information to eliminate specific details, in order to open up the field of decision.
Information that matters
And the more we operate in a changing environment, the more precise information will tend to be forgotten. When a friend changes their phone number, there’s no need to remember the old one. On the other hand, it is more important to remember your own social security number. The brain will make the difference.
By finishing this article, you will surely have already forgotten the name of the researchers, their university and some details of their research, as well as the name of the journalist writing these lines. This is not the most important information. Even if, in their raw presentation, they do not differ much from the main information: in order to remember, the brain has to forget.
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