In regard to electronic scripts and computerised drug charts.
The problem of doing harm to a patient by the administration of the wrong drug or wrong dose of a drug reigns paramount  in the Nursing and medical field. The dispenser and administrator of the drug are the ones at fault  if an error occurs and this has led to a very complicated form of administration where double and triple checking is paramount.
In these days of electronic communication nothing seems easier than typing out a list of medications and sending it of to be dispensed and administered but not so. Legal liability  still exists lack of checking still exposes treating staff to unlimited risk.
We need an authorised prescriber.
We need a legible script with correct dosing instructions.
It needs to be dispensed and delivered to the right patient.
It needs to be administered by the right person to the right patient in the right amounts and at the right time.
Now if we all lived in the one house it would be fine>.
If we could digitally assure ourselves that the script was from the right doctor and for the right patient we are halfway there. If we could send the forms seamlessly between the prescriber, the pharmacist and the treating nurse without errors it would be better. If we could deliver the medications any time it would be perfect.
In the meantime we are stuck with a hybrid system, a donkey designed by a committee.
We will have increasing  typewritten orders. We will not be able to verify them properly without time consuming and unwanted communication between Resident, Nurse, Doctor, Pharmacist, Relative and Nurse.
A simple Medication chart, signed by a valid prescriber is still needed with photocopies or faxes between all parties. It must be legible and as up to date as the last prescriber change of medication.It must be stored where it can be accessed close to the medications and the nurses must be happy that all possible steps have been properly performed to administer the medication. They ultimately, along with this institution, carry the can

no a3+b3= c3

no an+bb= cn

proof

let c3 be [c+1 ] or c3 +1 3.

This is an easy way to demonstrate a Journey.

We make a house with 10 rooms  A -J  1-10

The list of objects to put in is water , a helium balloon, a lithium battery, strawberries, a border collie, a car, a Knight, an Ox, a flower and a neon sign.

Lets go  first room dunking an Apple in a tub of water do you get wet head pushed under?
second room Two helium balloons Brown stuck on the ceiling Look Up!
third room  Three lithium batteries in a Charger do you get a shock removing them?
fourth room Four Dishes of strawberries, Delicious taste.
fifth room Five border collie pups spread around the border of a rug Eating Eggs.
sixth room  a Ford car with 6 wheels as we are changing the rear ones to make it Sprint
seventh room A Suit of Knights armour, with a Knights shield with 7 geese on it
room eight has a heavy Ox in it eating Hay with a figure 8 ring through its nose
Room nine has a floury perfume scent from the 9 flower incense sticks burning.
Room 10 Has an X shaped Neon sign flashing saying the end The end and a broken one saying Ten. Got it?

Today I am going to give a talk on memory and the human brain, on ways to improve memory and also on memory problems
To this end I am first going to do a small trial with all of you. The object is to demonstrate some of the techniques we will talk about later, not to get them all right.

I have a list of 11 numbers to look at for a very short period that you can scan briefly and try to recall some later.
Next though is much easier, 5 letters EJOTY,   good we will try them again in 10 minutes

Now we move onto the substance of our talk.
What is memory. A little Frank Sinatra explained it all ……..
Memory is the recollection of past events and emotions in the present. I include emotions as they are very important and often missed in texts on the subject.
Memory and time are intimately entwined. One does not exist without the other. Memory is taking a time machine into your past and bringing the event or emotion back to the present.
Rene Descartes said “I think therefore I am” but he forgot the codicil, “I have memory, therefore I think.”

*
*
*

Human memory is not a stand alone, it does not just happen. It needs a brain, sensory organs, surroundings and people. When these exist a set of steps, some complementary or overlapping occur. It needs ISPR – Input, Storage, Processing and Recall, one could remember this with a ** Mnemonic “Is some Porridge ready?” *Charlie
Memory needs *Cognition, it is not good enough to talk about memory on it’s own.

Input works on special sensory cells throughout the body, These interface with neurons in the organ or nearby ganglions which interface with other neurons in the spinal cord to take the messages to the cerebral cortex and midbrain. These areas communicate in the brain with the other active sensory neurons.

*During this talk I will add in comments on memory training and enhancement.
Input is something that we have improved. Due to technology we are  able to see in higher and lower frequencies of sound and light. Due to writing and then electronic communication we are able to access more data and more relevant data. We are able to travel further both physically and mentally to explore the boundaries of our world. The more we are exposed to, the more memory we have.

Storage is still a mystery. Computers are easy, The single stream of binary data comes in and is multiplied in yes/no steps. The human brain though takes streams of data in bites which are the sensitivity and number of the receptor cells and the length of time it takes to get through to the brain and processing centres. This is not occurring simultaneously but in overlapping waves of activity. The way to imagine this biological brain functioning is that at each millisecond it is building up a neural 3D snapshot which is the initial storage. Then overlaying and comparing it to the subsequent images to build up over time a 3D internal world which it orientates itself inside.The more important areas build themselves up with time. The primary types of encoding are visual, acoustic and semantic.

** This storage stage includes LTM and STM. Phonetic and numerical STM storage is best in chunking small bits of information, like phone numbers into groups of 3 or  4,

^
^
^
Processing is the art of storing links to the now accumulating 3D images in sites that are able to use the data meaningfully and enable recall when needed. This activity takes place in the midbrain and midline structures like the thalamus and hippocampus as well as  the motor areas and cerebellum for movement and posture. The cerebral cortex also plays a processing role as well as a storage role as shown in certain cortical areas like Broca’s area for speech. Processing allows the construction of consciousness as it  builds up both the 3d person and the local 3D Room plus the wider 3D world beyond. [3 layer structure].

* During this talk I will add in comments on memory training and enhancement.
The only comment here is that the 3d processing structure and the room concept lends a lot of power to the room linkage techniques discussed later.

Recall or retrieval … is the process of bringing out the stored memories. It needs a thinking process called consciousness to do this. Consciousness can only develop after memory has been set down and is a by product of the very processes that store the memory. Using the central part which has set up the processing and is responsive to it develops an identity. This identity can now remember not only danger and response but also it can recall that it is responding and study itself [realisation] thus becoming self aware. It is thus able to set in motion actions including memory retrieval and walking.

*Recall can be aided by many small external tweaks directed to the memory process. Linkage is very important as is activation of any and every sense that we can avail ourselves of including the imagination.

Cognition is the process of thinking , of being self aware, of being conscious; It is basically the 6th sense. Each earlier sense developed by accident egged on by evolution. They reacted to the environment around them. This then resulted in a sensory organ which could learn and anticipate trouble. In effect it is a sense which lets us affect the future. In effect it is a time machine into the future instead of the past.

^
^
^

I have left out the brain from this talk. I can give you references which do it no justice at all. The machinery is so complex, the interactions and wiring so subtle and widespread. The histology so detailed that it is wrong to give a picture and say this bit of memory occurs here. Phrenology told what a persons mind was made of from the shape of his skull. Any interpretation of the brains innards have almost the same reliability. Thinking occurs all over the brain. Memory is stored all over the brain.

Types of memory.
There are two basic types, Short Term Memory STM [includes ultra-short term sensory memory, and slightly longer working memory and Long Term Memory LTM but there is no difference other than the length of time a memory is useful for and retained.
The brain has conscious and unconscious memory processes . Unconscious memory is the bulk of the work the brain does. Breathing, Heart rate, Respiration, Digestion, Movement  and Sleeping. The mere act of standing upright balanced, let alone walking, uses up more neurons and brain structures than any thinking about memory or what to have for lunch today. It is said that the brain only uses 10% of its capacity. This is not true, it is chugging along at a very healthy rate all day and does a bit of recuperating at night. We are so important that it switches us off for 8 hours and does not lose a beat.

Short term memory is the immediate input and response in both processes. Short working memory only lasts a few seconds and is discarded quickly as  not important on the long term. The slightly longer working memory lasts up to 40 seconds.This is where the importance of the information is not yet decided or is only needed for a short time . If not recognised as important it too is discarded. To implant a message as LTM that is not LTM  needs repetition for at least 8 seconds in STM enhances the chance of retaining it.

LTM is the storage of memory that is rated as important by the brain and not to be discarded. It has to be recognised as important due to being new, different [hence untagged, emotional [dangerous, exciting], or related to known important LTM [consolidation]. These memories often store significant events or interactions in one’s life both on a personal or a more community  nature. Winning a race or a prize at school, tipping over a boat, a car accident are just some examples. Our life history is made up of all these memories. They are what we have come from. It can be
Explicit memory (or declarative memory) refers to all memories that are consciously available.
It is composed of
Episodic memory refers to memory for specific events in time
Semantic memory refers to knowledge about factual information, such as the meaning of words.
Autobiographical memory refers to knowledge about events and personal experiences from an individual’s own life.
Emotional memory, the memory for events that evoke a particularly strong emotion, can involve both declarative and procedural memory processes.
Or
Implicit memory (procedural memory) refers to the use of objects or movements of the body, such as how exactly to use a pencil, drive a car, or ride a bicycle. Procedural memory is considered non-declarative memory or unconscious memory. Emotional memory, the memory for events that evoke a particularly strong emotion, elicit a powerful, unconscious physiological reaction.

Page 5 Tricks of the trade for a better memory.

Simple measures. More sleep, more rest, more alertness and more interest, the old early to bed and early to rise makes us healthy and wise. It also improves our memory. Avoiding overuse of drugs like cigarettes and alcohol, in general.
We need to be interested.
Input is easy. We can add to input by being more attentive, alert, and interested thus increasing the range of data we are exposed to.
Storage  Chunking  chunking small bits of information, like phone numbers into groups of 3 or  4  reduces the memory effort required.
The more inputs at the same time the better the better, writing speaking out loud, visualisation and elaboration activate alternative storage sites which can link with the primary memory making it more important.
The more important we can make the data appear the more it is retained. Repetition  implies importance.
The more associations we can make with the data particularly important data like locations, people and emotions the more retention

another method of improving memory encoding and consolidation is the use of a so-called memory palace (also known as the method of loci), a mnemonic techniques that relies on memorized spatial relationships to establish, order and recollect other memories. The method is to assign objects or facts to different rooms in an imaginary house or palace, so that recall of the facts can be cued by mentally “walking though” the palace until it is found

Medical notes.

Decrease in memory is a necessary part of aging. Aging leads to slowing down of the nerve fibres, delay in neurocrine ending secretions and delayed reaction time.Alertness decreases and physical activity decreases. We lose neurons at a slightly increasing rate and we lose 200,000 a day from birth. Luckily we have an enormous starting point.People do not suddenly become chess champions at 60 and most innovative work is done from the late teens to 40 years of age.
Not to complain. Older people have a life replete with far more experiences than a callow 20 year old. We can still learn and improve the memory we have at any age by application, learning and a little ju jitsu with the memory tricks.

Dementia due to aging is called senile dementia and is affected by poor health, atheroma, strokes, reduced exercise and toxins like alcohol. Lifestyle is important.

Presenile dementia is due to a variety of neurological conditions of which Alzheimers is supreme. It is of variable onset, usually slow progress and can be improved for a while with medication. Currently there is no cure.

The best remedy is to attend science talks at U3A and exercise the brain as well as the body. At least you will feel smarter and how we feel is the most important thing, not what we know

Types of memory.
Since the brain works as a multi input constantly both inputting and reassessing data in a sensory field that is stabilised as a hemisphere memory storage

Yes that is still there.
Yes position is still right.
the need for recall is prioritised.
The input still goes in, not of course by exactly the same channels [nerves]  and is recorded as discardable, that is as not being of current [immediate] use in the next frame of thought once used. Hence we do not have past positions and orientations persevering or interfering with the current thought interface. This implies an exponential shutdown time.
We discard our bulk input or mechanise it to perform automatically. This is going on constantly, repetitively, maximally all of our lives. The bit of the brain we use, the concept of I, is actually only using a small percentage of the larger machine or being allowed to use it since we switch off for 8 hours a day. not voluntarily.
The memory we talk of is much more our verbal visual and auditory thought memories built up by our verbal and written thought patterns.

It still works through the same system however so that these patterns die away once not needed. The difference is that we work out our priorities as to what we need, as a consciousness, rather than what the brain works out for the body as a whole.

In essence we are a minibrain in a bigger brain. Just as our world is a mini world in a bigger world. What are the rules for the human part?

Order, symmetry, heuristics. We have made our room more comfortable than it really is in appearance.

We dampen the noise of our breathing and heart, we ignore most of the positional and visceral effects happening in our bodies.

We develop a persona and a world view that we aspire to created both from our memories and for our memories. We use our memories to try to run this.

Rabbit holes.

There is no difference in the way long term and short term memories are taken in. There is a priority based on past memory to new memory, a ranking system. If it is already known it just gives a minor amplification to that memory and is otherwise ignored. Most new memory is thus short term memory basically not used again. New memories however elicit two reactions after announcing themselves as a variation that does not fit the past known patterns heuristically.
Meeting a person first time. First a recognition response comparing it to all other past memories for a fit. Identification, fish or fowl. Grouping into categories. Person, personal, height, weight, age, attractiveness, position, time event place. This may fit into something already primed or be out of the blue like a lift encounter. The danger response is activated and evaluated. Fight or flight is turned off. Introductions commence.
This is where the memory is most important for us to use. Names are a giant memory tag that everything else gets hung on. Yet at the same time a heuristic kicks in. Do we want to know them? Are they going to be in our life for 1 minute, 10 minutes, an hour or on and off the rest of our lives? Do we really want to put them in our short term or long term memory?
Half of us do and half of us do not, hence some people remember names easily and others do not. This decision is already made by our id.

This is true of all human memory. We decide what we want to remember at a subconscious level and are very good at it.

Hence STM is memory that we need briefly but is otherwise discarded. Not forgotten, just assigned to the discard bin.
The term “working memory” was coined by Miller, Galanter, and Pribram,^[5][6] and was used in the 1960s in the context of theories that likened the mind to a computer. In 1968, Atkinson and Shiffrin^[7] used the term to describe their “short-term store”. What we now call working memory was formerly referred to variously as a “short-term store” or short-term memory, primary memory, immediate memory, operant memory, and provisional memory.^[8] Short-term memory is the ability to remember information over a brief period (in the order of seconds). Most theorists today use the concept of working memory to replace or include the older concept of short-term memory, marking a stronger emphasis on the notion of manipulating information rather than mere maintenance.“magic number seven”, short-term memory is limited to a certain number of chunks of information The slave systems include the phonological loop, the visuo-spatial sketchpad, and the episodic buffer

Longterm memory is memory that we can recall again an hour a day or a year later. It goes in in two ways. First by priority if we decide it is needed. Secondly by repetition.

Long-term memory (LTM) is the stage of the Atkinson–Shiffrin memory model where informative knowledge is held indefinitely. It is defined in contrast to short-term and working memory, which persist for only about 18 to 30 seconds. Long-term memory is commonly labelled as explicit memory (declarative), as well as episodic memory, semantic memory, autobiographical memory, and implicit memory (procedural memory).\

** Because of the associative nature of memory, encoding can be improved by a strategy of organization of memory called elaboration, in which new pieces of information are associated with other information already recorded in long-term memory, thus incorporating them into a broader, coherent narrative which is already familiar. An example of this kind of elaboration is the use of mnemonics, which are verbal, visual or auditory associations with other, easy-to-remember constructs, “Roy G. Biv” In the same way, associating words with images is another commonly used mnemonic device, providing two alternative methods of remembering, and creating additional associations in the mind

another method of improving memory encoding and consolidation is the use of a so-called memory palace (also known as the method of loci), a mnemonic techniques that relies on memorized spatial relationships to establish, order and recollect other memories. The method is to assign objects or facts to different rooms in an imaginary house or palace, so that recall of the facts can be cued by mentally “walking though” the palace until it is found

[NB attention (regulated by the thalamus and the frontal lobe) Emotion tends to increase attention, the amygdala combined in the brain’s hippocampus into one single experience. completely new neurons can grow. hippocampus, deep within the medial temporal lobe of the brain,   other retrograde pathways emerge from it, ]

another method of improving memory encoding and consolidation is the use of a so-called memory palace (also known as the method of loci), a mnemonic techniques that relies on memorized spatial relationships to establish, order and recollect other memories. The method is to assign objects or facts to different rooms in an imaginary house or palace, so that recall of the facts can be cued by mentally “walking though” the palace until it is found

Tip * Walking through a door resets the the program. Why we forget what we were going to do when we walked into the room and also what we were doing in the previous room.

Tip  * Concentration for 8 seconds MINIMUM  length of time to move from STM to LTM

*pUTTING THINGS IN BOLD DOES NOT HELP LONG TERM MEMORY ltm INSTEAD IT JUST HELPS FOCUS stm

* Writing things down. This shifts the memory input direction from Visual and reading to Writing and verbal hence reinforces by giving an extra 2 inputs and establishes pathways interconnecting the different modes of learning. It also leads to reitition due to the nature of linking one word to the next [Linkages]

* Avoid distractions  music, bright light  TV in the background etc. Basically this is maximising the input and lessening the extraneous noise.

* Association or linkages The major takeaway for  memory improvement. Memories need to be laid down through the maximum number of channels available. Thus a castle model or house linking an object to other known objects and site for cross retrieval plus bizarre linkages through sight, humour, sound, mispositioning, number [3 whales better than 1 ]

* Clumping we can remember numbers and objects in groups up to 5  much easier than groups that are larger in number  Groups themselves are easiest to remember up to 3 groups.

*A heuristic technique (/hj???r?st?k/; Ancient Greek: ???????, “find” or “discover”), often called simply a heuristic, is any approach to problem solving or self-discovery that employs a practical method, not guaranteed to be optimal, perfect, or rational, but instead sufficient for reaching an immediate goal. Where finding an optimal solution is impossible or impractical, heuristic methods can be used to speed up the process of finding a satisfactory solution. Heuristics can be mental shortcuts that ease the cognitive load of making a decision.^[1]:94 Examples that employ heuristics include using a rule of thumb, an educated guess, an intuitive judgment, a guesstimate, profiling, or common sense.

Stereotyping

Heuristics are the strategies derived from previous experiences with similar problems. These strategies rely on using readily accessible, though loosely applicable, information to control problem solving in human beings, machines, and abstract issues.“Heuristic” is also often used as a noun to describe a rule-of-thumb, procedure, or method

The most fundamental heuristic is trial and error, which can be used in everything from matching nuts and bolts to finding the values of variables in algebra problems.

Here are a few other commonly used heuristics, from George Pólya‘s If you are having difficulty understanding a problem, try drawing a picture.

• If you can’t find a solution, try assuming that you have a solution and seeing what you can derive from that (“working backward”).
• If the problem is abstract, try examining a concrete example.
• Try solving a more general problem first (the “inventor’s paradox“: the more ambitious plan may have more chances of success).

occam’s razor This finding, known as a less-is-more effect, would not have been found without formal models. The valuable insight of this program is that heuristics are effective because of, not despite, their simplicity.

individuals consider issues rationally, systematically, logically, deliberately, effortfully, and verbally. On other occasions, individuals consider issues intuitively, effortlessly, globally, and emotionally.^[14] From this perspective, heuristics are part of a larger experiential processing system that is often adaptive, but vulnerable to error in situations that require logical analysis.^[15]

THE LENS IN YOUR EYE casts an upside-down image on your retina, but you see the world upright. Although people often believe that an upside-down image in the eyeball gets rotated somewhere in the brain to make it look right side up, that idea is a fallacy. No such rotation occurs, because there is no replica of the retinal image in the brain—only a pattern of firing of nerve impulses that encodes the image in such a way that it is perceived correctly; the brain does not rotate the nerve impulses.

Even leaving aside this common pitfall, the matter of seeing things upright is vastly more complex than you might imagine, a fact that was first pointed out clearly in the 1970s by perception researcher Irvin Rock, then at Rutgers University.

Tilted ViewLet us probe those complexities with a few simple experiments. First, tilt your head 90 degrees while looking at the objects cluttering the room you are in now. Obviously, the objects (tables, chairs, people) continue to look upright—they do not suddenly appear to be at an angle.

Now imagine tipping over a table by 90 degrees, so that it lies on its side. You will see that it does indeed look rotated, as it should. We know that correct perception of the upright table is not because of some “memory” of the habitual upright position of things such as a table; the effect works equally well for abstract sculptures in an art gallery. The surrounding context is not the answer either: if a luminous table were placed in a completely dark room and you rotated your head while looking at it, the table would still appear upright.

Instead your brain figures out which way is up by relying on feedback signals sent from the vestibular system in your ear (which signals the degree of head rotation) to visual areas; in other words, the brain takes into account head rotation when it interprets the table’s orientation. The phrase “takes into account” is much more accurate than saying that your brain “rotates” the tilted image of the table. There is no image in the brain to “rotate”—and even if there were, who would be the little person in the brain looking at the rotated image? In the rest of the essay, we will use “reinterpret” or “correct” instead of “rotate.” These terms are not entirely accurate, but they will serve as shorthand.

There are clear limits to vestibular correction. Upside-down print, for instance, is extremely hard to read. Just turn this magazine upside down to find out. Now, holding the magazine right side up again, try bending down and looking at it through your legs—so your head is upside down. The page continues to be difficult to read, even though vestibular information is clearly signaling to you that the page and corresponding text are still upright in the world compared with your head’s orientation. The letters are too perceptually complex and fine-grained to be aided by the vestibular correction, even though the overall orientation of the page is corrected to look upright.

Let us examine these phenomena more closely. Look at the square in a. Rotate it physically 45 degrees, and you see a diamond. But if you rotate your head 45 degrees, the square continues to look like a square—even though it is a diamond on the retina (the tissue at the back of the eye that receives visual inputs); vestibular correction is at work again.

The Big PictureNow consider the two central red diamonds in b and c. The diamond in b looks like a diamond and the one in c looks like a square, even though your head remains upright and there is obviously no vestibular correction. This simple demonstration shows the powerful effects of the overall axis of the “big” figure comprising the small squares (or diamonds). It would be misleading to call this effect “context” because in d—a square surrounded by faces tilted at 45 degrees—the square continues to look like a square (though perhaps less so than when isolated).

You can also test the effects of visual attention. The figure in e is a composite. In this case, the central red shape is ambiguous. If you attend to the vertical column, it resembles a diamond; if you view it as a member of the group forming the oblique line of shapes, it seems to be a square.

Even more compelling is the George W. Bush illusion, a variant of the Margaret Thatcher illusion, which was originally developed by psychologist Peter Thompson of the University of York in England. If you look at the upside-down images of Bush’s face on this page (f), you see nothing odd. But turn the same images right side up, and you see how grotesque he really looks. Why does this effect happen?

The reason is that despite the seamless unity of perception, the analysis of the image by the brain proceeds piecemeal. In this case, the perception of a face depends largely on the relative positions of the features (eyes, nose, mouth). So Bush’s face is perceived as a face (albeit one that is upside down) just as an upside-down chair is readily identified as a chair. In contrast, the expression conveyed by the features depends exclusively on their orientation (downturned corners of the mouth, distortion of eyebrows), independent of the perceived overall orientation of the head—the “context.”

Sign up for Scientific American’s free newsletters.

Your brain cannot perform the correction for the features; they do not get reinterpreted correctly as the overall image of a face does. The recognition of certain features (downturned mouth corners, eyebrows, and so on) is evolutionarily primitive; perhaps the computational skill required for reinterpretation simply has not evolved for this capability. For the overall recognition of the face simply as a face, on the other hand, the system might be more “tolerant” of the extra computational time required. This theory would explain why the second upside-down face appears normal rather than grotesque; the features dominate until you invert the face.

This same effect is illustrated very simply in the cartoon faces (g). Upside down, it is hard to see their expressions even though you still see them as faces. (You can logically deduce which is smiling and which is frowning, but that is not the result of perception.) Turn them right side up, and the expressions are clearly recognized as if by magic.

Finally, if you bend over and look between your legs at f, the expressions will become strikingly clear, but the faces themselves continue to look upside down. This effect is because the vestibular correction is applied selectively to the face but does not affect perception of the features (which are now right side up on the retina). It is the shape of the features on the retina that counts—independent of vestibular correction—and the “world-centered” coordinates that such corrections allow your brain to compute.

Depth Cues

Vestibular correction also fails to occur when we perceive shape (and depth) from clues provided by shading. In h, you see what appears to be a 550-foot-tall mound in the desert. The brain centers involved in computing shading make the reasonable assumption that the sun usually shines from above, so hills would be light on top and concave areas would be light on the bottom. If you rotate the page, you will see that this is actually a photograph of Arizona’s Meteor Crater.

You can verify this effect by repeating the experiment of looking between your legs while the page is right side up in relation to gravity. Once again, the mound and crater switch places. Even though the world as a whole looks normal and upright (from vestibular correction), the modules in the brain that extract shapes from assumptions about shading cannot use the vestibular correction; they are simply not hooked up to it. This phenomenon makes evolutionary sense because you do not normally walk around the world with your head upside down, so you can afford to avoid the extra computational burden of correcting for head tilt every time you interpret shaded images. The result of evolution is not to fine-tune your perceptual machinery to perfection but only to make it statistically reliable, often enough and rapidly enough, to allow you to produce offspring, even if the adoption of such heuristics or “shortcuts” makes the system occasionally error-prone. Perception is reliable but not infallible; it is a bag of tricks.

Bobbing Heads

One last point: Next time you are lying on the grass, look at people walking around you. They look like they are upright and walking normally, of course. But now look at them while you are upside down. If you can manage yoga, you might want to try your downward dog or another inversion. Or just lie sideways with one ear on the ground. The people will still look upright as expected, but suddenly you will see them bobbing up and down as they walk. This motion instantly becomes clear because after years of viewing people with your head held straight, you have learned to ignore the up-down bobbing of their heads and shoulders. Once again, vestibular feedback cannot correct for the head bobbing, even though it provides enough correction to enable seeing the people as upright. You might be bending over backward to understand all this, but we think it is worth the effort.

The brain is a three layered structure matching our psyche of Id, Ego and Superego. Hence there is a central mid brain often described as a

The Reptilian or Primal Brain Those who subscribed to the triune brain model believed that the three major brain structures developed sequentially. First of all, the basal ganglia (found at the center of the human brain) was ‘acquired’, followed by the limbic system (which consists of various component brain structures, such as the amygdala and hippocampus), then the neocortex (which is implicated in conscious thought, language and reasoning)

In MacLean’s triune brain model, the basal ganglia are referred to as the reptilian or primal brain, as this structure is in control of our innate and automatic self-preserving behavior patterns, which ensure our survival and that of our species. The primal brain is also in charge of, what are often referred to as, the four Fs: Feeding, Fighting, Fleeing, and… Reproduction (well, we won’t use that other f-word here!). Notable behavior patterns include defense of self, family, and personal property, physical communication, and socially approved actions, such as handshakes, head nods, and bowing.

Evolution

Paul D. MacLean, as part of his triune brain theory, hypothesized that the limbic system is older than other parts of the forebrain, and that it developed to manage circuitry attributed to the fight or flight first identified by Hans Selye^[26] in his report of the General Adaptation Syndrome in 1936. It may be considered a part of survival adaptation in reptiles as well as mammals (including humans). MacLean postulated that the human brain has evolved three components, that evolved successively, with more recent components developing at the top/front. These components are, respectively:

1. The archipallium or primitive (“reptilian”) brain, comprising the structures of the brain stem – medulla, pons, cerebellum, mesencephalon, the oldest basal nuclei – the globus pallidus and the olfactory bulbs.
2. The paleopallium or intermediate (“old mammalian”) brain, comprising the structures of the limbic system.
3. The neopallium, also known as the superior or rational (“new mammalian”) brain, comprises almost the whole of the hemispheres (made up of a more recent type of cortex, called neocortex) and some subcortical neuronal groups. It corresponds to the brain of the superior mammals, thus including the primates and, as a consequence, the human species. Similar development of the neocortex in mammalian species unrelated to humans and primates has also occurred, for example in cetaceans and elephants; thus the designation of “superior mammals” is not an evolutionary one, as it has occurred independently in different species.^{[dubious – discuss]} The evolution of higher degrees of intelligence is an example of convergent evolution, and is also seen in non-mammals such as birds.

According to Maclean, each of the components, although connected with the others, retained “their peculiar types of intelligence, subjectivity, sense of time and space, memory, mobility and other less specific functions”.

I am here today to do a talk on Memory and the Human brain.

A subject of interest to most of us but still not well understood.
A few quotes

“Memory is the art of time travel.” When we remember things we travel into the past of our mind and bring them forwards into the present.
What is memory?
It is many things, from the  Frank Sinatra “memories are made of this” we learn it is love and good times. From Hiroshima we know it can be death and suffering. Emotions are an important part of the paradigm.  Memory drives our rages and passions, Fills our nights with dreams and our days with nightmares.  We fear to lose it yet some yearn for it to go away.

What is memory?
Scientifically we can describe the components. They consist of input, storage, processing, evaluating and recall. They are the functions of the human brain that enable it to develop consciousness, thought and action. We cannot have one without the other.
A famous quote is “I think, therefore I am“. [Cogito, ergo sum^[a] is a Latin philosophical proposition by René Descartes ] but it misses an important codicil, ” I think because I have a memory.”

The brain then is the source and receptacle of memory so we need to start there. A brain was originally part of the blind watchmaker’s  evolutionary design. {The simplest cells survived if a mutation brought about a survival advantage. Being able to detect the environment we live in is an important step forwards.Whether this was an ability to detect sunshine or shade. To feel vibrations from other life forms or to find a partner or food and water at a distance, Sensation was an advantage. As cells became more complex and multi-cellular  function developed so did the senses and specialisation. Nerve cells developed and so did a primitive organising point, the brain.] Each development that makes our memory is reflected in the design of the brain.

Input is by multiple sensory mechanisms, Extroceptive like the 5 senses and temperature, we can also add vibration, position, [proprioception], pain, and visceral sensations [interoception]. This is at least a 3 stage transfer with several neural interfaces before the message reaches  the right area in the cortex of the brain. The neurons in the cortex then also interact with  other cortical neurons that receive the other sensory inputs.The brain is thus awash all over with stimuli and resending of second hand stimuli.

Storage is a mystery. Repetition of signals leads to a stronger memory so changes are recorded and stored by the neurons in the cortices. This may involve changes in the nerve cell  or the axon itself or a more complex feedback loop with the other sensory neurons that are triggered at the same time. We do not know.

Processing happens. Again we do not know but in parallel with the development of Artificial Intelligence we know what might be happening. Memories are stored all over the cortex, not just at the receptors.Memory is also stored and utilised in the other brain structures under the cortex. Theses include the thalamus and the midbrain structures which involve our emotions and our fright or flight reflex.

Recall is the activation of cortex and limbic structures to bring a stored memory back to consciousness.

Here is the true mystery of memory. We have a central processing room in our heads when we think. It builds up a view of the world from our visual memories as if we are the central player looking out on the world. Thought itself though is verbal, in words with an underlay of emotions and visuals. It is an artificial construct. The best way to understand this is with vision The images transmitted to the brain go mainly to the opposite side and are upside down yet our brain sorts all this out into a right side up picture with 3-D effects in a double processing manoeuver.

I thought I could address this topic in a novel way to highlight the many facets of memory in a way that we all could remember. Acting on the memory is thought or thinking. “I think therefore I am” needs a codicil, ‘I have memory, therefore I can think”. I want to introduce some heuristics, memory tactics, the history of memory and the uses of memory and what memory can imply using our imagination and thought. And make it fun as well.

The exercises we do will later illustrate some of the various types of memory and how it works.To start with I am going to ask each of you with your pen and paper to write down an object for me and read it out . I will chose 10 to put down on the board.

Next  I will show you a list of 10 random numbers. They are, 17, 23, 5, 18, 20, 25, 21, 9,15,16, 1,

Another arrangement is e,j,o,t,y. This is a significant arrangement.
[KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company, Inc.),

We will discuss these later .

Finally there are 10 objects on this table . You all have 30 seconds to look at them.

Memory is basically time travel. The ability to travel both back and forward in time. We go back into our past experiences and recall it in the present moment when needed. Dean Martin [play song] \ says it like this.  Memories are made of this …. take one stolen kiss …

[Traveling back is due to the ability to recall now a past sensory or thought process as it happened usually when needed. Acting on the memory is thought or thinking.] [not actually memory though some instances are conjoined, like in breathing or walking.]

The things one needs for memory are input, storage, processing and recall [retrieval].

Input comes from both sensory input and also thought input. The human senses of exteroception are touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing. We can add vibration, position, [proprioception], pain, heat and visceral sensations [interoception]. Other species have extra senses or heightened senses. It is stored in the brain primarily (The stomach senses food even without central feedback and responds.). Sensations are the data. We react to pain both on a local and cerebral level.

• The somatosensory system consists of primary, secondary, and tertiary neurons.
• Sensory receptors housed in the dorsal root ganglia project to secondary neurons of the spinal cord that decussate and project to the thalamus or cerebellum.
• Tertiary neurons project to the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe, forming a sensory homunculus.
• A sensory homunculus maps sub-regions of the cortical postcentral gyrus to certain parts of the body.
  The secondary neuron acts as a relay and is located in either the spinal cord or the brainstem. This neuron’s ascending axons will cross, or decussate, to the opposite side of the spinal cord or brainstem and travel up the spinal cord to the brain, where most will terminate in either the thalamus or the cerebellum. The primary somatosensory area of the human cortex is located in the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe. There are four main types of cutaneous mechanoreceptors: Pacinian corpuscles, Meissner’s corpuscles, Merkel’s discs, and Ruffini endings. proprioreceptor: A sensory receptor that responds to position and movement and that receives internal bodily stimuli. Golgi tendon organs and muscle spindles.

  The thalamus is a midline symmetrical structure within the brain of vertebrates including humans; it is situated between the cerebral cortex and midbrain, and surrounds the third ventricle.Its function includes relaying sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex, along with the regulation of consciousness, sleep, and alertness.

The areas that are activated by our senses are the primary storage sites but due to the massive interlinking of our neurons the data is stored all over the brain as well as it links with the other data accompanying it and our processing system. This provides a backup which means it is incredibly hard to destroy data (amnesia) completely.The means of storage is still in dispute.

Processing is the way of arranging data ready for retrieval. Areas of the brain specialise in taking the data in and arranging it in ways that allow steady, useful retrieval. This enables the thought processes to access the data when it is needed or required. These areas are increasingly well known.

The amygdala deals with …. most of these process take place in the midbrain where the neutrons transmit the data for specific uses. Broca’s area is where speech patterns are stored. Usually on the left side of the brain. Damage this and the  ability to speak properly is lost, but not the memory of past conversations.

We can store memory as short or long term memory. It is thought that certain areas do have more more of a role to play in the retrieval process rather than the storage process. Again there is some argument as to whether there really is a difference other than  repetition Our immediate  verbal numerical memory span is quite short 5-9 characters,

Using our memory.
[Thinking fast and slow] authors won a Nobel Prize for their work on heuristics. The short cuts we use in processing informationNow the first test , the 5 letters I gave you in reverse order, write them down.

You will see that it is much easier to remember the shorter sequence. Also that the longer sequence, done first, disappears from the memory due to a process called recent activation which makes an earlier memory harder to retain.

A similar phenomenon is the unfinished task, a  job left undone demands constant re attention but when completed the task that seemed fresh in one’s mind has now gone.

Memory improves with repetition. A rule of thumb is that 5% of a given lecture will be retained long term with rapid fall off of the other 95%. Repeating the lecture will fix a further 5% in place and it will stay for longer.This is one of the principles for improving in examination tasks.

What are the hints for improving one’s memory?

Focus and attention are the main keys. These two techniques are a prerequisite.In order to encode information into memory, we must first pay attention, a process known as attentional capture.

Motivation. Desire or need is a great motivating factor. It is much easier to stick at a task

Immersion. This is the best way to learn any subject, particularly languages but also art, science painting and music.

Now for some tricks to help when all else fails.

Reminders. Notes are usually best but recording can be done in many ways with film or sound on one’s mobile phone. Tying a bit of string around a finger.

Association is a recognised technique What we do is tie a link between a long term memory and our new short term memory. The link is composed of a visual or verbal surprise between the task at hand  and a known recallable object, then wrapping it in a visual or verbal picture.
A well used method is the family home or the workplace where one can walk around the rooms and leave the associations inside.

Method of Loci

One example of taking advantage of deeper semantic processing to improve retention is using the method of loci. This is when you associate non-visual material with something that can be visualized. Creating additional links between one memory and another, more familiar memory works as a cue for the new information being learned.

Mnemosyne (/n??m?z?ni, n??m?s?ni/; Greek: ?????????, pronounced [mn??mosý?n??]) is the goddess of memory in Greek mythology. “Mnemosyne” is derived from the same source as the word mnemonic, that being the Greek word mn?m?, which means “remembrance, memory”.^[1][2]

I thought I could address this topic in a novel way to highlight the many facets of memory in a way that we all could remember.

I want to introduce heuristics, memory tactics, the uses of memory and what memory can imply using our imagination and thought.

To start with I am going to ask each of you with your pen and paper to write down an object for me and read it out . I will chose 10 to put down on the board.

Next  I will show you a list of random numbers[ that some of you may recognise]. They are, 17, 23, 5, 18, 20, 25, 9, 15,  21, 16, 1,

Another arrangement is e,j,o,t,y. This is a significant arrangement.

We will discuss these later .

Finally there are 10 objects on this table . You all have 30 seconds to look at them.

The tests we have just done illustrate some of the various types of memory and how it works.

Memory is basically time travel. The ability to travel both back and forward in time. Traveling back is due to the ability to recall now a past sensory or thought process as it happened usually when needed. Acting on the memory is not actually memory though some instances are conjoined, like in breathing or walking.

The  things one needs for memory are input, storage, processing and recall [retrieval].

Input comes from both sensory input and also thought input. The human senses are touch taste sight smell and hearing. We can add vibration, pain, heat and visceral sensations. Other species have extra senses or heightened senses.

Sensation is stored in the brain primarily (The stomach senses food even without central feedback and responds.). Sensation is data. We react to pain both on a local and cerebral level. The areas that are activated by our senses are the primary storage sites but due to the massive interlinking of our neurons the data is stored all over the brain as well as it links with the other data accompanying it and our processing system. This provides a backup which means it is incredibly hard to destroy data (amnesia) completely.The means of storage is still in dispute.

Processing is the way of arranging data ready for retrieval. Areas of the brain specialise in taking the data in and arranging it in ways that allow steady, useful retrieval. This enables the thought processes to access the data when it is needed or required. These areas are increasingly well known.

The amygdala deals with …. most of these process take place in the midbrain where the neutrons transmit the data for specific uses. Broca’s area is where speech patterns are stored. Usually on the left side of the brain. Damage this and the  ability to speak properly is lost, but not the memory of past conversations.

We can store memory as short or long term memory. It is thought that certain areas do have more more of a role to play in the retrieval process rather than the storage process. Again there is some argument as to whether there really is a difference other than  repetition Our immediate  verbal numerical memory span is quite short 5-9 characters,

Using our memory.
[Thinking fast and slow] authors won a Nobel Prize for their work on heuristics. The short cuts we use in processing informationNow the first test , the 5 letters I gave you in reverse order, write them down.

You will see that it is much easier to remember the shorter sequence. Also that the longer sequence, done first, disappears from the memory due to a process called recent activation which makes an earlier memory harder to retain.

A similar phenomenon is the unfinished task, a  job left undone demands constant re attention but when completed the task that seemed fresh in one’s mind has now gone.

Memory improves with repetition. A rule of thumb is that 5% of a given lecture will be retained long term with rapid fall off of the other 95%. Repeating the lecture will fix a further 5% in place and it will stay for longer.This is one of the principles for improving in examination tasks.

What are the hints for improving one’s memory?

Focus and attention are the main keys. These two techniques are a prerequisite.In order to encode information into memory, we must first pay attention, a process known as attentional capture.

Motivation. Desire or need is a great motivating factor. It is much easier to stick at a task

Immersion. This is the best way to learn any subject, particularly languages but also art, science painting and music.

Now for some tricks to help when all else fails.

Reminders. Notes are usually best but recording can be done in many ways with film or sound on one’s mobile phone. Tying a bit of string around a finger.

Association is a recognised technique What we do is tie a link between a long term memory and our new short term memory. The link is composed of a visual or verbal surprise between the task at hand  and a known recallable object, then wrapping it in a visual or verbal picture.
A well used method is the family home or the workplace where one can walk around the rooms and leave the associations inside.

Method of Loci

One example of taking advantage of deeper semantic processing to improve retention is using the method of loci. This is when you associate non-visual material with something that can be visualized. Creating additional links between one memory and another, more familiar memory works as a cue for the new information being learned.

Semantic Processing

Semantic processing is when we apply meaning to words and compare or relate it to words with similar meanings. This deeper level of processing involves elaborative rehearsal, which is a more meaningful way to analyze information. This makes it more likely that the information will be stored in long-term memory, as it is associated with previously learned concepts.

Phonetic Processing

Phonetic processing is how we hear the word—the sounds it makes when the letters are read together. We compare the sound of the word to other words we have heard in order to retain some level of meaning in our memory. Phonetic processing is deeper than structural processing; that is, we are more likely to remember verbal information if we process it phonetically.

Structural Processing

Structural processing examines the structure of a word—for example, the font of the typed word or the letters within in it. It is how we assess the appearance of the words to make sense of them and provide some type of simple meaning.

Structural processing is the shallowest level of processing

To return to the example of trying to remember the name of a restaurant: if the name of the restaurant has no semantic meaning to you (for instance, if it’s a word in another language, like “Vermicelli”), you might still be able to remember the name if you have processed it phonetically and can think, “It started with a V sound and it rhymed with belly.”

Finally I would like to talk about where our memory takes place. Basically we recreate the world we live in inside our heads. We uses our senses to build up a room with our central awareness located behind our eyes. This room is our 3D representation of the world, populated by our memories and our current sensory inputs. We know, due to our memory, what other things may be happening outside of our room away from our senses.
Though we change locations this one room is always with us, just the wallpaper changes.

Jim Carry, The Matrix, etc , The concept of living in a computer world.

The universe we live in is a marvel but we can only know it from the input of our senses. We do not know what we do not know. .

Limits of memory and the human mind.

It is theoretically possible to have a much more able mind but we are limited, sensibly, by the world we live in. Some people say we only use 10% of our brains. This is not quite right. We can only use them to the extent that the wiring allows. No one deliberately chooses to under use an asset.
Some people have virtual photographic memories, Others names, places or people.

What is memory
What is happiness? Happiness is a life of good memories and an ability to let the bad memories fade. Memories are made of this  Frank Sinatra.

Memories come on board as the brain wiring expands to network properly and language develops. The ability to develop a language is innate, in the genes programmed. We have an inbuilt memory both to be able to communicate to each other  and to develop our memories. It is rare to really remember much before the age of 3. Somewhere between then and 5 comes the development  of an awareness of our awareness. To know that we are alive. Memory storage continues through out our life with overlays of hormonal directed behaviour.
We keep losing brain cells from the moment we are born if not before. 200,000 a day! Luckily there are about 86 billion neurons so even at 70 we have lost less than 10%. Lifestyle affects the rate of loss so head injuries, alcohol on some people, Atheroma, diabetes and smoking. None the less this effect called senile dementia  is usually very late in onset and most of us die before getting there.

More to the point are the presenile dementia’s like Alzheimer’s disease and other degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease.  There is a genetic predisposition and an unknown environmental factor or factors. Basically they can be slowed a little with medication but not stopped in progression and the best advice is to preserve what  we can, a little late now for some.

Lastly we all know what old age is like. It really seems to be partly a state of mind and partly

Memory is the faculty of the brain by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action.^[1] If past events could not be remembered, it would be impossible for language, relationships, or personal identity to develop.^[2] Memory loss is usually described as forgetfulness or amnesia.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Memory is often understood as an informational processing system with explicit and implicit functioning that is made up of a sensory processor, short-term (or working) memory, and long-term memory.^[9] This can be related to the neuron. The sensory processor allows information from the outside world to be sensed in the form of chemical and physical stimuli and attended to various levels of focus and intent. Working memory serves as an encoding and retrieval processor. Information in the form of stimuli is encoded in accordance with explicit or implicit functions by the working memory processor. The working memory also retrieves information from previously stored material. Finally, the function of long-term memory is to store data through various categorical models or systems.^[9]

Declarative, or explicit, memory is the conscious storage and recollection of data.^[10] Under declarative memory resides semantic and episodic memory. Semantic memory refers to memory that is encoded with specific meaning,^[2] while episodic memory refers to information that is encoded along a spatial and temporal plane.^[11][12][13] Declarative memory is usually the primary process thought of when referencing memory.^[2] Non-declarative, or implicit, memory is the unconscious storage and recollection of information.^[14] An example of a non-declarative process would be the unconscious learning or retrieval of information by way of procedural memory, or a priming phenomenon.^[2][14][15] Priming is the process of subliminally arousing specific responses from memory and shows that not all memory is consciously activated,^[15] whereas procedural memory is the slow and gradual learning of skills that often occurs without conscious attention to learning.^[2][14]

Memory is not a perfect processor, and is affected by many factors. The ways by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved can all be corrupted. The amount of attention given new stimuli can diminish the amount of information that becomes encoded for storage.^[2] Also, the storage process can become corrupted by physical damage to areas of the brain that are associated with memory storage, such as the hippocampus.^[16][17] Finally, the retrieval of information from long-term memory can be disrupted because of decay within long-term memory.^[2] Normal functioning, decay over time, and brain damage all affect the accuracy and capacity of the memory.^[18][19]