No one structure or location in the brain is responsible for memory.
Rather, memory is a complex process. The brain uses different processes
to store memories of what you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. There
appear to be three phases involved in memory:
Sensory Memory
In this stage, your senses hold on to information very briefly. This sensory
information is then processed by the brain and stored into short-term memory.
Short-Term Memory
Short-term memory consists of what you have in mind at the moment. The amount
of information that can be stored in short-term memory is limited. The
information can be kept in this storage for only a short period of time
(30 seconds or less). Because the amount of information that can be held
in short-term memory is limited, much of the information in this storage
system is lost, discarded, or ignored. If you are not able to hold on to
information for a few seconds, you probably will not be able to remember
the information several hours or days later. Information in short-term
memory is then processed and transferred to long-term storage.
Long-Term Memory
Long-term memory has the capacity to hold a large amount of information.
Information can be stored in long-term memory from 30 seconds to a lifetime.
Memories from yesterday and from childhood are stored in long-term memory.
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