Have you already forgotten?
Why we forget. By: Mason Lenz
Why I chose this topic
I am interested in this topic because I am a very forgetful person. My research may help me be able to remember what tasks I was attempting to do before I forgot. It may also help others for the same reason.
What causes memory loss
In the brain a small subset of dopamine neurons regulate the creation and the forgetting of these memories. Learning new information can lead to forgetting past memories, pushing them out of the brain. The parts of the brain that are being used during memory loss is the prefrontal cortex. The part of the brain that is failing is the hippocampus. This part of the brain is most associated with memory loss.
Hermann Ebbinghaus and his Curve of Forgetting
Ebbinghaus did experiments on himself trying to remember a long chain of random words, and he tested how many he remembered starting off remembering all of them on the first day. From this he created his Curve of Forgetting. Dr. Anthony Wagner studied why remembering all the details in an event is not good.
Interesting things
It is good for your brain to forget past memories that you do not need so that it can make space for new memories that it needs. Things that a person does not understand are usually the things that are forgotten first. Every memory even the most important taper off after time.
Explination of forgetting
Forgetting is when you attempt to remember something, but simply cannot. Everybody forgets things in their lives. The things that are most often forgotten signify things that don't have a significant meaning. Some examples could include: things that didn't make sense to you when you first heard it, things that you don't think are important, or not fully paying attention when being told something.