{"id":13311,"date":"2020-09-01T12:27:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T16:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=13311"},"modified":"2020-09-06T16:36:32","modified_gmt":"2020-09-06T20:36:32","slug":"what-part-of-the-brain-controls-long-term-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-part-of-the-brain-controls-long-term-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"What Part of the Brain Controls Long Term Memory?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What part of the brain controls long term memory? How does long term memory impact the way we view the world and ourselves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing what part of the brain controls long term memory can help you visualize the way memory works. Long term memory affects our perspective and the way we view ourselves and the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what part of the brain controls long term memory? Let’s find out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Long Term Memory: How Much Do We Really Remember?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What part of the brain controls long term memory? Scientists used to think that people remembered everything that had ever happened to them, and memories only became inaccessible because the cues were lost over time. However, this is not the case\u2014memories do fade over time at the cellular level.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Memories fade most quickly in the hours and days after forming.<\/strong> Anything that\u2019s left after a month tends to stay with us long-term. Interestingly, our memories change over time. We tend to remember our oldest memories in third person, as if we were watching them, and our newer memories from our own points of view. Sometimes our memories change so much they no longer even accurately record what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why don\u2019t we remember anything before we were three or four? This has everything to do with what part of the brain controls long term memory. This should have been a very memorable time our lives\u2014everything we encountered was new. It could be due to a few reasons: our brains aren\u2019t fully developed until we\u2019re three or four, most of our early learning is unconscious, and we don\u2019t have language or a large existing web of associations. Even when we encounter new things, if we don\u2019t have anything already in our heads to associate them with, they don\u2019t stick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Part of the Brain Controls Long Term Memory?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The study of memory necessitates the study of the brain. Memories are created in, stored in, and affected by different parts of the brain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n