Anatomy and Physiology of Children and Adolescents - M. R. Sapin 2007

The Nervous System (General Layout of the Structure and Development of the Nervous System)
Central Nervous System
Higher Nervous Activity - Memory Mechanisms

Biological memory is the capacity of living organisms to receive information about stimuli, encode and store it, and subsequently utilize the retained data to organize behavior. Memory is broadly divided into genetic and acquired types. Genetic memory refers to all information transmitted from parents via Germ Cells. The carriers of genetic memory are Nucleic Acids, with DNA molecules encoding the Structural and functional blueprint of a specific Organism through METABOLISM/28.html">The Genetic Code.

Acquired (individual) memory develops during ontogeny based on life experience. Four types of conscious memory are distinguished: motor memory, associated with the retention and reproduction of movements; sensory or iconic memory, based on remembering objects and their properties; verbal-logical memory (unique to humans), associated with the retention, recognition, and reproduction of thoughts and concepts; and emotional memory, responsible for storing and recalling affective perceptions alongside the objects that trigger them. Conditioned-reflex memory is categorized independently due to the mechanism underlying The formation of conditioned reflex pathways. Establishing a conditioned reflex requires that the memory trace of a conditioned stimulus persist in the organism until it is reinforced by an unconditioned stimulus.

Based on the physiological mechanisms underlying neurological memory, a distinction is made between short-term and long-term memory.

Short-term memory handles events that have just occurred. This type of memory retains information within Brain structures for up to 0.5 hours. Depending on requirements, this information either transitions into long-term memory or is forgotten. Short-term memory serves as the foundation for executing current behavioral and cognitive operations. At THE CELLULAR LEVEL, short-term memory relies on the continuous Circulation (reverberation) of impulse discharges (nerve impulses) through closed neural loops within the frontal and parietal lobes of the Cerebral Cortex. These closed circuits are formed primarily by Neurons in layers III and IV of the cortex. Through the repeated transit of impulses across these circular neuronal pathways, stable modifications are induced that lay the groundwork for long-term memory processes.

Long-term memory is the primary form of human memory, enabling an individual to function as a distinct entity. It stores all images, events, knowledge, competencies, and skills without exception. Long-term memory underpins human conditioned reflex activity. It is driven by complex structural and chemical transformations occurring at the systemic, synaptic, and cellular levels of the brain. The stages of these transformations are as follows: 1) information encoding/fixation; 2) sorting and filtering of novel information; 3) long-term retention of biologically significant information; and 4) retrieval of information as needed.