Ever wish you could memorise every detail? Colleague's outfit? Neighbourhood cat's meows? Newsflash: It's a memory meltdown waiting to happen!
Your brain, like a digital detoxing device, declutters by forgetting. Not a weakness, but a well-being weapon! Dive into the surprising science of remembering... less.
As Dubai-based neuropsychiatrist Nadia Khan explains, “Forgetting actually helps us focus on what matters now. We don’t carried away with every detail from the past. And so, with a little help from forgetting, we can actually adjust to different situations with agility. You can also see it as prioritising tasks on your list; you deal with the relevant ones first,” she says.
Neurological housekeeping
As Khan explains, our brain is wired to optimise memory storage. It’s not intended to carry every detail. This complex, dynamic process of forgetting actually allows us to rid ourselves of outdated information. It makes room for learning and experiences. This kind of neurological housekeeping enhances our ability to process the present better. “As a result, we make healthier decisions that actually benefit our well-being,” she says.
Needless to say, forgetting usually comes at the cost of information, but research indicates that, at least in some cases, forgetting is due to “altered memory access” rather than memory loss.
So, how does this work? Well, it comes down to the neurons. The international journal, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, explained the complicated neuron activity that goes on, during the process of forgetting and recalling. In the study, the researchers examined the unique ensemble of neurons called “engram cells”. When we recall a memory, these cells fire collectively, and our memory surges. However, what happens when we forget?
As the researchers explain, forgetting doesn’t necessarily mean that the memory is gone. Instead, it proposes that these engram cells become inaccessible. However, this “inaccessibility”, is actually an active process.
It’s not a passive decay, as the researchers emphasise. In fact, our brain actively remodels the memory circuits, making specific engram cells harder to access based on the environmental factors. And so, in certain environments, it’s not completely essential to hold on to every detail. When we forget, we actually focus on what’s important.
The research highlights that while natural forgetting is generally a necessary process, it could potentially be reversed in certain situations. However, in the case of severe diseases like Alzheimer’s, the natural mechanisms are ‘hijacked’, leading to excessive forgetting and memory loss. These new findings could open up avenues for research into how to restore healthy forgetting processes and treat memory loss in diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Forgetting: An active part of learning
Forgetting could just be an ally in learning and mastery, if done right.
According to the 2023 study published in the US-based scientific journal Cell Reports titled Adaptive expression of engrams by retroactive interference, researchers studied how forgetting things is actually an active part of learning and memory maintenance. In fact, it is actually an active process that involves neural plasticity. This helps in modulating the functionality of specific memories.
In simpler words, in order to update your memory, your brain does a little clever forgetting. It provides more clarity to decision-making.
Forgetting is an important part of the learning process, says Dubai-based neuropsychiatrist, Anne Thomas. It helps the brain to sort, separate crucial information from all the details. In this day and age of excessive information overload, this particular filtering process is essential, says Khan. In order to retrieve information that is relevant and appropriate, we forget the unwanted and irrelevant information.
How to revive dormant memories
These forgotten memories still exist; they haven’t been wiped out, as the Cell Reports study explains. They just become dormant. As Thomas explains with an example: For instance, you can’t remember someone’s name. Yet, when they re-introduce themselves, you realise that you knew it all along.
Your brain is playing a clever trick, there. “These forgotten memories aren’t actually gone,” explains Thomas, elaborating on the process of ‘recognition’ and ‘recall’. So, when you see a familiar face, you recognise the familiarity, even if you’re not able to recall the name. It’s kind of like your brain getting a hint. You just take time to recall the name.
And so, in order to “revive” dormant memories, you need to review what you had previously learned, explains Thomas. For example, if you studied the previous night, and slept on time, the next morning, do a quick review of what you read. According to a 2016 study, titled Relearn Faster and Retain Longer published in US-based Academic journal Psychological Science, people who studied before bed, slept, and then later did review the next morning not only spent less time studying, they also increased their long-term retention memory by 50 percent. “A good rest does help your brain in filing away what you learned, and it also makes the information easier to access,” explains Khan.
The brain needs to keep learning and adapting, she says. Learning and forgetting is a deeply inter-linked process. If you learn something, you need to keep reviewing it, to keep it in your memory. You need to keep revisiting it as well, so that the process of retrieval becomes easier.
This also helps you strengthen important memories through reviewing and tests, you make the important ones far more accessible, adds Khan. “Your brain needs to keep forging connections and building new pathways. ‘Forgetting’ old connections forces your brain to create new ones, keeping it flexible and adaptable,” she says.
