How Your Memory Works

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  • Опубликовано: 30 апр 2018
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    How does memory work? And how does… un-memory work? Our brain does a lot of remembering and forgetting every day, so you should probably make room for som info on how it works. You’ll also get to meet some people who can’t make memories, and also never forget anything.
    References: bit.ly/2rdFW0O
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    It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D.
    Director: Joe Nicolosi
    Writer: Maria Ter-Mikaelian
    Creative Director: David Schulte
    Editor/animator: Karl Boettcher and Derek Borsheim
    Producers: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox
    Produced by PBS Digital Studios
    Music via APM
    Stock images from Shutterstock www.shutterstock.com

Комментарии • 1,8 тыс.

  • @besmart
    @besmart  6 лет назад +662

    Don't forget to remember… to subscribe and share!
    Leave us a comment and let us know what you thought of this week's video! Got any cool science questions we should check out next?

    • @kxxlzr
      @kxxlzr 6 лет назад +4

      It's Okay To Be Smart first

    • @Phantom_35
      @Phantom_35 6 лет назад +6

      What is an addiction?

    • @senzubean1358
      @senzubean1358 6 лет назад +3

      Have you already done a video on sleep paralysis and strange conditions?? Cool vid btw.

    • @Phantom_35
      @Phantom_35 6 лет назад

      Never mind my one this would be a cool vid I think

    • @Phantom_35
      @Phantom_35 6 лет назад

      Gah, you beat me

  • @repmel
    @repmel 6 лет назад +2516

    Passive Oblivesence. There! I didn't forget it! Take that Joe!

    • @salacommander2674
      @salacommander2674 6 лет назад +38

      SciGeoHistory
      Now I won't forget it either 😂

    • @Somkent
      @Somkent 6 лет назад +31

      I couldn't remember the passive part. So I could remember 50% or it.:)

    • @BikeHelmetMk2
      @BikeHelmetMk2 6 лет назад +43

      I had forgotten it until he mentioned it. He annoyed my subconscious enough with that taunt... 6 or 7 seconds later I had it. xP

    • @LucDutra92
      @LucDutra92 6 лет назад +14

      Didn't forget what?

    • @jangwan
      @jangwan 6 лет назад +18

      It's *oblivescence
      U didn't remembered it properly 😂

  • @NewMessage
    @NewMessage 6 лет назад +1984

    That mouse needs serious therapy..

    • @2nd3rd1st
      @2nd3rd1st 6 лет назад +58

      That mouse was killed after the scientists were done cutting its skull open.

    • @sebastianelytron8450
      @sebastianelytron8450 6 лет назад +8

      Thought I was listening to Colbert in a different voice when I saw this comment😂

    • @adolfodef
      @adolfodef 6 лет назад +32

      . _"No cartoon mouse was hurt in the production of this animation"_

    • @dustierwand
      @dustierwand 6 лет назад +2

      purely psychosomatic

    • @Blake4014
      @Blake4014 6 лет назад +2

      That mouse met leviathan! And survived! lol

  • @snow.flower
    @snow.flower 6 лет назад +457

    My boyfriend had a teacher in high school who never forgot anything. You can literally give her an exact date and she will tell you exactly what she did that day, to the tee. She remembers all of her students name, even from the very beginning of her teaching days. She also once started crying randomly during class because she can't forget about her daughter's death. It's a gift and a curse :(
    i wrote this before the video talked about it omg

    • @vincentconti-jb3hd
      @vincentconti-jb3hd Год назад +11

      It is a curse. I have too good a memory.

    • @jacesarmiento07
      @jacesarmiento07 10 месяцев назад +7

      i bet my college professors and faculties does not remember me. not any single one of 'em. 😂

    • @hazel121921
      @hazel121921 10 месяцев назад +5

      What happened to all of the other replies? There can have only been 2 over the course of 5 years. Both of which have been made in this year

    • @legendswillfall805
      @legendswillfall805 8 месяцев назад

      they didnt comment duh lol@@hazel121921

    • @user-bh7vg8gd4q
      @user-bh7vg8gd4q 6 месяцев назад

      She probably wrote it down somewhere to remember it

  • @MagicMaster667
    @MagicMaster667 6 лет назад +867

    Yeah, man. Memory is cool.
    When I explain it to people I explain it like 'a path in the forest', you walk along it multiple times and it becomes wider and more clear.
    Some of those memory-lanes in the brain are the width of high-lanes, since they've been in such constant use.
    But if you walk along a path once in that forest, and "forget about it", the path that leads to the thought you thought is gone. It fades away, passively.
    A great way for something to be easily remembered is thinking about it over, and over, and over again. More times than you'd think neccesary.
    Also, Déja vù fits in somewhere in there.
    - Stay Curious.

    • @besmart
      @besmart  6 лет назад +115

      This is a great way to explain it!

    • @MagicMaster667
      @MagicMaster667 6 лет назад +13

      Thanks.
      Though, I just explained it in the same way my favorite Tv show growing up did.

    • @heatherbryant4197
      @heatherbryant4197 5 лет назад +42

      Neuroscientists have an expression: "Neurons that fire together wire together." Same principle. Through repeated use of the same neurons in the same sequence, whatever action was performed (whether it be recalling a memory, signing your name, parallel parking, or using a drug), it's like wearing down a path in a field gradually over time through repeatedly walking the same way. The connection between those particular neurons strengthens, making it much easier to repeat that action in the future. Much like a field becomes easier to walk through when there's a clearing in the grass. Our brains love to find ways of becoming more efficient. So when you repeat the same action over and over again, you brain figures, "This must be important! I will need to know how to do this again in the future!" The neural pathway strengthens, and the action can eventually become habitual. This is part of why addiction involves the hippocampus.
      Ever noticed that very negative people seem to be habitually unhappy and can't seem to learn to stop complaining? Part of this is because the negative thought patterns have become hard-wired into their brain. It's also because being chronically stressed out results in lots of cortisol exposure, including to memory-forming cells in the hippocampus, which die after long-term exposure to cortisol. This is perhaps a defense mechanism our brains have developed to prevent us from remembering traumatic events, but when a person has unhealthy habits of negative thinking, it tends to backfire, because the cortisol kills hippocampal cells, which causes them to not remember, which results in even more stress over not being able to remember or develop new positive/healthy habits and continued negativity, which results in more cortisol, which results in more cell death, and it continues in a snowball effect until eventually the person becomes stuck in their ways. I wonder if "can't teach an old dog new tricks" has anything to do with the hippocampus degrading over time.

    • @user-cd4bx6uq1y
      @user-cd4bx6uq1y 2 года назад +2

      The way that seems to work for me is to repeat alot of times (3-4 minutes maybe) and then focus on something else while repeating a few times every few minutes

    • @SanthoshFabre
      @SanthoshFabre 2 года назад +2

      But which part of the brain remembers it is a already used Neuron right?

  • @stefan7848
    @stefan7848 3 года назад +390

    If we forget embarrassing moments, we would do them again

    • @rocketmanfossel1174
      @rocketmanfossel1174 3 года назад +44

      we regret them because we remember them and their intensity. if we can forget them, it doesn't matter if we do them again or not. Because other people don't remember my embarrassing moments in school just like i don't remember theirs. when a student gets yelled at, he keeps remembering it but if i see him getting yelled at i will be paying attention for a moment but i will forget the intensity of that moment an hour later

    • @3bodYking99
      @3bodYking99 2 года назад +6

      @@rocketmanfossel1174 ok? That doesn't change or add to what he said, what they meant is that, as they say "history is set to repeat itself", that saying is about people not studying history as they should, and repeating the mistakes of their predecessors, that's why history exists, to learn what the people of the past have made and improve on it, and to avoid their mistakes, the same way goes with memory, everything we do is what shapes us, and that's because as he said in the video, forgetting isn't losing a memory, it's the memoys become less frequent, and fading slowly, usually never completely fading, but connecting to other memories, and if we forget what we regret, we don't learn from it, that's why most stuff that we regret don't fade like most stuff we encounter everyday, because these stuff are linked to most stuff we do later in. Since we are actively trying to avoid doing it again

    • @klefromyoutube9953
      @klefromyoutube9953 2 года назад +3

      there are benifits of losing, you get to learn your mistakes

    • @ahhwe-any7434
      @ahhwe-any7434 2 года назад +2

      I remember the dumbest sh too. Sometimes I wonder if other ppl do. Its ok, bc I remember too tho..

    • @vincentconti-jb3hd
      @vincentconti-jb3hd Год назад

      Nice. I have a few that I would like to forget!

  • @tonycoronado5844
    @tonycoronado5844 3 года назад +161

    "You'll probably forget Passive Oblivescence"
    Me, a neuroscience major student: you're probably right

  • @okboing
    @okboing 2 года назад +127

    My deepest, darkest fear, short of drowning or suffocating, is forgetting. I already have poor short-term memory, and I'm deeply upset by how much I don't remember from early childhood. In one way, I hold childhood memories close to my heart, but at the same time, it hurts to stop remembering them and step back into stressful reality.

    • @tracesprite6078
      @tracesprite6078 2 года назад +16

      You may be able to access some memories via smells. The smell of freshly baked bread, a cooked cake, mown grass or a cup of coffee might bring back some memories for you. A newly opened tin of paint, an oily rag, might do the same. And some sounds e.g. an old fashioned sewing machine or a gramophone record. A visit to a museum might trigger some memories. Sitting on a verandah or making a bed with freshly washed sheets might be evocative. And some old songs also.

    • @bobikoart
      @bobikoart 2 года назад +1

      Everywhere At The End Of Time

    • @GalacticHero2068
      @GalacticHero2068 2 года назад +2

      I only remember stuff from when I was 10 years old, before that I can't remember anything. But I really don't care, there's nothing important in my past, no reason to remember it.

    • @Keegan171
      @Keegan171 Год назад +3

      When I was babysitting recently, I tried to remember the nursery rhymes my mother sang to me as a child. It brought back some very old memories and a nostalgic feeling that almost brought a tear to my eye. It was unexpected. I also have a fear forgetting and loss of mental functions in general. I hope we have breakthroughs in medicine to help with it.

    • @abowlofnoodle
      @abowlofnoodle Год назад

      try writing diary! I have been writing diary since I was in middle school. Everytime I read my diaries, my past self tells my present self what happened on her day! I have been suprised by my past self many times

  • @jacksonayres6326
    @jacksonayres6326 3 года назад +128

    As somebody with a CS degree, the way memories work strongly reminds me of the way index tables function for RAM, databases, and hard storage. Rather than actually contain the data, it contains the *location* of that data.

  • @user-ww3ik7ob5l
    @user-ww3ik7ob5l 6 лет назад +506

    The animation is great.

    • @TommoCarroll
      @TommoCarroll 6 лет назад +2

      It really is, which was your favourite bit?

    • @moonontheman1103
      @moonontheman1103 6 лет назад +1

      Aspect Science the note-snipping part

    • @JishnuWarrierA
      @JishnuWarrierA 6 лет назад

      I was thinking the same, the amount of hardwork on that. wonder who did it

    • @salvadoran_uwu
      @salvadoran_uwu 5 лет назад

      I like too.

    • @NetherTaker
      @NetherTaker 5 лет назад

      Just a question, what does kabarunahannamitsuchi mean?

  • @bridge4
    @bridge4 6 лет назад +348

    You and your team are a godsend, for lack of better words. Great video as always :))

    • @williamgustavk2184
      @williamgustavk2184 3 года назад +5

      come on dude, 21st century, god is a myth

    • @savagebot8724
      @savagebot8724 3 года назад

      @@williamgustavk2184 he wrote it on 2019

    • @williamgustavk2184
      @williamgustavk2184 3 года назад +1

      ​@@savagebot8724 doesnt matter, crazy ppl are everywhere, if no one says nothing this will never change
      the only place where "god" or "gods" are needed, is in places with war, high poverty, and death, soooo why european countries arent more atheist? cuz the parents inherit the religion/mythology, making the kids ignorants
      there are 4200 religions and 30.000 gods
      only 14% of the world is atheist
      the only god is the milky way
      in a way the big bang is a father god but thats a theory, not a law sooo until, is just the milky way
      have u saw those stupid parents making their kids to pray over the table?, FOR THE FOOD?
      when the parents are the ones who, work, earn money and buy the food...................................
      or catholic schools WHY THE F ARE THOSE STILL LEGAL? cuz no one cares(tolerant atheist ppl) or are busy doing crazy things like talking to the sky, when the only thing alive up there that we know off is the ISS nothing else
      there are 300 million habitable planets, the aliens will never come to do an apocalypse
      end of the world in 2012? my ballls
      tell to those in 2012 who jumped from a building, good job being ignorant, THOSE WERE ADULTS, F ADULTS, not kids
      www.livescience.com/14295-failed-doomsday-rapture-suicides.html
      here learn something
      ruclips.net/video/NQ4CUw9RcuA/видео.html

    • @G0lden07
      @G0lden07 3 года назад +3

      @@williamgustavk2184 I kinda agree with almost everything you said except when you said big bang is just a theory. A scientific theory is not a guess. That's what a hypothesis is. In science a theory is an idea backed by evidence or other proven ideas or even mathematical laws. Oh and BTW a law is nothing like a theory. A theory is actually worth much more than a law. A law is just a thing that happens. Usually laws come as mathematical laws which are used to calculate something and sometimes they come as a true thing that's always the case like conservation of energy or entropy. So big bang won't become a law since a law is nothing like a theory and has nothing to do with the big bang. And big bang has evidence by the way so big bang is true.

    • @dacioana881
      @dacioana881 2 года назад

      @@williamgustavk2184 god is real

  • @RaindropsBleeding
    @RaindropsBleeding 3 года назад +293

    "How would it be if you never forgot anything?"
    I know a friend like this and hers is a horror story. Sexually and physically abused as a child, enduring domestic abuse as she got older, and leading several fire rescue teams into danger in her early 20s, sending one team to their death. And she remembers all of it. The poor girl has total memory recall. Most people see it when she explains to them how much of their house is still standing, or when she helps friends find things they've misplaced. But she also remembers the abuse, the trauma, and the horrors she saw in the fire, all in excruciating detail. And she can't forget any of it.
    How she's still sane is beyond me. Forgetting things is important.

    • @hittingyouoverthehead
      @hittingyouoverthehead 2 года назад +36

      But to be fair, abuse is the kind of thing that anyone would remember, whether or not you have a superior memory like your friend. You may forget a random bullying incident that you went through but the big stuff sticks.
      I do feel really bad for your friend though. All those memories must have really messed her up.

    • @ahhwe-any7434
      @ahhwe-any7434 2 года назад +2

      @@hittingyouoverthehead I remember things. Idk how it is for others going through trauma but I remember. I mean,, i know.. i know what the drs say about some. I am not those some. I remember details too. Idfk whats wrong w/ me but I guess im flighty. Im trying to be clever w/ my brilliant psychological words. Idk how I ended up such a well rounded person either 🥴. Survive or don't. Someone had to care about me. And it sure as hell wasn't others. Well, others couldve. It just a shameful thing. So, I just moved on. . I raised myself w/ out ever having a real clue about life. I didn't even know how to pay bills through the mail, bank accounts, nada. But in my defense my younger yrs were back when. And yeah. So, I raised myself

    • @abhay4147
      @abhay4147 2 года назад +21

      @@hittingyouoverthehead I understand what you're saying, but the scenario for people with Hyperthymesia is worse. Nobody forgets trauma, but those people remember it in vivid detail. From the info I have gathered, they can see it like a video being replayed to them, covering every second. It's really a curse

    • @cobalius
      @cobalius 2 года назад +1

      Dunno, i have a very good intuition / imagination in a way that i can daydream hyper realistically.
      I don't know if that's normal, but sometimes i'll see complex scenarios like multiple growing crystals, water with its dozens of reflections and shadows or microscopic textures that are built like a randomized maze while there're several or even moving light sources and then i can rotate those things and see where and how shadows might change.
      Yeah and it's definitely a daydream thingy, because it's clearly imposssible to simultaniously see a generic tree several from feet away and feel their specific bark texture on my tongue.

    • @johnmcguire4422
      @johnmcguire4422 2 года назад +1

      Well, was she leading teams or sending teams? Story sounds sketchy to me.

  • @christophergroom9153
    @christophergroom9153 3 года назад +20

    This guy seems like the popular smart kid from high school. Love him!

  • @slimkt
    @slimkt 6 лет назад +357

    I need to master motivated forgetting, man. Too many negative memories keep me up at night.

    • @mariejeandeslet1301
      @mariejeandeslet1301 6 лет назад +9

      slimkt just let it go life will be better trust me

    • @evanro2396
      @evanro2396 6 лет назад +1

      Same

    • @PerceptionVsReality333
      @PerceptionVsReality333 6 лет назад +2

      +slimkt
      Same here

    • @mariejeandeslet1301
      @mariejeandeslet1301 6 лет назад +2

      Bing Bong yes i am actually thx for noticing :p

    • @sam08g16
      @sam08g16 6 лет назад +15

      Recurring negative thoughts, mainly when they exaggerate the actual past experience - i.e. it was not a big deal but in our minds we keep blaming ourselves for that - is one of the symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder. I did not know why I had these thoughts until someone diagnosed me with it. From that day on, every time I had a negative memory I just thought "eh, it's just part of my disease" and the thoughts started to vanish. Worked for me.

  • @yakov9ify
    @yakov9ify 6 лет назад +283

    That mouse has some serious PTSD

    • @christianheichel
      @christianheichel 4 года назад +2

      Poor mouse we should raise money for all future mice with PTSD in memory of that mouse.

    • @Sentient-potato
      @Sentient-potato 3 года назад +1

      Chris Heichel do you know what ptsd is

    • @Neon_Dragon18
      @Neon_Dragon18 3 года назад +1

      @@Sentient-potato I know what P.T.S.D means it means "People transmit sexual diseases" it is a tragic thing to happen to someone.

    • @Sentient-potato
      @Sentient-potato 3 года назад +1

      Neon _Dragon18 is that a joke?
      Also I disagree with my comment from not even a week ago lol

    • @Neon_Dragon18
      @Neon_Dragon18 3 года назад

      @@Sentient-potato Yeah it's obviously a joke because the comment that guy made was perfectly clear but it looks like he doesn't know what P.T.S.D means for some reason. Maybe the way he put it in the sentence.

  • @darklion13
    @darklion13 3 года назад +77

    From my knowledge, the brain has two indicators to know the importance of a memory
    1. emotional value
    2. usefulness
    Emotional value is, for example, that time when you ran away from a bear. The memory is frightening and holds great importance, or that time you found some sweat food and felt happy, as such remembered it.
    Usefulness is, for example, remembering how to make food because you have done it every day; repetition is the key.
    If you want to forget something, you should detach the emotional value from it. Usually, the best way to do this is to accept it. Imagine a kid. You don't want him to play with a specific toy. If you play with the toy all the time, he will want it. If you try to avoid it entirely, he will also want it. But if you don't give any special treatment to the toy, he will act the same.

    • @alovesyou777
      @alovesyou777 Год назад +3

      Emotional value can be categorised into explicit memory - things you consciously think about. These are episodic and declarative (important emotional experiences) and usefulness is a biological function to keep us living, which is implicit or unconsciously thought about memory, such as semantic (facts and info) and procedural (how to do things). There are many sub genres into why we keep memories. To forget a memory is also to stop practicing it, stop re-consolidating. You sound like you've done a psych degree!

  • @katkaat
    @katkaat 6 лет назад +18

    I was looking at my grandma's HS yearbook from 1946, and I said one name outloud and she described him perfectly, without looking at the book. It's pretty amazing.

  • @josephnicolosi6615
    @josephnicolosi6615 6 лет назад +443

    great video, only complaint is that it should have been titled 'fuhgeddaboudit!'

    • @tnttiger3079
      @tnttiger3079 6 лет назад +15

      Also, they referred to Holmes as if he were a real guy lol

    • @christianheichel
      @christianheichel 4 года назад +3

      Wait! What was that?

    • @leuvinaful
      @leuvinaful 4 года назад +2

      I read this with the appropriate hand gestures

    • @prisssss
      @prisssss 4 года назад

      Joseph Nicolosi HAHAHAHAHA

    • @wolfstar420
      @wolfstar420 4 года назад +1

      @@christianheichel it means forget about it

  • @lukejreid
    @lukejreid 6 лет назад +51

    I have had over 40 treatments of ECT and I’ve lost heaps of memories, some bad, some good. I only realise it when my family fill in the blanks. It is very weird.

    • @wholeNwon
      @wholeNwon 6 лет назад +7

      Hopefully you've benefited from the treatment. I've known 2 people who have had it done. One was my aunt and she improved only marginally. The second was a man whose life was completely changed for the best. He was so grateful to his doctor!

    • @lukejreid
      @lukejreid 6 лет назад +8

      wholeNwon ECT really helped me. I had such bad depression that I wasn’t responding to medication or therapy. ECT was the only thing that worked.

    • @professorbaxtercarelessdre1075
      @professorbaxtercarelessdre1075 3 года назад +3

      it sounds scary. i wouldn't say i have severe depression, more like extreme dissatisfaction lol. i wouldn't think getting shocked would help enough where the benefits outweigh the risks or even consequences

  • @karolinabielska489
    @karolinabielska489 2 года назад +1

    I absolutely love how the all the videos here are made: from the visual side to the presenter's voice and body language. Thank you and keep it up!

  • @mattmobilee
    @mattmobilee 4 года назад +39

    Didn't remember until about halfway through that I had already watched this video about a year ago

  • @Kanzu999
    @Kanzu999 6 лет назад +9

    4:05 "We have at least three different ways of forgetting. The first is what happens when a memory fades over time, so called passive oblivescence, a term you will probably forget."
    You just gotta love that humor.

  • @Notgivenit
    @Notgivenit 3 года назад +5

    I’ve undergone ECT, you don’t lose old memories, those all stay intact. You loose short term memory stuff. Like I never forgot old memories, but I have no memory of the two months I was undergoing treatment.

  • @vikhyatrao4472
    @vikhyatrao4472 Год назад +4

    I forgot I even watched this video, youtube told me I watched it...

  • @andreifilip6364
    @andreifilip6364 6 лет назад +9

    Man, the production value of this vid is amazing.. editing, animation, writing.. great job, you guys!

  • @Whatishappening32
    @Whatishappening32 6 лет назад +14

    I was abused as a little girl, and blocked like 90% of my memories from that time. Watching me talk about the things that happened to me in my therapy videos, is like watching another person. It's weird

    • @SuviTuuliAllan
      @SuviTuuliAllan 6 лет назад +1

      I was abused and I don't know if I blocked out any memories but it does seem like things are missing. Or it could be that my memory is just kind of random. Of course all the stress and anxiety I've experienced has probably affected my ability to form memories. TBIs and that small complication during birth may have had an effect as well. I don't even know if I want to remember but I still think about it every now and then. Why does one torture one's self with things one cannot change?

  • @Billaxle
    @Billaxle 6 лет назад +70

    "That painful embarrassing memory from high school."
    *GEE, THANKS JOE! IMMA GO TAKE MY MEDS NOW!*

    • @tornadodee148
      @tornadodee148 2 года назад +1

      oh my gosh ACTUALLY THANK YOU to make me remember to take my meds!! XD

    • @kiyominyo7521
      @kiyominyo7521 2 года назад +1

      @@tornadodee148 LMAOOO

    • @tornadodee148
      @tornadodee148 2 года назад

      @@kiyominyo7521 yeah that time I had forgotten to take my meds and @Billaxle reminded me. thanks bro. xD

    • @tornadodee148
      @tornadodee148 2 года назад

      @@kiyominyo7521 shoot how do you tag someone if its not @? xD

  • @hkia7893
    @hkia7893 2 года назад +3

    It always baffled me when I had vivid dream at night and the detail was so clear, only to forget like 15min after waking up

  • @jamesthomas9788
    @jamesthomas9788 6 лет назад +5

    I love how informative and yet accessible the videos on this channel are. They really help to bring a lot of what we know or learn down to an accessible level for those of us who don't spend years learning in these particular fields. Also, I find it amusing the mouse found itself in the maze from the Hellraiser movies ;)

  • @KK-zw6bo
    @KK-zw6bo 6 лет назад +566

    What happens in the brain when people have photographic memories?

    • @matt_swan
      @matt_swan 6 лет назад +25

      Tyrese Okeke depends on the type of memories, I only know one and it's for personal memories: hyperthymesia

    • @KK-zw6bo
      @KK-zw6bo 6 лет назад +2

      ApolloAwe okay good to know, thanks!

    • @binky2819
      @binky2819 6 лет назад +99

      There is no such thing as photographic memory. It is a myth.

    • @KK-zw6bo
      @KK-zw6bo 6 лет назад +22

      binky2819 but what about that guy who can draw things he remembers even if it is he first time he has seen it he can draw it just from memory?

    • @Vyker
      @Vyker 6 лет назад +67

      Tyrese Okeke it's not actual. He's drawing from his memory which could be nothing like a photograph. His imagination will fill in all the gaps.

  • @sylarvandoza5388
    @sylarvandoza5388 6 лет назад +662

    Doctor walks into his office and says to his patient
    “Bad news. You’ve got cancer, and also Alzheimer’s...”
    Old man replies
    “Well...at least I don’t have cancer!”

    • @generalferret7129
      @generalferret7129 4 года назад +12

      XD

    • @Vader4499
      @Vader4499 4 года назад +43

      @winsley ocampo Alzehimer's syndrome is the disease where you forget stuff.The man forgot he had cancer

    • @BuickGeek24
      @BuickGeek24 4 года назад +9

      @@Vader4499 And also affects the rest of the brain besides just memory

    • @MerkhVision
      @MerkhVision 3 года назад +5

      winsley ocampo I diagnose u with the big dumb. U must have a smooth brain to not comprehend the very simple joke lol

    • @jiagengliu
      @jiagengliu 3 года назад +2

      @@BuickGeek24 Hippocampus is the very first thing affected by Alzheimer's, so patients are similar to H.M. mentioned in the video: they can't form new memory.

  • @kev1773
    @kev1773 5 дней назад

    I happen to love forgetting. I look forward to growing and moving forward. I know it’s my trauma response but, I do hold onto the good.

  • @sirboringname
    @sirboringname 6 лет назад +3

    The quality of this show increases every time.
    I LOVE IT!

  • @kalinapto5730
    @kalinapto5730 6 лет назад +15

    I'm bipolar and three years ago, while being hospitalised, I had 12 sessions of electroconvulsive therapy. It took six weeks. Normally I have amazing memory, so partial memory loss was very weird for me. I lost most of memories from couple of months before hospital and for these six weeks I almost had no short-term memory at all! Friends took me to the movies couple of times but then even seing posters of these movies didn't ring a bell for me. These memories didn't come back, because twice a week I forgot last couple of days. I know it sounds scary, but after therapy remembering went back to normal and conjoined with proper medicines I felt a lot better. Stay curious! ;)

  • @kills_oultracks
    @kills_oultracks Год назад +3

    I love how BeSmart uses amazing small details in this video! At 6:58 you can see that he used Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall" album cover which was exactly also released at that year, 1979. Keep up the good work!

  • @saarangkelkar1424
    @saarangkelkar1424 6 лет назад

    The way you started the topic and then conclude it is simply speechless. I would love to know how you think like that to make videos like that

  • @Twillinsan
    @Twillinsan 6 лет назад +4

    This was an amazing explanation of the topic. Thank you! Its not always easy to explain and understand complex subjects but you did great!

  • @monstermushmush
    @monstermushmush 6 лет назад +40

    I thought this was Ted-Ed for the first 10 seconds of the video...

  • @locke_ytb
    @locke_ytb 4 года назад +9

    My memory can forget so I can forget those times that I embarrassed myself.

  • @fergilhannie4682
    @fergilhannie4682 3 года назад +4

    Even though there are awkward and regretting memories, you should always embrace them and it is completely natural to forget things now and then

  • @Chribit
    @Chribit 6 лет назад +144

    I do want to be able to control this though. I want to know and remember everything about science, i.e. all the formulas, the entire periodic table, every protein in any organism... obviously not any smell or sight I come across. But i'd like to be actively able to tell my brain "okay, this is important to me, remember this."
    This is why I'll probably get a brain-machine-interface as soon as possible.

    • @comicsans6487
      @comicsans6487 6 лет назад

      Chribit Easier ways to do it, learn the method of loci

    • @Chribit
      @Chribit 6 лет назад

      Comic Sans method of loci?

    • @brokkoliomg6103
      @brokkoliomg6103 6 лет назад

      Comic Sans I'm interested as well haha

    • @comicsans6487
      @comicsans6487 6 лет назад

      Chribit google it or read the book moon walking with Einstein

    • @FranciT98
      @FranciT98 6 лет назад +18

      You just need to manually do what your brain does: try to recall it as many times as possible to strengthen the connections, and keep recalling those memories all the time... Also called studying.

  • @zeromailss
    @zeromailss 6 лет назад +199

    That animation is awesome, the mouse looks like it has a Vietnam flashbacks 😂

    • @shock789
      @shock789 6 лет назад +7

      Why is that a joke

    • @randomguy-jd8su
      @randomguy-jd8su 4 года назад

      XD

    • @Shadow-gm1qy
      @Shadow-gm1qy 2 года назад +1

      @@shock789 cos this is the Internet.

    • @Kumorini
      @Kumorini 2 года назад +1

      @@shock789 Bc people think making jokes about serious situations is funny, especially on the internet where they can hide behind a screen

    • @MichaelAutism
      @MichaelAutism 2 года назад

      I mean, these comments are givin me EATEOT Vibes, but...
      Could i just say that the mouse was at stage 5 of dementia?

  • @deniser3467
    @deniser3467 3 года назад +3

    I’m not sure what age group this is targeted to but I’m 30 and I’m learning so much! I love how much information you give and the matching animations. I wish school was like this... or maybe it was but I forgot? 😅

  • @candyflossz099
    @candyflossz099 Год назад

    Thanks this video is so cool, and so are the brain and the memory mechanism!
    I love your examples and metaphors as well

  • @gupta-pw5xb
    @gupta-pw5xb 6 лет назад +10

    I will never forget this........

    • @gupta-pw5xb
      @gupta-pw5xb 6 лет назад +1

      a person23675 that forgetting is needed.

  • @noaccount8957
    @noaccount8957 6 лет назад +11

    Wow this is so cool!!!

  • @friskylime
    @friskylime 5 лет назад +2

    Oh boy, making me take a trip down memory lane! That's okay though, I'm glad I can still remember so many things from my past.

  • @jmanj3917
    @jmanj3917 Год назад +2

    3:00 That mouse needs to learn how not to dwell on negative experiences...lol

  • @hollywan8082
    @hollywan8082 2 года назад +6

    Thank you for explaining memory in a fun and easy way! I love the part at 4:16: "Passive oblivescence (a term you will probably forget)"
    p.s. trying to use motivated forgetting to forget a bad dream I had this morning

    • @johnslugger
      @johnslugger 2 года назад

      The brain uses CANNABINOID receptors (Cannabis) to erase 98% of useless memory. YES the brain has it own "POT" factory to make "FORGETTING Chemicals". This is why POT kills SHORT TERM memory and why you should NOT smoke POT when in school or college OR YOU WILL FORGET most of it.

  • @mrwelshmun
    @mrwelshmun 5 лет назад +3

    I had a conversation the other day about "motivated forgetting" someone asked me about a house I lived in before. A house I lived in for 6 years. And for as hard as I tried I couldn't remember much about it. All that I can remember is it was the time when my parents broke up and me and my whole family fell out. Other than that as hard as I tried I couldn't remember anyy specific details.

  • @jujuoof174
    @jujuoof174 Год назад

    I love this so much, I learn lots of things every video!

  • @obedbadu8161
    @obedbadu8161 6 лет назад

    Thank you for making this video. I was wondering about this.

  • @etownshawn
    @etownshawn 3 года назад +4

    Amazing how music can enhance a memory... but listening to that same song over & over again diminishes the effect. .. and yeah sometimes you need to forget- like trying to get over a crush ♥

  • @Bastogne1944
    @Bastogne1944 6 лет назад +71

    The Great Big Story uploaded an interview very recently of a woman who was able to retain all of her memory. I am unable to post the link because it won’t appear in the comment section but I highly recommend to give it a watch.
    Great video by the way Joe.

    • @kaiserwigglesiii2369
      @kaiserwigglesiii2369 6 лет назад +1

      General S. Patton thanks patton

    • @dragoncurveenthusiast
      @dragoncurveenthusiast 6 лет назад +1

      Why can't you post the link? I've postet links many times before.
      And even if the whole link doesn't work, you could post the video ID at the end of the link.
      I'm not trying to troll, I genuinely want to know whether my link-posting ability is a super-power I wasn't aware of.

    • @InHumanoXY
      @InHumanoXY 6 лет назад +1

      Check out
      The Mind of a Mnemonist: A Little Book about a Vast Memory - Aleksandr R. Luria

    • @Bastogne1944
      @Bastogne1944 6 лет назад

      Dragon Curve Enthusiast I honestly have no idea why I was not able to post a link, it could have been a bug but that is just a hunch.

    • @Bastogne1944
      @Bastogne1944 6 лет назад +1

      InHumano XY Thanks for the reference.

  • @jameseddy6835
    @jameseddy6835 6 месяцев назад

    Absolutely amazing video. Hope I can remember it. Please keep up the great work.

  • @OHyeahURface
    @OHyeahURface 5 лет назад

    Awesome as always!!

  • @geshtu1760
    @geshtu1760 6 лет назад +6

    8:18 "An *elementary* part of solving this great mystery we call life"

  • @iamnotahandle
    @iamnotahandle 6 лет назад +7

    Nice Hellraiser 2 reference!!!

    • @dannya8614
      @dannya8614 6 лет назад

      Yeah, I was about to post a comment on that. Well spotted sir :)

    • @jackalope2302
      @jackalope2302 6 лет назад

      Ditto

  • @taufiqramadhan8948
    @taufiqramadhan8948 6 лет назад

    love this episode!

  • @AFloridaSon
    @AFloridaSon 2 года назад +2

    I had to come back to this 3 years later, because I couldn't remember why we forget. 🤔😆

  • @fingernailclipper2152
    @fingernailclipper2152 6 лет назад +4

    Last time I was this early, H.M. could still make experiences memories

  • @johanbriglia8267
    @johanbriglia8267 6 лет назад +3

    "A memory is an action, not an object"
    Thank you so much for this, this is the first time I hear this argument in a scientific popularization video. Memory is not a function of the brain (amongst others), it is the way the brain is functioning. Varela's enaction principles should be widely circulated, to avoid the spread of classical representationalist misconceptions about cognition.

  • @landongall2080
    @landongall2080 6 лет назад

    This channel takes the cake.

  • @ninakochan7
    @ninakochan7 Год назад

    This was fascinating to me because I have PTSD and I seem to remember almost everything, but I get easily overwhelmed and always need some alone time to cope and center myself.🤔 Everything new I learn is a bit much sometimes 😅

  • @lettuce1626
    @lettuce1626 3 года назад +5

    Oh shoot, I've been living my whole life remembering random trivia, my attic can barely fit anything

  • @maartjevijn7040
    @maartjevijn7040 6 лет назад +4

    Cool Vid!! Really liked the braincells background that cept expanding!

  • @chazzmanRx
    @chazzmanRx 3 года назад

    Awesominess...loved the conclusion!

  • @naxel37
    @naxel37 4 года назад +2

    If only I could remember to stop forgetting to remember things!

  • @longliveplanetawesome3223
    @longliveplanetawesome3223 5 лет назад +7

    I can barely remember what I talked about a minute ago. I am so forgetful. My parents are thinking of legally changing my name to "Forget". I'd probably forget that.

    • @professorbaxtercarelessdre1075
      @professorbaxtercarelessdre1075 3 года назад +1

      ditto friend, and i likely won't remember reading your comment, or replying to it, by the end of the week lol

    • @1tsjaboisam973
      @1tsjaboisam973 3 года назад

      @@professorbaxtercarelessdre1075 do you remember

    • @professorbaxtercarelessdre1075
      @professorbaxtercarelessdre1075 3 года назад

      @@1tsjaboisam973 only thanks to it being in my youtube comments lol. i remember it existing once i see it. in a few years though i doubt i will

  • @adityanagarkar4326
    @adityanagarkar4326 6 лет назад +4

    listen to "remind me to forget" by kygo for motivational forgetting

  • @litost
    @litost 2 года назад

    wow! thank you, I've looking for this for a long time. a better understanding of what's an idea. i'm dazzle by the fact this really looks like a simulation. like we have an image or an idea of something but they're just pieces, just like our cellphones, just light, electricity, and the right amount of red, green and blue.

  • @pebblesandwoowoo5924
    @pebblesandwoowoo5924 3 года назад +1

    I forced myself to forget a lot of painful memories and emotions I "cut them off"; it's an active habit but does have side effects. I struggle to remember new events, I have really bad aphasia, and I feel very emotionally disconnected and often empty - but I know it's a lot better than before, and I do have times of happiness. I am certainly more content with my life now but everything comes with a price. Actively forgetting and cuttimg off emotions is 100% possible.

  • @ernodios
    @ernodios 6 лет назад +3

    You can also reconsolidate a bad memory by just reactivating it and having a dose of scopolamine. If you do nothing else it will go back to storage but the emotional component that makes it stressful will disappear. That's another treatment for PTSD, pretty effective as it leaves the gist idea of the memory in your semantic storage but you stop reexperiencing the trauma.

  • @chapo335
    @chapo335 4 года назад +6

    At a youngish age (being 12 years old) I got knocked over by a car, I was said to be dead... Well nine to ten weeks later when I awoke from a coma, even though I thought I was still the same boy I felt a little different being pushed everywhere in a wheel chair.
    I had lost the ability to move down my right side. Doctors said I was lucky to be alive, but from then on I would be living a life unlike the one I lived before.
    Understanding the Doctors (but not letting it settle) I wanted to be like my family & friend again. Having two parents whom were as eager as I was to get as close as I could at being 'Normal' again they took me all different places where I were told to move different and even told just to lay on a bed where I was put to sleep (healed) by others.
    Even though I can't move my right side as freely as a everyday human can I cope with life yet seem to remember allot of things that occurred in my life that other family members can't, yet my brain is injured for life.

  • @sophierender5736
    @sophierender5736 3 года назад +1

    Well for someone with short term memory problems (like Dory lol) my memory tends to forget important things so I have to write it down, yet it sometimes remembers useless information instead of important information 😂 why brain why! Loving your videos by the way they’re so interesting and informative!

  • @fxnozakhere9653
    @fxnozakhere9653 Год назад

    2:49 Leviathan! And the Hellraiser "gong"...nice touch! 😆

  • @mrwelshmun
    @mrwelshmun 5 лет назад +3

    Also I had an idea watching this video. The part where 2 memories that were similar became scrambled. Maybe, when you have a similar corresponding situation of sights, smells and sounds and you think you remember this, maybe that explains the "de ja vu" experience??
    Thoughts?

  • @jangwan
    @jangwan 6 лет назад +14

    I remembered the passive part, but oblivescence is kind of new word for me so didn't quite remembered it completely😁

  • @gone3281
    @gone3281 Год назад

    the person I most love can't forget anything I did wrong for the last 13 years, yet I only remember the things I love from her since the day I met her 😢

  • @NoirL.A.
    @NoirL.A. 2 года назад

    i'm 53 and so well remember life before the internet. though i know some is due to simple aging i know for a fact that because i have access to the internet i'm just plain cramming my head with too much info. from watching vids like this day in and day out and it is compromising my memory. not critically yet but it's happening no doubt.

  • @paulcastillo1880
    @paulcastillo1880 5 лет назад +4

    When I remember how something tastes, I can still taste it....

  • @blackparadoxx9656
    @blackparadoxx9656 6 лет назад +4

    He who forgets, will be destined to remember.
    Nothingman - PJ

  • @studiosandi
    @studiosandi 2 года назад

    Super interesting.
    Thank you.

  • @Aisha-XDDD
    @Aisha-XDDD 4 месяца назад +1

    I have a diary that I've been writing from 2013 in which I'm briefly writing only the good and fruitful memories of my life.. So that i can rewind those and forcefully forget the bad ones😇

  • @Shacogami
    @Shacogami 6 лет назад +42

    Passive Obliblasdance?
    IDK I forgot

    • @John_C_J
      @John_C_J 6 лет назад +2

      Passive Obliviation.

    • @Vader4499
      @Vader4499 4 года назад

      @@John_C_J you forgot

  • @Shilag
    @Shilag 6 лет назад +35

    Three elephants? THREE elephants?! How DARE you!

  • @LongJohnnyQuid
    @LongJohnnyQuid 2 года назад

    Great video! Love the Discworld reference. XD

  • @mystiekmelody8857
    @mystiekmelody8857 3 года назад

    Awesome! Thanks!

  • @BoSinnfan54
    @BoSinnfan54 5 лет назад +7

    How do i activate my memory?
    My memory only activates when there are no exams.

  • @KaiserMattTygore927
    @KaiserMattTygore927 6 лет назад +4

    Damn, I wish I had that "power" to remember everything.

    • @anulekh123
      @anulekh123 2 года назад

      That would be a curse rather than a gift.

  • @samukelisiwenkabini7656
    @samukelisiwenkabini7656 Год назад

    Perfect explanation ❤

  • @stompsandsynths
    @stompsandsynths 10 месяцев назад

    Loving the Hellraiser II reference there!

  • @fabiofdez
    @fabiofdez 6 лет назад +5

    4:35 what's that memory!

    • @Carbon2861996
      @Carbon2861996 6 лет назад

      Just a legless tapir worshipped by slime puppies.

  • @aikslf
    @aikslf 6 лет назад +4

    I'd never forget you, Joe! (ಥ﹏ಥ)

  • @skessisalive
    @skessisalive 5 месяцев назад

    Oh man, things make so much sense now!! 🤯 🤯
    Every moment of my life is a traumatic event and there are so many people telling me so much useless information every day, so I experience targeted forgetting and motivated forgetting every night while I sleep and that’s why I wake up every morning taking so long to remember who and where I am and everything else about existence.. 😅

  • @EyeJustSleep
    @EyeJustSleep 3 года назад +1

    When u think about it, some of the bad memories I want to keep because its a learning experience

    • @professorbaxtercarelessdre1075
      @professorbaxtercarelessdre1075 3 года назад

      i've found it isn't remembering something that's bad, its the feelings of pain and regret from remembering those things that i'd rather do without

  • @rfldss89
    @rfldss89 6 лет назад +4

    1:26 oh no, your gills are showing. I hope I'll be able to erase this image from my brain soon

  • @trilobite7308
    @trilobite7308 6 лет назад +6

    If i can't remember things that are wrong how do I remember what a non-feathered dinosaur looks like

  • @Disitha.Perera
    @Disitha.Perera 7 месяцев назад

    Passive Oblivescense - Happens because of the connections between brain cells gradually weaken overtime or when the memory is still there but loses the triggers. (Sights, sounds, etc.)
    Targeted forgetting - Happens when we sleep. In certain stages of sleep, we prune the connections between the cells and erase unneeded memory circuits.
    Motivated forgetting

  • @tushargupta9319
    @tushargupta9319 Год назад

    Very deeply explain concept of how person memory work. I am truly inspired to watch this video,, also content in this video is so much amazing