False Memories

FALSE MEMORY

The Implication of Brain Function in the Memory of Human Individuals

Introduction

The human brain functions in such a way that it stores the memorable points of being remarkable in the process of recalling . A person 's memory is prodigious , containing untold millions of items of importance to the individual and many more things that are relatively unimportant Therefore the ten thousand million cells in the cerebral cortex are not enough for storing this , if we view each cell as a little container holding one memory of a particular

point or scene . They would all be full ' in a week , considering the constant barrage of information that comes to the brain through the various senses , primarily the eyes

However , the brain contains one thousand billion protein molecules (one followed by twenty-one zeros . Each of these molecules can undergo many changes in its structure and afterward retain the changed shape . This changed structure may represent a new memory impression . As the molecules are replaced by wear , they duplicate themselves so that the replacement molecules are the same . But this is not all . The increase of branches of the nerve cells as the memory grows makes millions of new combinations by their increased contacts ' By this the possible number of memories becomes indefinite , beyond comprehension Additionally , other unknown factors seem to exist , to multiply the number even more

To illustrate how just the one factor , namely , the different combinations of the ten thousand million cells in the cerebral cortex can make an inconceivably high figure : In a deck of only fifty-two cards there are more than 635 ,000 ,000 ,000 different possible bridge hands of thirteen cards each . But this is nothing compared to the multiplied billions of billions more combinations in the brain

Giving even added capacity to all of this is the way in which memories seem to be stored . When we look at something , say a mountain scene , it is not stored in our brain as an intact image . It is broken up into parts , electrically or chemically coded bits , forming a sort of coded mosaic ' Then , when we see another scene , certain bits of one scene compare with the other . Cross-comparisons help memory and allow the mind to experiment ' by making these comparisons and contrasts . It might be a comparison of sizes , shapes , colors , of parts of conversations , of Bible passages , of ideas and principles . This greatly enlarges and strengthens memory . It also leads to imagination , reasoning , arriving at new ideas and conclusions . In this process the mind is not doing a mechanical work , or the drudgery ' of mere remembering , but something in which the person takes great pleasure

What is Memory

Memory is so valuable to the individual that to destroy it completely would be a disaster . It would wipe out a large portion of his personality . But there is an unknown safety factor ' that usually prevents such a calamity . Most persons who lose their memory , due to an accident or injury , lose only the...