One Brain's journey

A recent study by British and German scientists found that the part of the brain usually associted wtih long-term memory may also be associated with working memory.  The study focused on the hippocampus which has traditionally been thought to have a role in long-term memory, spatial memory and navigation.  This is also one of the first parts of the brain to suffer in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

The study looked at patients with temporal lobe epilepsy which causes problems in the hippocampus leading to short-term memory problems.  The researchers said, “The patients could not distinguish the studied images from new images after 60 minutes but performed normally after five seconds.”  Professor Emrah Duzel of University College London went on to say  that a striking deficit emerged even at five seconds when the subjects were asked to recall the detailed arrangements of objects within scenes in photographs.

The study concluded that there are two distinct short-term memory networks within the brain.  The other one that is separate from the hippocampus remains intact in patients with hippocampus-related disorders.

Nathan Cashdollar, also from University College London said, “This is the fist functional and anatomical evidence showing which mechanisms are shared between short-term and long-term memory and which are independent.”

The findings of this study, I think, are interesting in showing that there are distinct elements to short-term memory and that they are located in different areas of the brain.  When I was in Dr. Attila Turgay’s (one of the leading experts on ADHD in Canada) office last year he did three separate tests for short-term memory: verbal, numerical and spatial.  It was only spatial short-term memory with which I had trouble.  If indeed this function is located in a different part of the brain than either verbal or numeric working memory it does make sense that one aspect of working memory would by dysfunctional while the other two are intact.

A new study from Dr Tracy Alloway, from the University of Stirling in Scotland, suggests that using Facebook has beneficial effects on working memory while Twitter can be detrimental. She describes working memory as “the structures and processes used for temporarily storing and manipulating information in short-term memory.”

Dr. Alloway, one of the leading researchers in the working memory, said that Twitter provides an endless stream of information but that it is also quite succinct so you don’t have to process the information. “Therefore,” Dr. Alloway said, “Your attention span is being reduced and you are not engaging your brain and improving neural connections”

Dr. Alloway has conducted many studies about working memory and believes that it is far more important than IQ when it comes to living in the world and that it is the real foundation for learning.

She said, “It doesn’t matter if your mother left school at 15 or got a PhD, it’s a level playing field. Not only does working memory have a profound impact on every aspect of our working lives but now there is exciting evidence that we can train it and improve it.”