19 Human Brain Facts On Memory: A Must Read For Kids!

The brain is the most important part of the human central nervous system.

The brain handles an infinite amount of information in a person's lifetime. How does it choose to retain or forget such a vast amount of data?

Understanding the processing of the brain is absolutely enthralling. The brain is one of the most astounding parts of the human body, and we still have not managed to completely understand its workings.

Memory is the facility or process of the brain by which it absorbs, stores, retains, uses, and encodes information. What does it mean when someone has a poor memory? Can you train the brain to improve its data retention span? Can the brain actually remember infinite things? The answers to all these questions are fascinating, to say the least.

Did you know that your brain gets 20-25 % of all the oxygen and blood produced in the body, and if the brain does not get enough blood supply for about 8–10 seconds, then you start losing consciousness? Depriving the brain of oxygen for five to six minutes can kill you!

This article will give you the answers to many intriguing questions about the human brain and tell you amazing facts about this wonderful organ.

Once you have finished reading this article, why not discover fun-fact articles like brain facts and facts about the brain stem here on Kidadl?

The Science Behind Human Brain Memory

Human brain memory is the most complicated and complex part of the human body.

In fact, human memory is one of those capabilities that make humans superior to other animal species. A human brain can send and receive information as well as choose to retain important information in the small pockets of memory.

When it comes to human memory, there are three major processes involved.

Encoding: Encoding is how the brain alters the information, making it easier to store.

Storing: The actual storing of information.

Retrieving: Knowing where the data is and taking it out so you can remember it at the right time.

Research studies show three types of memory: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Sensory memory can be called the short-span retention center. When you touch something and it burns your skin, the sensory information is immediately sent to the brain and gets stored here.

If your brain feels this information is important, it gets passed on to the short-term memory. Otherwise, it disappears, freeing the space in your brain. The time span for visual information storage here is just half a second, and for auditory information, it is three to four seconds.

Short-term memory is also known as the active center of the brain. This is the part of the brain responsible for storing information about current activities.

When you drive a car, this memory keeps a lookout on the road and identifies signs and traffic. These short-term memories are often forgotten as you move on to the next activity. Only information that the brain considers important is passed on for long-term storage.

Long-term memory is the actual storehouse of information. It is also called 'the unconscious memory', and it is the largest storehouse of knowledge. All the information that your brain thinks is important is stored here to be retrieved whenever needed. Information can be stored indefinitely in this portion of the brain.

When it comes to the type of information stored, there are two kinds of memories: declarative and procedural.

Declarative memory is also called explicit memory, and this is the part where explicit information is stored and retrieved as such. Declarative memories include facts, personal information, and locations and addresses. With procedural memory, there is also learning involved.

The limbic system includes a group of brain structures that process memories and emotions. It helps process and differentiate emotions, memories, and new information. The limbic system has two major parts: the hippocampus and the amygdala.

The hippocampus focuses on spatial learning. Spatial learning is the process of storing and retrieving information to recall a location, the position of an object, or the occurrence of an event. Amygdala may play a role in emotional memory. It is a memory associated with emotions.

Capability Of Human Brain Memory

The capability of the human brain memory is incomparable to anything else. Here are some awesome facts about the memory capability of the brain.

Research suggests that the human brain has a storage capacity of 2.5 petabytes. One petabyte is about 1024 terabytes! In comparison, this is 4,000 times more than the storage capacity of a 256 GB iPhone's memory.

Neurons are messengers that play a critical role in determining brain capability. It helps transmit and receive signals between different areas of the brain. Do you know how many neurons the brain has? About 80 billion neurons! These neurons die, and new ones are created every day.

As mentioned above, the short-term part holds information only for a short duration-for about 20-30 seconds. You can remember about five to nine items in this span, and unless these memories are pushed to the long-term area, they are forgotten, and you move on.

Some people have really commendable brain information-storing capacities and can remember things forever. They may be able to tell you exactly what they had for lunch on a particular day several years ago! It is true, and this is a proven skill that you can even learn with time.

When it comes to speaking words, there are several parts of the brain that control this action: Broca's area, Wernicke’s area, arcuate fasciculus, cerebrum, and cerebellum.

The brain cells and the neurons produce electric signals that are transmitted throughout the body. Did you know that the brain generates enough electricity to light up a small light bulb?

Cool Facts About Human Brain Memory

The human brain controls every single aspect of the body. It is the body's central processing unit, without which you cannot talk, listen, think, or move. Check out these cool brain facts that you will enjoy reading.

Every time you form a new memory, new brain circuits and connections are formed. How cool is that? The older you grow and the more memories you have, the more complex your brain maps get.

Each of these units of neurons forms thousands of individual connections with other neurons. Would it even be possible to do this calculation and determine how many individual connections the human brain consists of?

Every minute piece of brain tissue the size of a sand grain contains 100,000 neurons on average! These neurons are interconnected to one another and function as a complex network.

Your brain does not consider childhood memories important enough to be stored in unconscious memory. That is why, as you grow older, you don't tend to remember instances, people, or experiences that you had in your childhood as vivid memories.

Close your eyes if you want to remember something you can't. When the visual sense is shut off, the brain can recollect the information you were looking for more quickly!

Have you experienced an intense pain in the head immediately after you eat something super cold? This is called a 'brain freeze', and the excess cold actually shocks your brain, and the blood vessels in your brain suddenly expand, trying to handle the temperature dip.

Sleep deprivation can lead to problems in storing and retaining information. The brain needs you to be asleep to store information efficiently. Just like the other parts of the body, the brain requires rest to function too.

The occipital lobe is responsible for converting whatever you see into information for the brain. Information from the occipital lobe is then sent to the different memories. You may be able to see the actual brain activity when you think using brain scans. Such brain scans are used to diagnose specific body health and mental health conditions.

Mental stimulation techniques can actually help improve your brain function. There are a lot of memorization techniques that can help.

Exercising also helps improve your brain function and memory retention as it increases blood supply to your brain. Research shows that people who engage in some form of daily exercise are a little less likely to develop mental health disorders like Alzheimer's and dementia.

If you want to quickly remember something for a longer time, start repeating it. This is how children are made to remember the basics in their first few years of life. It works in adulthood too.

Also, multitasking is a myth; it slows down your brain and impacts its information retention power.

Another strategy you can use for memory retention is to attach a meaning or a sentiment to the information. If you do that, the brain considers the information more important and stores it safely.

Also, another very crucial thing to remember is that your brain requires rest. Sleep deprivation can lead to poor focus, a bad mood, and impaired retention.

Do you know how fast brain information can travel? About 268 mph (431 kph)! There should be no disruption in the route these signals travel for the body to function properly.

Unknown Facts About Human Brain Memory

The human brain has always remained a very complicated and secretive organ. The more scientists explore its functionality, the newer things they identify. Here are some unknown facts about human brain memory that you should be aware of.

Did you know that the brain is the fattiest organ in the body? That is why experts say that when you consume healthy fats like omega threes and omega sixes, your brain and memory power actually improve.

Don't forget to add brain foods like almonds and nuts to your diet if you wish for a powerful brain!

Your brain never sleeps. Dreams are proof of this. Even when the body is asleep, a part of the brain is working, dreaming, and collecting thoughts.

The brain is just 2% of the body weight. However, it is the single organ that controls every tiny cell in the body! It's fascinating, isn't it? The human brain reaches a weight of about 3 lb (1.36 kg) in full adulthood.

You are not born with a full-sized brain. In fact, your brain is not full-sized until your 20s! The brain size keeps growing, and the adult brain reaches full maturity only around the age of 25.

Did you know that the frontal lobes are the largest parts of the brain? They may be playing a vital role in forming long-term memories.

Recent studies have proven that there may be a strong connection between the brain and the immune system. People with neurological diseases seem to have abnormal immune systems. People are still researching this area.

Alcohol may cause numbing of the brain and bring down its ability to recollect information. This usually reverses once the effect of alcohol disappears from the body. However, studies say that chronic drinking can permanently affect the brain and lead to memory loss and cognitive problems.

The top cause of memory loss is time. If you don't keep rehearsing the stored information, it may be quickly forgotten.

If there is a problem diagnosed in the brain, brain surgery may be needed to correct the condition. There are experts who can do such surgeries safely in hospitals.

One of the health conditions caused by loss of memory is Alzheimer's disease. It happens when the brain cells die, and new cells are not formed as quickly as they should. Such a person may be unable to recall past events and may eventually forget their own existence.

Most people assume that it is normal to lose memories as they grow older. This may not be entirely true. Just like how you exercise your body, you have to exercise your brain too. You can keep deliberately remembering things and playing memory games to help with brain development.

The more work you give to the brain, the stronger the connections between nerve cells will be. The stronger the connections, the better will be your memory power.

Research shows that the brain produces changes in information or recreates new information based on an old memory if it feels the memory was traumatizing. If the brain thinks the memory can affect the person, it changes the memory to believe the new version!

Like other parts of the body, the brain cells require blood to function too. The cerebral blood flow (CBF) is the structure that provides blood to the brain from the heart. In an average adult, 25 fl oz (0.73 l) of blood reaches the brain per minute.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created many interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for human brain facts on memory, then why not take a look at why do we get brain freeze or cerebrum facts?