Apr 9, 20224 min read

THE IMPORTANCE OF FORGETTING

Don’t be scared of forgetting because it is a gift of evolution. A man forgets in order to keep learning.

ABOUT FORGETTING

We are constantly showered with far too much information to remember everything. Forgetting is a memory characteristic that allows you to eliminate unwanted or irrelevant information to gain access to other memories. Synaptic plasticity is a process in which neurons continually manufacture new proteins to modify sections of the synapse, allowing them to selectively strengthen their connections with one another. This results in forming a network of cells that jointly encode a memory. The stronger a memory’s neural network, the more it is recalled. Memory is imprinted in both the hippocampi and the cortex throughout time and through persistent recall. It eventually exists on its own in the cortex, where it is stored for lengthy periods. This physical representation of memory is known as an engram by neuroscientists. Each engram has several synaptic connections.

We can prioritize, think more clearly, make better judgments, and be more creative when we can forget. In conjunction with memory, normal forgetting gives humans the mental flexibility to understand abstract concepts from a jumble of recorded data. Getting only the gist is especially useful in changing situations when the loss of some memories aids decision-making in various ways.

HAS IT BEEN CATEGORISED?

Everyone has experienced forgetting almost daily. Every species that can form memories forgets. We forget where we left the bike keys; we forget to carry an important assignment to school that was due for submission, forget what we ate for dinner two days back, etc. In simple terms, forgetting can be defined as the loss of information from our memory storage centers. Certain theoretical perspectives attempt to explain why we forget.

Passive Forgetting

It refers to forgetting that occurs through the biological decay of memory traces. It can be in the form of loosening up synaptic associations between neurons over time. Passive forgetting usually arises because of the accumulation of similar memory traces that impede the recall of the right one.

For example, consuming the same kind of sandwiches every day with slight variations can prevent the individual from recalling what variation he or she consumed five days ago. Passive forgetting can also occur due to the lack of contextual cues to trigger a specific memory which in that case is lost. The loss of context cues or other factors that might make it difficult to retrieve a memory could be caused by the spontaneous decay of connections between neurons that encode a memory, the random death of those neurons, or the failure of systems that would normally help to consolidate and stabilize new memories.

Interference

Interference is a process in which retrieval and storage of learned content are affected by other information presented prior to or after the learning event. This occurs because typical mental activities utilize the resources of the hippocampus, which interferes with the process of memory consolidation. A student might fail to remember to multiplication table of the number 6 after learning the multiplication table of the number 7. This is an example of retroactive interference where new information inhibits the recall of content previously encoded. During memory retrieval attempts, competing memories’ distributed representations in the sensory cortex are suppressed, resulting in unintentional forgetting of those competing memories.

Motivated Forgetting

It is a type of active forgetting that occurs when we forget information under our cognitive control. Those potentially distressing and dissonant memories can be suppressed from being consolidated, preventing them from forming stable, long-lasting engrams. The ability to forget an unpleasant experience activates inhibitory processes in frontal control regions, suppressing the unwelcome data.

Intrinsic Forgetting

It is a type of active forgetting that scientists first found in 2017. It involves a subset of brain cells called “forgetting cells” by Ronald Davis and Yi Zhong, the authors of the study that first proposed the notion. These cells destroy the engrams in memory cells.

EVOLUTIONARY ROOTS OF FORGETTING

Forgetting contributes significantly to our increasing capacity to encode and store new information. The brain creates more space to overwrite previous memories with new information by deleting information that has not been recalled often. This process has thereby helped organisms stay well equipped with relevant and important memories for survival.

Forgetting also facilitates the process of adaptation. Changing habitats demands newer information be learned to survive in it. Forgetting information about the previous habitat would create space for this learning, thereby helping the organism fit in the new habitat.

Another interesting contribution that forgetting makes is that it prevents us from overgeneralizing our stored experiences to all future experiences. If we remember every detail of a tiger attack, say, the size of the tiger, the shape of the ear, and the skin's texture, we might not be able to realize another tiger attack by a different tiger. Thus forgetting details of the previous tiger attack would enable us to make newer observations on different tigers giving us a good sample to generalize.

UNDERLYING BIOLOGICAL MARKERS

Research conducted by Scientist Ron Davis showed that Dopamine is essential for the process of forgetting. He and his team found that activation of dopaminergic neurons in drosophila flies made them forget the association they were conditioned to.

A type of receptor known as AMPA is responsible for keeping memory-related neurons intact to remember specific information. However, the constant removal of these receptors in and out of synapses prevents forgetting results.

Meet the Author

I am Sajal, a Psychology undergraduate and an ongoing neuroscience enthusiast. With my talent for content writing and an eagerness to read everything, I have undertaken the initiative to educate the world about the wonders of our brain. My blogs majorly focus on topics that are not well known but have the unique potential to empower us.