Why cant we retain all our memories and experiences as we get older?
In: Biology
It’s not so much that we can’t as it is that we don’t have a need to. It has to do mainly with the way our brain stores memories in the first place.
Over millions of years or biology developed a punishment/reward system to drive us to seek things that help us survive and avoid things that inhibit our survival. The positive or negative labeling of memories is a result of this system, and all memories are stored with some type of emotional association.
When we are young many things we experience are new and exciting, and the emotional tags, either positive or negative, are also more intense and varied due to this novelty. As we grow older, however, individual events become less novel because they more often relate to previous experiences and are less likely to be stored in memory as they are less useful in terms of survival.
This doesn’t mean you are unable to remember things as you get older, as there are ways to train your brain to maintain neural plasticity as you age, but due to the fact that you’re not experiencing as many new or intense things, especially not things necessary for survival, your brain has no need to expend the energy required to create long-term memories. Neurons are too costly to make and keep them for no reason.
Latest Answers