For example we can remember how something smells or how something feels when you touch it, we can remember how songs sound, etc.
In: Biology
Well, we know next to nothing about the human brain, so no one’s really sure about how it works. However, we do have some educated guesses on the matter.
Let’s say you are exposed to a certain new thing, that you’ve never been exposed to before. It could be a sight, a combination of sound and smell, whatever. Then that manifests in your brain as a chain of electronic signals passing between the neurons in parts of the brain related to whatever kind of information it was.
Those signals get stored as some new connections between the appropriate neurons, and you promptly forget about it forever after, since that thing isn’t categorized as important or worthy of attention by your brain- after all, you’ve only seen it once, so it can’t be common.
Then let’s say, the next day, you see that thing again. Same thing happens with electronic signals. But this time those signals connect, they match, with the connections stored somewhere in your brain. This makes you and your brain go “Hey, we’ve seen this one before. I guess it’s a little more important than we thought if we’re seeing it again!” And those connections get reinforced and stronger again. This means if someone asks you about it, you’re more likely to remember it.
What if you see this thing once everyday? Well, then it will be very reinforced in your head, because it must be important if it’s so common. You’ll be very good at describing it if it’s a smell, sound, sight, or whatever, and very good at reproducing it if it’s a sequence of actions you have to take.
Basically, the more you see something, the more it gets hammered into your brain over time, and the better you are at remembering it.
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