Abstract
More than 99% of all sensory information is discarded by the brain as irrelevant and unimportant. Of the 1% that is important, only a small fraction causes an immediate motor response. The rest is stored up for future control of motor activities and for use in the thinking processes.
Three related terms can explain this phenomenon: learning, memory and forgetting.
I will give an overview of the neural mechanisms underlying the formation of memory and the retrieval of information from it. Also, I will try to answer some puzzling questions such as: ``Why do we have individual differences in memory capacity?'' ``Why don't we remember much about our early childhood?'' ``Does memory capacity decrease with age?'' and some others. I will also highlight the role of specific parts of the brain in the memory process.
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Brinkman, Dalin, Annabelle Wilde and Thomas Martin (2002) The Wonder Years, in Last Word. New Scientist, 2368, 9 November 2002.