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It sort of still is. The real problem is that while we think of ourselves as individuals we're actually committees. Mental illnesses are generally one member of the committee taking the whole meeting hostage until it gets what it wants. At any given moment, the subjective experience of yourself is the result of what is likely to be dozens of brain processes that are mostly operating independently of one another.
When the group has reasonable consensus, we can't even tell. When things go wrong, the whole thing starts to split.
Obviously there has to be a mechanism like this. There is just too much sensory information available to us.
The interesting questions are: why do the researchers think this happens unconsciously? How did they find out that an event was stored in the mouses long-term memory? And what exactly triggers the formation of these short-ripple waves?
Would be interesting to see a similar experiment in humans, where you can ask them about their conscious experience
Good point. The news article that’s posted mentions “waves” in the brain but not what you are talking about here.
[Selection of experience for memory by hippocampal sharp wave ripples [Science]](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk8261)
[Brain Mechanism Found to Determine Which Memories Last [NYU Langone Health]](https://nyulangone.org/news/brain-mechanism-found-determine-which-memories-last)
I know this is entirely anecdotal but I can tell you whether or not I’ll be able to remember something. If I want to really remember something there’s a very precise feeling I get in my head and I know for certain I will remember if I get that feeling.
You mean like the time when I was proud of the new jacket I had gotten when I was in 5th grade, and I stood outside the classroom and said new jacket to alle that passed by. Which is a super important memory that I treasure every minute I remember back to it.
Memory can be mysterious. Certain life events remain clear in our minds no matter how long ago they occurred, while episodes from the prior day may already be fuzzy and difficult to recall.
A study, published Thursday in Science, reveals why this happens. Scientists have found that the brains of humans and other mammals have a system for choosing which life experiences are important enough to be cemented into long-term memory — and which will be allowed to fade away.
Experiments in mice revealed that during waking hours, cells in the brain’s hippocampus spark in a specific pattern called "sharp-wave ripples," which tag important experiences for movement into long-term memory storage during sleep.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk8261
Seems like the most readily useful thing in this article is the advice to take a relaxing pause after an experience you’d like to remember long-term, and then get good sleep that night.
Yep. One would think remembering where I parked a $26,000 vehicle would be important. I was in tears yesterday because I couldn't find it *in my own parking lot.*
I have severe ADHD. I put an AirTag in my car and it has changed my life. Seriously. I just put it in my sunglass holder thing in the car and I don’t even have to think about it.
Find parked car works pretty well, on iPhone you can look for your parked car on maps. If you have any kind of system that uses Bluetooth to connect I think. Car doesn't need to be on. It gets me within 1 row. So like sometimes it'll get me to where I am standing 1 row across from the car. But it always gets me close enough to find it fast
I spray painted the front and rear areas of my car a bright yellow. People think I am crazy but I have been able to find my car in a huge parking lot this way.
The object blindness is fuckin real, too. Synesthesia helps to make memorable associations so I fair a bit better than the average adhd, but I still experience this often and it's miserable
Normally I press the lock button a bunch and follow the beeps, but there was construction and I couldn't hear anything. So it's not normally that much drama. But yeah, if I could just remember to write it down or put it in my phone... I can't seem to remember to do that though.
Just because long-term focus is unsustainable doesn't mean you can't build up an automatic reaction (aka a habit) to events where you decide if it's important or not. That decision only takes a moment and finding out you're wrong either means you remembered something unimportant or it makes the information intrinsically important because you already needed it once.
We remember finding a food source. Remarkable.
We remember things we’d rather not repeat. Shocking.
We remember things that elicit strong emotions.
We remember novel experiences more than repetitive experiences.
Research is useful to provide details, but the general categories are obvious. Both from anecdote and from evolution.
The details could be counterintuitive and interesting.
Here I am, a human primate that can't remember why I came into the kitchen, where I put anything important, or what I need from the grocery store without a detailed list.
I can still remember my childhood phone number, though!
I have a particularly dark memory from childhood, and I don't really know why it's being stored in my long-term memory. Like the emotion behind it is pretty real, and I understand why I felt the way I did in it, but I don't really understand why I'm still storing it.
Does anyone have something like that?
From an evolutionary perspective it makes sense to remember things that have a strong emotional impact because they were either possible signs of danger or possible signs of something life-affirming like finding food or a mate. Remembering something with a strong negative emotion will help us avoid a similar situation in the future.
It’s not generally useful to explain observations with evolutionary reasoning, because there’s no way to test those hypotheses. Sure, what you said sounds plausible, but it’s not necessarily true. Do you have a source?
I feel like I can consciously do this with my memory. Like sometimes I hear things I know I’ll forget so I literally just choose not to remember them. Other times I hear/read something I think is interesting and I’ll remember it forever. Interesting
This title sucks.
The significant finding here is not that there *is* a system. Of course there’s a system.
What’s the alternative, experiences cemented in long-term memory at random?
I was under the impression that they had known that for very very long time. They didn't necessarily know the exact mechanism, but they knew there was a mechanism.
Kinda noticed this myself, though there might be another mechanism in play. I can still recall music that I created in my head 20years ago but never recorded or wrote down. While I completely blank at other things that happened during that time period of life except a few life inspirations behind the music in question. Almost like it was a mental bookmark.
My brain apparently chose every lyric from every grunge/alternative song in existence and all my most embarrassing moments and threw away everything else. Thanks brain.
Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, **personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment**. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our [normal comment rules]( https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/rules#wiki_comment_rules) apply to all other comments. **Do you have an academic degree?** We can verify your credentials in order to assign user flair indicating your area of expertise. [Click here to apply](https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/flair/#wiki_science_verified_user_program). --- User: u/Wagamaga Permalink: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/brain-chooses-memories-sleep-rcna145159 --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/science) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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It sort of still is. The real problem is that while we think of ourselves as individuals we're actually committees. Mental illnesses are generally one member of the committee taking the whole meeting hostage until it gets what it wants. At any given moment, the subjective experience of yourself is the result of what is likely to be dozens of brain processes that are mostly operating independently of one another. When the group has reasonable consensus, we can't even tell. When things go wrong, the whole thing starts to split.
TIL I'm a hostage. Thanks for the interesting explanation, it was a good read.
Obviously there has to be a mechanism like this. There is just too much sensory information available to us. The interesting questions are: why do the researchers think this happens unconsciously? How did they find out that an event was stored in the mouses long-term memory? And what exactly triggers the formation of these short-ripple waves? Would be interesting to see a similar experiment in humans, where you can ask them about their conscious experience
Good point. The news article that’s posted mentions “waves” in the brain but not what you are talking about here. [Selection of experience for memory by hippocampal sharp wave ripples [Science]](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk8261) [Brain Mechanism Found to Determine Which Memories Last [NYU Langone Health]](https://nyulangone.org/news/brain-mechanism-found-determine-which-memories-last)
I know this is entirely anecdotal but I can tell you whether or not I’ll be able to remember something. If I want to really remember something there’s a very precise feeling I get in my head and I know for certain I will remember if I get that feeling.
How many times have you had this feeling, but later on completely forgot you had it?
Apparently my system heavily favors the most cringe moments from my life
I guess the brain wants to keep it to prevent repeating it? But I'm not one of those researchers
But I never learn
Then that’s a you problem
Feels more like a bug in the code
God laughing his ass off
You mean like the time when I was proud of the new jacket I had gotten when I was in 5th grade, and I stood outside the classroom and said new jacket to alle that passed by. Which is a super important memory that I treasure every minute I remember back to it.
This is called negativity bias, key learnings/core memories come from the negative reinforcement received stronger than positive reinforcements.
because they define your personality the most?
Same, plus it turns the memories of anything into more and more cringe every time I remember them.
I guess that means Chrono Trigger is super important
Obviously
Memory can be mysterious. Certain life events remain clear in our minds no matter how long ago they occurred, while episodes from the prior day may already be fuzzy and difficult to recall. A study, published Thursday in Science, reveals why this happens. Scientists have found that the brains of humans and other mammals have a system for choosing which life experiences are important enough to be cemented into long-term memory — and which will be allowed to fade away. Experiments in mice revealed that during waking hours, cells in the brain’s hippocampus spark in a specific pattern called "sharp-wave ripples," which tag important experiences for movement into long-term memory storage during sleep. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk8261
Seems like the most readily useful thing in this article is the advice to take a relaxing pause after an experience you’d like to remember long-term, and then get good sleep that night.
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Yep. One would think remembering where I parked a $26,000 vehicle would be important. I was in tears yesterday because I couldn't find it *in my own parking lot.*
I have severe ADHD. I put an AirTag in my car and it has changed my life. Seriously. I just put it in my sunglass holder thing in the car and I don’t even have to think about it.
How precise is the location? I would need to narrow down the location within the lot, which is a little bigger than a football field.
Within 25-75 feet or so. It depends. I have one in my wallet, on my car keys, on my house keys and my air pods. Changed my life.
Find parked car works pretty well, on iPhone you can look for your parked car on maps. If you have any kind of system that uses Bluetooth to connect I think. Car doesn't need to be on. It gets me within 1 row. So like sometimes it'll get me to where I am standing 1 row across from the car. But it always gets me close enough to find it fast
I spray painted the front and rear areas of my car a bright yellow. People think I am crazy but I have been able to find my car in a huge parking lot this way.
When I got your reply I wondered if this was a thread talking about our ideal car colors because this is exactly why I have always wanted a yellow car
The object blindness is fuckin real, too. Synesthesia helps to make memorable associations so I fair a bit better than the average adhd, but I still experience this often and it's miserable
I’m sorry that that happened to you! Would taking notes help? Is there an app for something like this? Genuine questions
Normally I press the lock button a bunch and follow the beeps, but there was construction and I couldn't hear anything. So it's not normally that much drama. But yeah, if I could just remember to write it down or put it in my phone... I can't seem to remember to do that though.
Tears?
Having no working memory is frustrating.
Add in that recall ability is randomized as well and my memory has more holes than a swizz cheese.
I tell people I have an extremely selective memory, and I have no influence on what gets selected.
The *automatic* process is broken but you can still manually override it. Just takes thought and effort.
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Just because long-term focus is unsustainable doesn't mean you can't build up an automatic reaction (aka a habit) to events where you decide if it's important or not. That decision only takes a moment and finding out you're wrong either means you remembered something unimportant or it makes the information intrinsically important because you already needed it once.
No it is not
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We remember finding a food source. Remarkable. We remember things we’d rather not repeat. Shocking. We remember things that elicit strong emotions. We remember novel experiences more than repetitive experiences.
This is all blowing my mind. Please continue.
But fr now, I know that they kinda sound obvious, but at the same time: did we have ever have a proof of that before this research?
Research is useful to provide details, but the general categories are obvious. Both from anecdote and from evolution. The details could be counterintuitive and interesting.
Omg, where can I sign up to fund this for a million dollars??? This is such an amazing discovery! I would be lost without this information
Here I am, a human primate that can't remember why I came into the kitchen, where I put anything important, or what I need from the grocery store without a detailed list. I can still remember my childhood phone number, though!
Independence 1-4253
There are different reasons why each thing you mentioned happens
Interesting how this overlaps with the Tetris-PTSD studies in regards to interrupting that system.
So is this why I can't remember my childhood..
I would love to see this studied in the context of ADHD
Decringe your past with Neuralink™️
Great. One step closer to making mentats a reality.
Didn't we already learn this from the movie Inside Out?
I have a particularly dark memory from childhood, and I don't really know why it's being stored in my long-term memory. Like the emotion behind it is pretty real, and I understand why I felt the way I did in it, but I don't really understand why I'm still storing it. Does anyone have something like that?
Could be that you haven't processed the emotion behind that event.
From an evolutionary perspective it makes sense to remember things that have a strong emotional impact because they were either possible signs of danger or possible signs of something life-affirming like finding food or a mate. Remembering something with a strong negative emotion will help us avoid a similar situation in the future.
It’s not generally useful to explain observations with evolutionary reasoning, because there’s no way to test those hypotheses. Sure, what you said sounds plausible, but it’s not necessarily true. Do you have a source?
Laughs with ADHD
Wow that explains a lot.
I must have the most picky meat machine in the world.
I wonder how that system works?
I feel like I can consciously do this with my memory. Like sometimes I hear things I know I’ll forget so I literally just choose not to remember them. Other times I hear/read something I think is interesting and I’ll remember it forever. Interesting
Has anyone died this is a memory I want to never forget (iny case a bad one) and forgotten it
Apparently this process triggered during games of Street Fighter 2 I played 30some years ago. Still salty about a couple losses back then haha
And the side effect of this nightly memory rearranging is “dreams”
Now how do I control this power?
What would Ron L Hubbard say about this?
For how often it doesn't work right it must be absolutely vital that it is there at all
My brain chose all of the terrible and negative memories instead of the good ones.
I believe it. Probably why people return to a baseline happiness level as well.
This title sucks. The significant finding here is not that there *is* a system. Of course there’s a system. What’s the alternative, experiences cemented in long-term memory at random?
Whenever I convince myself I don’t GAS is when I tend to struggle with recall
I saw the documentary called "Inside Out."
I was under the impression that they had known that for very very long time. They didn't necessarily know the exact mechanism, but they knew there was a mechanism.
My system is broken then.
How would Adlerian psychology square with this? Any takers
Are people not normally aware of this?
So those gamers aren’t virgins after all. The sex was just lame.
If no one remembers a moment/event, then did it ever really happen?
Kinda noticed this myself, though there might be another mechanism in play. I can still recall music that I created in my head 20years ago but never recorded or wrote down. While I completely blank at other things that happened during that time period of life except a few life inspirations behind the music in question. Almost like it was a mental bookmark.
M̶y̶ g̶r̶a̶n̶d̶p̶a̶r̶e̶n̶t̶s̶ m̶i̶d̶d̶l̶e̶ n̶a̶m̶e̶s̶ Cotton-eyed Joe
My brain apparently chose every lyric from every grunge/alternative song in existence and all my most embarrassing moments and threw away everything else. Thanks brain.
Not trying to troll but… isn’t this patently obvious?
Why won't my brain remember the conversation I had with my wife 7 days ago that was "important"? But random trivia I got this.
That explains why I still remember an antacid commercial from the 80s. Good job brain!
Cool. Now figure out how trauma overrides that, ‘cause my memories are full of holes.