Deep Long Short Term Memory, Say what??

in #neuroscience7 years ago

Short term memory is working memory while long term memory is commonly called knowledge. Basically, memory on a certain subject or concept is strengthened through repetitive use and application from different angles. Obviously the more you apply it to different concepts the deeper the memory is engrained and is easier to recall. To strike an analogy think of your mind as a library. In the library you have a shelf near the front of the entrance and then countless other shelves deeper in the library. The shelves near the entrance is your knowledge, things that are easily attainable off the top of your head and are there to stay for a long time. The entrance of the library also has a circulation desk in which a big stack of papers is piled on the desk. Every 2 days or so ,that stack of papers is recycled. This would be analogous to the short term memory one has. Easily accessible within a short period of time but not there to stay.

To break short term memory down further, in laymen's terms I would say there are two types. First the type where you keep repeating a phone number in your head until you find a phone to dial it or have written it down, and the type of short term memory where you cram for a test the day before. Cramming the day before typically turns into short term memory because there is no reinforcement and recall process over a span of a couple of weeks so it is easily forgotten.

Now how could something be deep long short term memory? While cramming for a test the night before is short term memory, the neural processes used to learn that material are used briefly and not engrained, and this brief type of 'fingerprint' memory would aid in quickening one's learning, if they decide to return to that topic a year from now 6 months from now etc. Basically, I would define deep long short term memory as something that was learned in the short run but the neural tracts used to learn that topic becomes a sort of deep intuition causing the individual to be able to learn that topic easier in the future if they decide to return to it.