Recollection Of Memory

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We store memories of everything we see in our lives, both consciously and unconsciously. We store memories of things we would like to remember, and sometimes store things that will deem to be utterly useless but have been stored anyway. In the grand scheme of things, our memory is constantly working to remember things that are happening around you – like smells in certain places or the sounds of the surroundings. The important memories that you try to tell yourself to remember, as well as big events that take place that you know you will remember, are the memories that you like to think are locked in place in your memory. For example, think of a major event that took place this past year. Maybe it was a Super Bowl party you attended, or possibly a large faculty dinner that you attended. Thinking about this memory in the future, you would think that in 10 years you would remember the memory just like how you are thinking about it now. However, new research on reconsolidation, or the state of mind where memories are susceptible to modification, has shown evidence that memories tend to be distorted with each recollection of that memory. More specifically, every time in the future you go and recall the memory about the Super Bowl party, there will be some aspect of that memory that may be altered with each recollection. This is not to say that you are creating a lie, but more so that small details may be changed or missing the next time the specific memory is brought up. It is this change in memory that this paper will delve into, attempting to figure out why these changes take place.
Memories Are Not Set In Stone
There was a predetermined notion for the past hundred years or so that fresh memories were initially not per...

... middle of paper ...

...e cycloheximide showed retention of the memory. This showed that there is memory extinction when a memory is re-exposed for more than two hours to the crab, but that extinction process is canceled if the crab is injected with the cycloheximide less than five hours after re-exposure. The second trial was the same as the first, however there was a VDS showed to the crabs for a minute before they were removed from the two hour period of being re-exposed to the learning context. With this VDS shown, both the saline group and the cycloheximide group of crabs showed retention of the learning context. This is consistent with the results from the Retrieval-Labialization-Reconsolidation theory trials. This means that even with an injection of cycloheximide, if the crab is introduced to a reinforcement (the VDS) then the memory will stay intact and can be consolidated.

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