The Illusionist Brain by Jordi Camí

Author:Jordi Camí
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2022-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

We Need to Forget in Order to Remember

As we explained in chapters 2 and 3, brain networks are interactive and very elastic. While new connections store new memories, room is also made for new memories by impairments or disconnections that prompt us to forget. Forgetting, then, is not a mistake but an essential and necessary process that the brain actively promotes. The brain does not rest. It is continuously changing, as remembering and forgetting always entail structural, anatomical transformations.

Sleep is an integral part of this process. The brain we wake up with is not exactly the same one we went to sleep with; during sleep, we consolidate memories, strengthening connections of recent learning, and we eliminate memories so that fresh memories, especially episodic ones, can be added the next day. This cleaning or purifying process is indispensable for normal brain functioning. We see evidence of this in people who experience sleep deprivation, which impairs hippocampus-dependent long-term memories. Sleep-deprived people quickly lose concentration and the ability to acquire new information, among other cognitive losses.

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