Memory

The history of the brain and the fulcrum of memory can be dated back to humanity’s early history in the 17th century BCE in ancient Egypt, but we still do not comprehend the detailed subtleties of the brain’s functioning in health or disease. Memory, that wonderful but critical property of the brain, refers to the psychological processes of acquiring, retaining, storing, and later retrieving information. How memories are formed has been a perplexing puzzle for over a century, and there are still many remaining questions about the underpinning biological mechanisms. The malleability of memories over time also means that internal and external factors can introduce errors and certain stimuli can sometimes act as powerful triggers that draw memories into conscious awareness. When memory becomes dysfunctional, problematic changes in our behavior and emotions devolve and potentially contribute to a variety of mental health disorders. Six tentative theories have so far been advanced to explain memory loss and age-related memory loss. Also, numerous memory constructs (more than 20 of them!) have been identified so far with no general consensus on the definition of many of them. Normal aging is associated with a decline in various memory abilities in many cognitive tasks. It is qualitatively different from memory loss associated with brain diseases such as any one or a mixture of several dementia types (including Alzheimer’s, vascular, Lewy bodies, frontotemporal, syphilitic, senilitic, etc.). Whilst the root causes of memory problems have not been identified, symptomatic treatments exist. The complete treatment portfolio is described, including nutrition and supplementation, pharmacotherapy, electromagnetic neurostimulation, neurosurgery (including electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial electrotherapy stimulation, continuous theta burst stimulation, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, magnetic seizure therapy, and deep brain stimulation), participation in clinical trials, and complementary & alternative therapies. The various available resources and supports are identified and current research including the latest developments are recapitulated. A roadmap is provided for diagnosing and treating memory issues.