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Memory is the faculty of the mind that encodes, stores, and retrieves information when needed; it is also described as the retention of information over time that can influence future action. Without the ability to remember past events, core human capacities such as language, relationships, and personal identity would not develop. Memory can be impaired through forgetfulness or disorders such as amnesia, and it is not a perfect system—encoding, storage, and retrieval can all be disrupted by factors like pain, brain damage (e.g., to the hippocampus), and decay within long-term memory. Memory is often modeled as an information-processing system with multiple forms and functions. Sensory memory briefly holds incoming information (less than about a second) automatically and out of cognitive control; it includes iconic (visual), echoic (auditory), and haptic (touch) stores that decay very quickly. Working memory (often distinguished from short-term memory) supports encoding and retrieval over seconds, while long-term memory stores information for much longer durations, potentially for a lifetime. Long-term memory is commonly divided into declarative (explicit, conscious) memory—such as semantic (meaning-based) and episodic (time-and-place events)—and non-declarative (implicit, unconscious) memory, including procedural learning and priming. Beyond describing types, memory’s functions also include how information is strengthened and made durable. Encoding is improved by “deep” processing (e.g., focusing on meaning) and by matching retrieval cues to those present during learning (encoding specificity), with context dependence also affecting recall. Transition from short-term to long-term storage is called memory consolidation, supported by brain mechanisms such as hippocampal involvement in learning and consolidation. At molecular levels, long-term memory formation involves gene transcription, new protein synthesis, and epigenetic changes (e.g., DNA methylation/demethylation) that help stabilize synaptic changes across distributed brain networks.
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