We humans are, in effect, the product of our genes and our memories; genes determine our physical structure and biochemical function while memories record all experiences in our lives, from the later stage of fetal life to the moment of our death.
These memories are essential to the learning process and give context to all events in our lives. Our ability to communicate, to reason, to create and to effectively and safely interact with our environment are all dependent upon knowledge that we acquire through experience and store as memories. While the great majority of memories are rather mundane and are relegated to the background of our consciousness, others are associated with emotionally charged events; the latter, whether positive or negative, surface and are reinforced on a regular basis and have a significant impact on the development of our self image and personality. Indeed, we both learn from and are molded by memories of past events.
As we age, our long-term memory generally remains intact while, depending upon our genes and our state of health, our short-term memory begins to fail. As a consequence, our memory chain grows at a slower rate and we find it harder to learn new skills. Neurologic studies indicate that an effort to remain mentally active (via reading, games, educational programs and other intellectual endeavors) may slow our short-term memory loss; of course, dementia and other neurologic disorders might intervene, negating that benefit.
