What exactly is short-term memory?

It is heard all the time but tends to be taken for granted. What is short-term memory, really? A clear understanding of how the brain works is crucial in maintaining its health, says brain health expert Paul M. Willette, M.D. And short-term memory is an important aspect of optimizing the idea of remembering.

Simply put, short-term memory is a system that allows for managing information and temporarily storing it to aid in carrying out cognitive tasks like comprehension, reasoning, and learning. In other words, it’s concerned not just with processing stimuli, but in the selection, initiation, and retrieval of such information whenever we need to recall something. Thus, neurologists also refer to it as recent or working memory.

Short-term memory is easily disrupted and may disappear unless one finds ways to store such information in long-term memory. This process is called consolidation. While such a process can make memories permanent, the ability to recall depends on various factors, such as the frequency by which information is retrieved. In this sense, only a small amount of short-term memories is consolidated by the brain, and the process is dependent on the level of significance one ascribes to the said memory.

Paul M. Willette, M.D., adds that it must be noted that short- and long-term memory are separate brain processes. It is normal that certain information doesn’t pass through short-term memory just to reach long-term memory. For example, patients suffering from short-term memory loss can still consolidate memories as long-term ones.

Paul M. Willette, M.D., is the founder and CEO of Global Health Sciences Solutions, LLC. Through the company, he aims to pursue solutions incorporating nutrition, biochemistry, and cell biology. For related reads, go to this page.