Can your memory fill up?

What is the memory capacity of the human brain? Is there a physical limit to the amount of data you can store? Is it possible to increase memory capacity with neurofeedback?

In this article, we are going to answer the question, “Can your brain fill up?”, define the possible limits of human memory, and how much information the brain can handle at the same time.

Can your brain fill up?

If we only want to give a yes or no answer, the brain cannot be filled. The brain is so advanced that it discards unnecessary information to make more room for new memories.

Many times, when we study for a long time, it seems like our brain can’t hold any more information. We feel that one more piece of information cannot fit in our minds and our storage capacity has probably reached its limit.

However, our body is not like a computer and the amount of information that the human brain can store cannot be measured in the same way.

Storage in the brain

Storage refers to information that is stored in one of three possible memories in the brain: working memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. In this way, the brain manages the information we receive, without feeling like we are overloading it.

If we see something that is repeated many times and for a long time, it may remain in our long-term memory. while other things simply pass through our brains.

Long-term memory is not located in a specific area of the brain. Rather, it is distributed in the cerebral cortex. After aggregation, it is stored as a group of neurons in the same area of the brain that produced it. For example, if a memory is related to vision, it is located in the visual cortex.

In this way memories are restored. And new elements are taken from different parts of the brain and do not remain fixed. Although we don’t remember some data now, the information is still there. In addition, it is not possible to delete information at will. This restriction will be useful in case of an unexpected event.

Memory

What is the memory capacity of the human brain? Is there a physical limit to the amount of data you can store?

Paul Reber, professor of psychology at Northwestern University, answers.

Although there must be some physical limit to memory storage, the amount is quite large. You don’t have to worry about running out of space in your lifetime.

How are memories created?

The most common myth is to think of the brain as a kind of memory store or the most evolved version, comparing it to a computer that has long-term memory (which is a hard disk) and working memory (which can be RAM).

But it is not like that at all. Reality is more complex and perhaps to avoid complexity, we prefer to explain our brain’s functioning with more concrete models.

The truth is that what the brain consolidates in memory are “patterns of action,” meaning that specific groups of neurons fire every time we learn something new. That is, memories do not physically occupy space.

Generating a new memory requires adjusting the connections between neurons. Each new memory creates changes in the way brain neurons communicate across synapses. Finally, to build memories that last for years, neurons must make new proteins.

What the brain stores is the specific frequency, amplitude, and sequence of neural circuits involved in learning. A specific fact is not stored, but the way the system works with that specific fact.

When a memory returns to memory, it’s like starting the whole process over and creating new proteins.

It is important to note here that we are not restoring the memory as it was saved. We reconstruct it in our minds from the reactivation of relevant functional patterns.

What is the memory limit?

If we measure the capacity of our brain, we can say that it is close to 2.5 petabytes (one million gigabytes). If we compare it, it can be said that it is equivalent to storing 300 years of television programs.

It is not unlikely that a person uses the full capacity of his brain. Because while some memories take up little space, others take up more space. Although we store some information, other information is inevitably deleted. And there is room for new memories.

We cannot delete information at will. Because this is what our brain does without constantly analyzing it. Emotional memories are likely to remain. While we hardly remember small personal details.

In any case, it is not possible for our brains to be completely filled with information. Because there is no person who can remember all his experiences. or retain all data for a long time.

Too much information in one unit of time: multitasking

Talking on the phone while reading an email while tweeting is a common scenario today. And all this is happening in the midst of a growing and limitless ocean of information that reaches us from all directions and stimulates all the senses.

But the human brain is not designed to function effectively in that environment. Most experts agree. And waiting for evolution to do so would likely take tens of thousands of years.

So what our “command center” is doing is redesigning its functions to adapt to the realities of the digital age. But neurologists warn that you should do this in moderation.

“Technically, we can’t attend to two demanding cognitive tasks at the same time,” says Edward Hallowell, author and child and adult psychiatrist in New York and Boston.

Hallowell says that when a person is engaged in two tasks at the same time, what the brain does is it quickly switches its focus from one task to the other.

Relatively simple activities such as walking and talking can be performed at the same time, but as they become more complex, the power of concentration decreases.

Ability to do multiple tasks at the same time

For psychiatrist Edward Hallowell, it all depends on the amount of information being processed.

Consider the person in charge of the airport control tower. They pay attention to all kinds of information. and guide the pilots to a safe landing. There comes a time when if there are too many planes, they can’t do it.

“There is a limit to the number of balls a magician can keep in the air,” he stressed.

Neuroscience tells us that our brains evolved for a very different world than the one we live in now. It is not optimized for many of the tasks we face, such as doing numerical calculations or remembering the names of all the people we encounter on a daily basis.

Nor was it designed to store the massive amounts of information we are exposed to today.

But we can’t wait for the brain to evolve to develop mechanisms that allow us to handle large amounts of information. The evolution of the brain takes tens of thousands of years to reach this stage.