1. Jaguars 2024

  Photo by Business Insider . Throughout the years, our lives have become a tapestry woven with countless memories in which each moment was captured through the lens of a camera. Photography has served as a way to curate these memories, but it is through the act of creating albums that these moments truly encapsulate a linguistic framework that shapes a narrative in our lives.  Whenever you browse through Google Photos , you glance at a collection of moments, organized by month or season. With each notification, a montage of videos unfolds, in which each image is categorized not just by time but by emotional resonance. The intelligence of this platform is seen through its ability to discern the chronological context of each image, guiding us through our personal archives.   The intelligence of Google Photos reflects how it uses language to structure and categorize memories through tags, captions, and descriptions. Surprisingly, it transforms a sea of images into a narrati...

The other day, a friend challenged me (a consequence of just having moments before teasingly jabbed at his abysmal memory): “Fine, describe what your family looks like…” To my surprise, I found myself at a loss for words, unable to translate the faint image in my head into words.  There's something unsettling about my memories being distorted. Figures of the past now only existing as blurred faces in my mind. It makes me feel like I'm getting a taste of early on-set dementia.  I've always found solace in revisiting the past, reminiscing over most cherished moments to the smallest of interactions; Retracing the steps of fleeting time to relive the warmth of laughter and the embrace of familiarity. From the most picturesque vacation to Cuba and times spent with loved ones to encounters with strangers, like the sweet, homeless 8-year-old girl who would join me at the library every Saturday where I volunteered and follow me around, sharing tales of her best friends and favorite...

Working Memory | Open Clipart One of the most popular computer storage amounts is 256 gigabytes, which is equivalent to 256000000000 bytes. This huge number leads many to think computers must be far superior to humans in retaining information. That memory is better stored in computers than in humans is a huge misconception. In addition to underestimating the human brain's memory capacity, this belief fails to consider the other aspects of memory beyond recalling facts, data, or information. Steven Zauderer’s article on Cross River Therapy, “Memory Capacity of Human Brain” lists these facts that reveal the true power of the human brain:  The human brain can “store the equivalent of 2.5 million gigabytes of digital memory” (crossrivertherapy.com) Yahoo has a 2.0 petabyte computational center but even this is only 80% of the capacity of a single adult human brain. The human brain can store 450 years of memory.  Unlike with computers, you do not have to worry about your brain runn...

( Image credit ) You have the ability to choose what to remember and what to forget. How do you use this newfound power? While it is more complicated than simply picking and “deleting” a memory from our mind like we might snip a scene from a roll of film, we actually do have the power to make it more likely that we memorize certain situations in place of others.  A study led by Mara Mather proved that “emotional arousal” or anything that excites, scares, or otherwise stimulates someone, can lead to a decrease in the ability to retain information. This is because the stimulation “can attract visual attention” and use energy firing the amygdala, “thereby reducing integration of central aspects with peripheral contextual information into a unified mental representation” ( Waring ). Basically, emotion can distract the mind from retaining information that might be used to complete our memories.  However interesting this information may be, this only proves that we can control the ...

Photo by New Atlas. Whenever you type on a document virtually, you find it easier to fix mistakes by clicking backspace. However, the words written on paper require more effort to erase by physically picking up an object. Similarly, there are situations where people might not want to cling to certain memories just like the desire to remove a word from a document. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 280 million people in the world face depression . Many individuals tend to cling to memories that people would want to forget. Scientists have tried to find a way to modify memories by using certain medicinal techniques that could edit memories. In an experiment, 50 participants were split into two groups. Each group was asked to watch narrative slideshows that depicted unwanted memories. The researchers called the participants after 1 week and showed them the first slide while asking questions about its’ emotional impact. The participants were connected to the images a...

                                                                                                                                     (The bracelet in question.)      Most people have peculiar bad habits they indulge in when they find themselves in a stressful place. Some bite their nails, twirl their hair, even pick at their eyebrows, or tap their feet against the floor. This morning, I opened my AP Biology textbook to chapter one for the first time in way too long, in the pursuit of studying for the biggest endeavor I am currentl...

Have you ever wondered why you sometimes just have a strong craving for certain foods? Or why sometimes some flavors remind you of a different time or place? It turns out, memory actually has a huge impact on our taste preferences and eating habits.  Our brains are made to link smells and tastes to specific memories, creating strong associations that might last your entire life. For example, the smell of cinnamon reminds me of baking with my sister, making me not only want to eat cinnamon rolls but also feel warm and happy. These sensory memories are extremely strong; they not only influence our taste preferences but also affect how we emotionally react to our food.  The foundations of our food preferences are also made in our childhood. The foods we are exposed to early on, where we eat them, and the emotions tied to those experiences shape our food likes and dislikes. For example, if you grew up eating homemade food around a quiet family table, you might want to eat those ce...