in my previous video titled the Enigma of memory beyond the brain I outlined why memories are not stored in the brain on a physical level but must somehow be stored on the immaterial even spiritual level I quoted several experts for instance Robert Epstein a senior research psychologist stated no matter how hard they try brain scientists and cognitive psychologists will never find a copy of betho 's Fifth Symphony in the brain or copies of words pictures grammatical rules or any other kinds of environmental stimuli the human brain isn't really empty of course but it does not
contain most of the things people think it does not even simple things such as memories likewise in his 2020 article where do our memories live Matthew Cobb professor of biological science at the University of Manchester States but the hippoc campuses are not the site of memory storage rather these brain regions are the encoders and The Roots through which memory formation seems to pass our brains might be like computers in terms of how they sometimes process information but the way we store and recall our memories is completely different we are not machines nor are we like
any machine we can currently envisage subsequent to making the the Enigma of memory video I have found several more quotes supporting the claim that memories are not physically stored in the brain for instance three scientists wrote that direct evidence that synaptic plasticity is the actual cellular mechanism for human learning and memory is lacking likewise psychologist Sharon L Thompson shill stated the search for the neuroanatomical locus of semantic memory has simultaneously L us nowhere and everywhere there is no compelling evidence that any one brain region plays a dedicated and privileged role in the representation or retrieval
of all sorts of semantic knowledge as well neuroscientist Juan Alvaro Galo stated the fundamental problem is that we don't really know where or how thoughts are stored in the brain we can't read thoughts if we don't understand the Neuroscience behind them several more quotes like these can be found in an article titled H Sam memory whiz subjects scored 25 times higher on a random dates test the point being is that no one has any real clue as to where or even if memories are actually stored in the brain to my claim that memories must be
stored on the immaterial even spiritual level I quoted brain surgeon Michael eggor as well I cited evidence from hemispherectomies and near-death experiences in his article titled recalling Nana's face does your brain store memories Dr Michael eggor States the brain is a physical thing a memory is a psychological thing a psychological thing obviously can't be stored in the same way a physical thing can it's not clear how the term store could even apply to a psychological thing and in in his article titled brains on fire Dr eggor further clarifies that the difference between a memory and
a representation of a memory is obvious right now I remember that I have an appointment at noon I'm writing down appointment at noon on my calendar my memory is my thought that I have an appointment at noon the representation of my memory is the written note on my calendar a thought differs from a note a thought is something I experience a note is something I write my memory is a psychological thing my note is a physical thing my memory is represented in my note my memory is not the same thing as my note a memory
is not the same thing as a representation of a [Music] memory for empirical evidence I cited an article on hemispherectomies titled removing half of brain improves young epileptics lives where it is stated we are awed by the apparent retention of memory and by the retention of the child's personality and sense of humor likewise I cited evidence from near-death experiences where numerous people who have had a close brush with death report during the Life review portion of their near-death experience of being able to recall every minute detail of their entire lives all in all my the
Enigma of memory video was well received Dr Michael eggor even did an article on my video the article is titled are memories stored in the brain yet there was a small flaw in the video specifically and to repeat I quoted Matthew Cobb professor of biological science at the University of Manchester as stating but the hippoc campuses are not the site of memory storage rather these brain regions are the encoders and The Roots through which memory formation seems to pass likewise Michael egnor in his article stated to acquire new memories normal functioning of at least one
hippocampus is necessary so it seems that the belief that the hippocampus is necessary for memory formation seems to be a widespread belief in Neuroscience yet since making my video I have now learned that the widespread belief that the hippocampus is necessary for memory formation is a false belief in his article studies debunk hippocampus memory myths science writer Mark Mayhan States some people cite the case of patient hm a patient with a damaged hippocampus for example the paper quoted above states that patient hm became unable to consciously recollect new events in his life or new facts
about the world this is not correct a 14-year follow-up study of patient hm whose memory problems started in 1953 actually tells us that hm was able to form some new memories the myth that patient hm lost the ability to form new memories after hippocampus damage is therefore an old wives tale of Neuroscience literature a claim not justified by the facts the main research paper on the hippocampus and memory is the paper memory outcome after selective amygdalohippocampectomy a study in 140 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy that paper gives memory scores for 140 patients who almost all
had the hippocampus removed to stop seizures the memory outcome after selective amydala hippocampectomy paper does not use the word Amnesia to describe the results that paper gives memory scores that merely show only a modest decline in memory performance the paper States nonverbal memory performance is slightly impaired pre-operatively in both groups with no apparent wor ing attributable to surgery in fact table three of the paper informs us that a lack of any significant change in memory performance after removal of the hippocampus was far more common than a decline in memory performance and that a substantial number
of the patients improved their memory performance after their hippocampus was removed you can read the paper in its entirety at Mark Mayan's website which is titled head truth so in conclusion the main claim of my Enigma of memory video that memories are not physically stored in the brain has become even stronger with the reputation of the widespread belief that the hippocampus is necessary for memory formation memories much like Consciousness itself simply can't be reduced to the physical brain
