Below is a very simplified and general explanation of memory. You are welcome to contact us to discuss whether what you are experiencing is an issue with memory and what we can do to help.

Our memory is the system in our brains that remembers things. There are a number of different parts to the system; some parts help us take information in, some help us keep the information, some help us to access the information when we need it and some get it back out of the system. Different parts of our memory focuses on different types of memories:

Short term memory or working memory – this part of our system remembers things in the short term before moving relevant things to our long term memory. It can take in visual and/ or verbal information, do something quickly with that information, and give out a relevant response.

Long term memory – this is the part that remembers things over a longer period of time and there are several parts to our long term memory:

Declarative memory – this includes things we remember explicitly

Non-declarative memory – this includes things we remember implicitly

Episodic memory – memory for events

Semantic memory – memory for facts

Topographical memory – memory for finding our way around, route planning and route finding

Procedural memory – implicit memory for motor and cognitive skills

Perceptual priming – we implicitly remember things we have perceived

Classical conditioning – we implicitly remember conditioned responses between stimuli

Habits – we remember things that have become unconscious habits

Reflexes – we implicitly remember reflex reactions

Recall – this is when we remember things without much of a prompt

Recognition – this is when we remember things with a bit of a prompt or when we encounter something again