SHORT AND LONG TERM MEMORY LOSS: CAUSES, TREATMENTS - ECONOMÍA - 2025

The memory loss short and long term is one of the diseases that cause more anxiety because it plays a vital role in our lives, so when it appears it is likely to react with confusion and nervousness

Unlike other pathologies, memory is a personal capacity that completely defines us. When this function that all people have is altered, it is impossible to separate the loss of memory from the own identity.

If we break a leg we know that only part of our body will be damaged for a time. However, if we lose memory we notice how we are not only losing our ability to remember, but we are losing our ability to live as before and be as we were previously.

In order to properly manage these situations, it is very important to know what types of memory loss exist, what their causes are, and how they can be treated. Faced with memory loss, we can often think that it is something inevitable, irreversible and incurable.

Difficulty understanding why this happens to us, what has happened inside us to begin to lose memory and what we can do to overcome it, make our feelings of confusion grow.

However, science advances with the aim of answering all these questions and converting memory loss into a set of identifiable, diagnosable pathologies that can be intervened.

What types of memory loss are there?

The three functions that memory performs are to perceive, learn, and retain information. Memory collects new information, organizes it so that it has meaning, and retrieves it when we need to remember something.

Memory failures can appear in any of these three mechanisms, so the loss of this ability can manifest itself in different ways.

Memory failures can become noticeable in some of these three phases that allow recall.

Coding

Coding consists of the transformation of stimuli into a mental representation that is stored in the brain. It is what people popularly know by the name of learning, that is, when a new stimulus appears, our brain must be able to encode that information in order to store it in our mind.

People are not capable of learning if we do not pay attention and manage to encode the information properly in our brain. If we suffer any alteration in this mechanism, the information cannot be encoded, so it cannot be stored, much less remembered.

Storage

Once the information has been encoded, it must be stored in the relevant brain structures. Otherwise, despite having correctly captured and encoded the stimulus, it will not be retained in the brain and will disappear easily.

Therefore, failures in the storage action do not prevent us from capturing and encoding information, but they do keep it in our mind and, therefore, being able to recover it.

Recovery

It is the last phase of memory capacity and consists of recovering information that we already have in our brain structures. For this action to be carried out, it is necessary to have carried out the previous two.

Otherwise, there will be no information stored in our mind that can be retrieved, so we cannot retrieve it. Although the two previous actions have been carried out properly, memory failures may appear in this last phase.

Although the information is adequately stored in our mind, it may happen that it cannot be remembered, so memory loss also occurs.

Within these processes that define the ability to remember, we find two main types of memory: short-term memory and long-term memory.

Short term memory

Short-term memory or primary memory is the ability to actively keep a small amount of information in mind. This is the ability that allows us to find information immediately available for a short period of time.

The duration of this memory is very short (a few seconds) and covers a relatively low number of elements (between 2 and 7 elements). In order to understand it better, short-term memory is what allows us to remember relatively little information for a certain period of time.

For example, if I propose that you memorize these 6 numbers (2, 8, 4, 1, 9, 3), you will quickly see how unless you constantly repeat them, this information will remain in your memory for a few seconds.

Today it is argued that this type of short-term memory, in which only a small number of concepts can be remembered for a short period of time, is a different structure from long-term memory, which stores indefinitely an unlimited amount of information.

This differentiation is evident in the disease known as anterograde amnesia.

People who suffer from this phenomenon retain intact the ability to retain small amounts of information for short periods of time (short-term memory) but have serious difficulties in forming long-term memories.

Long term memory

Long-term memory, also called secondary memory, is a type of memory that stores memories for a period of time that can last from a few days to decades.

It is argued that this type of memory does not present any limit of capacity or duration, so it can cover an indefinite amount of information throughout a person's life.

Concepts such as our name, the names of our relatives or friends, relevant aspects of life and, ultimately, any type of information that we will always remember, are stored in this memory system.

As we can see, long-term memory differs from short-term memory and the information retained in these structures is vital to remember the most important things in our life.

However, short-term memory consists of a temporary enhancement of neuronal connections that can become long-term memory through a process of repetition and significant association.

If we repeat the 6 numbers that we have discussed and appear frequently in our lives, they can go from short-term memory to long-term memory.

This fact would explain why people are able to remember the phone number of our partner or our parents throughout our lives, since the information is stored in a much more solid structure.

However, the information retained in this structure is also susceptible to fading into the natural process of forgetting.

Therefore, long-term memory changes, the information we have is not always the same and while new information may appear and be stored in this structure, certain stored information can be forgotten.

Causes of memory loss

Memory loss is a fairly common phenomenon in society, since many people suffer from it. First of all, it must be taken into account that memory loss is not a disease in itself, but is a symptom of a certain disease.

Next we will discuss the main causes of memory loss.

Consumption of alcohol and other drugs

The use of alcohol and other drugs that cause intoxication can cause memory loss relatively easily. These substances can cause memory loss in two different ways: through intoxication itself and through deterioration of the brain caused by their prolonged use.

It is very common for people who are highly intoxicated, have difficulty remembering what happened to them during that period of time.

In these cases, it is understood that alcohol decreases the ability to encode and store information, but this returns to normal when the effects of the drug wear off.

On the other hand, the consumption of alcohol can produce much more serious effects and damage parts of the brain that in the long run diminish the ability to memorize and retrieve memories.

Oxygen deficiency in the brain

Cardiac or respiratory arrest, cardiovascular accidents or complications from anesthesia can cause damage to the brain that causes a clear loss of memory.

Normally the damage caused by these diseases can lead to a dementia syndrome where cognitive abilities are increasingly diminishing.

Brain infections

Infections such as Lyme disease, syphilis, enfecalitis or HIV can have a similar effect on brain regions and decrease memory capacity.

Dementia

Dementia syndromes are the main causes of memory loss.

These can be caused by different diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's disease, Lewy bodies, cerebrovascular damage, Pick's disease, HIV, etc.

In dementia, memory loss is always progressive and irreversible, although its evolution may slow down.

Depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia

These diseases can lead to memory loss relatively easily. In the case of depression, memory recovers once the illness is overcome, however, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia can cause permanent deterioration.

Electroconvulsive therapy

This therapy, which is used to treat schizophrenia, and some cases of depression and severe bipolar disorders, causes memory loss, especially if it is carried out for a long time.

Likewise, drugs such as barbiturates, benzodiazepines or some antipsychotics can also cause these types of side effects.

Head trauma

Injuries and trauma to the skull can damage brain regions and cause memory loss. Depending on the brain structures affected, memory loss will have certain characteristics.

Nutritional problems

Vitamin B12 deficiencies can directly cause significant memory loss. To regain capacity it is vitally important to supply the deficiencies of this vitamin.

Treatments for memory loss

In memory disorders, treatment is directed according to its cause, which is why it is vitally important to obtain a good diagnosis and clearly identify the factors that have caused it.

If the memory failure is due to a deficiency of vitamin B12, it should be treated with vitamin B12 supplements. If memory loss is a symptom of a disease such as Parkinson's or an infection, targeted treatment for that disease is necessary.

Apart from this, which is the main treatment, there are another series of strategies and activities that can accompany the treatment of memory loss. These are:

1. Perform moderate physical activity daily.
2. Eat a balanced diet with nutrients that strengthen memory.
3. Perform cognitive stimulation activities and specific exercises to work memory.
4. Completely limit the use of alcohol and other toxins.
5. Get adequate rest, sleeping at least between 7 and 8 hours.
6. In some cases, specific medications are incorporated to improve memory such as donapezil, rivastigmine or galantamine.

References

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