Memory
Memory is the ability to remember something that has been learned or experienced. Memory also refers to the brain's ability to store information. Memory is a vital part of the learning process. Without it, learning would be impossible. If your brain recorded nothing from the past, you would be unable to learn anything new. All your experiences would be lost as soon as they ended, and each new situation would be totally unfamiliar. Without memory, you would repeatedly have the same experiences for the "first time." Memory gives a richness to life--the pleasure of happy remembrances as well as the sorrow of unhappy ones.
Scientists learn more every day about what happens in the brain when it stores memories. Almost certainly, storing new memories involves chemical changes in the nerve cells of the brain or in the substances that carry messages across the tiny gaps between the nerve cells. These gaps are called synapses. Storing new memories also involves structural changes, such as changes in the physical structure of the brain's nerve cells.
Scientists also continue to learn more about which areas of the brain are involved in remembering. One important area is the hippocampus, part of a larger structure called the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex controls higher brain functions such as thinking, problem solving, decision making, and the use of language. Many people who suffer damage to the hippocampus have trouble remembering anything new.