Page 44 - The Memory Program How to Prevent Memory Loss and Enhance Memory Power

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Are There Limits to Your Memory?

Is there a limit to how much you can remember? Off hand, we all know that we can teach an old dog
new tricks. Millions of people who are past their so-called prime are able to take college courses and
graduate with advanced degrees. But if there are distinct brain regions for each subtype of memory—
proper nouns versus other nouns, for example— don't these bookshelves get saturated over a lifetime
of exposure to thousands of pieces of information that make up our brain libraries? And if these brain
regions get saturated, how can a middle-aged or older person still have the capacity to learn whole
new languages and technologies?

The answer is simple: memory is a dynamic, not a static, process. There are several ways by which
your memory storage keeps expanding:

1. As you learn more, and learn more efficiently, the nerve cells responsible for memory develop
new tricks and become more expert at importing new knowledge into the available nerve cells.
2. Few of us have taxed our memories to such an extent that all the memory nerve cells are
clogged up and overflowing with knowledge, though if you're a quiz or game show expert you
may come fairly close.
3. Finally, there is an obvious solution when you need more memory: drag the useless stuff to the
trash, choose “empty trash” from the pop-up menu, and a few megabytes of memory storage
immediately open up in your brain.