Memorize. Remember This. Be aware of this. As college students, we have all heard these phrases right before exams. But what exactly is memory? As Professor Ryals explained in his recent presentation “The Continuum of Awareness in Recognition Memory,” memory could be more complex than we thought. Rather than the two categories explicit and implicit Memory, Professor Ryals explained that memory could be on a continuum.
Professor Ryals explained that there are two distinct states of recognition and how it may not only be under explicit memory. The two states of recognition are recollection (all-or-none) or familiarity (variable). All-or none recognition would be when you see a picture of a celebrity and remember their name right away. A variable recognition would be when you would remember facts about the celebrity but you would not be able to remember this celebrity. Variable recognition oftens leads us to complete recognition. This leads to the idea that recognition must be open to conscious awareness. Unlike recollection retrieval, variable retrieval is enhanced by arousal and valence. The data also showed that implicit and explicit memory may co-occur and it may just depend on what kind of tests you’re doing. Professor Ryals pointed out that flexible assumptions and new tests need to be made to advance his theory of memory being on a continuum.
What interested me the most about the talk was the application aspects that Professor Ryals discussed. There is more research showing how there may be memory impairment in breast cancer survivors. The term for it is “chemofog” or “chemobrain.” This post cancer impairment may be due to the MTL toxicity and the stress that comes with the treatments. Studies showed negative brain activity in the hippocampus and a shrinkage of the hippocampus. Professor Ryals gave us the final question: can we prevent this?
After the talk, I came across the article, “Stress and Memory Problems in Breast Cancer Patients.” It was written by Stacy Simon and it talked about the “Chemo brain” that Professor Ryals ended his talk with. However, rather than focusing on the chemical aspects, Simon focuses on how stress can also play a huge factor with memory.
Stacy Simon argued that stress can act in two ways. The first way is cognitive. People spend a specific amount of energy when making decisions, paying attention and controlling emotions. When having to make decisions on diagnoses, many people are left with no more energy for other cognitive functions. This would result in a loss of memory. The second role is more a physiological role stress takes on the body. With added stress, there is an increase in the hormone cortisol. Cortisol reduces the ability to think or retrieve long-term memories.
Simon points out that rather than just focusing on chemotherapy, cancer patients should reduce their stress levels to effectively make the most of the treatment given to them. Some preventive measures were doing regular exercise, yoga, and socializing with someone. Even with chemotherapy, Simon points out that what is important is the quality of life afterward. By learning how to reduce stress, this will strengthen the individual cognitively.
I thought it was interesting how memory, which is still being studied extensively by researchers like Professor Ryals, can be easily affected by factors such as chemicals and stress and make it such a complicated concept to study. So as I start preparing for finals, I’ll prepare for the mini breaks needed in between to de-stress and make my memory as sharp as it can be!
Simon, Stacy. "Stress and Memory Problems in Breast Cancer Patients." Stress and Memory Problems in Breast Cancer Patients. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Ryals, Anthony. “The Continuum of Awareness in Recognition Memory.” Loyola University Chicago. Cuneo 109, Chicago. 12 April. 2016. Lecture
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