MadSci Network: NeuroScience |
Is human memory similar to to the ram in a pc? HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Forgive me if the way my question is formulated makes it difficult to understand. I have no formal scientific education in this area -- just curiosity. Please tell me if I am totally off or not. Does human memory(short-term and long-term) operate similarly to the ram of a PC? Meaning, are memories constantly renewed/maintained by some sort of constant cycling process which maintains their integrity (like information in ram memory, which is lost when one shuts off the computer), or are they saved in some sort of dormant way -- like a hard drive? It seems inconceivable to me that they are not constantly maintained. Since I have some small idea how our biochemistry works, it would seem to me that any thing(particularly a memory fragment saved in some sort of biochemical/bioelectric form) would cease to exist if left dormant. If memory does infact function like I imagine it to, then that would mean that it would be impossible to reconstitute someones memory after a cryogenic sleep -- unless the brain was kept running one a minimal amount of bioelectric current. Thank you for taking time to answer my question. LEO
Re:Is human memory similar to to the ram in a pc?
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