On France Inter Lionel Naccache expressed at the microphone of Charles Pépin the complexity of human memory
“It’s architecture, a very complex phenomenon. You have to start by respecting its complexity, not reducing it to extremely simplistic little stories that stick with your expectations, your models. Now, that being said, we are beginning to be able to identify what are the factors that will be able to partly preside over the irruption of a memory, the recall of a memory on the scene of the present, of our consciousness, there are plenty of avenues that we can perhaps explore. One of the tracks, perhaps the most important, is that we must never forget that when we remember, obviously, we remember in the present, the memory is an act of the present.
“We talk about memory consolidation. It really means that when you remember something, you reactivate a memory trace on the scene of your consciousness.”
“we have discovered a second function of the hippocampus, which is the fact of mapping the place where we are exactly.” Charles Pépin says it, it is “a kind of mental GPS.”
“We realized that for example at night, rats but also primates and especially humans too… In fact, we have periods of deep sleep in which we will replay the spatial trajectories of the day before. So it’s as if our GPS was replaying the trajectories of what we had done while we were sleeping. […] since we don’t need to move our fat, bones, etc., it even goes 100 times faster. So you have to imagine a cerebral film accelerated upside down and upside down. And we discovered that what is called the ‘night replay’, in fact it has a fundamental role, not only to consolidate the trajectories, but to consolidate the memories of what we experienced when we were where we were. “
This interview, which lasts 50 minutes, is of excellent quality. Lionel Naccache thus opens several doors of questioning, integrating the contributions of two of his books: “The New Unconscious” then “Inner Cinema” (cf. See article )
Door 1: Back to Freud’s contributions. This 19th century scientist brought the concept of the unconscious, repression and interpretation of dreams, the foundation of psychoanalytic practice. Next LN Freud essentially worked on the processes of deep, analytical awareness, discernment and “meta” position-taking, for the patient as well as for the psychoanalyst. He remains very skeptical about the principle of repression as well as that of opening to “the unconscious”
Door 2: the dream that takes place in REM sleep loses significant logic by associating incoherent “images” or “thoughts”, in particular with respect to time. ) of control of cerebral productions. It is therefore likely when we evoke the notion of “waking dream”, that the metacognition functions remain activated thus producing coherent dreams. Dreams have their source in the lived present or the very recent past. It is thus common to fall asleep with an unresolved problem and to wake up in the middle of the night or in the morning with a relevant solution.
Gate 3 : the memorization of a content (lesson, poetry, etc.) is greatly facilitated by multiple memorization (emotion, place, atmosphere, sequence).
The memorization (like recollection) nucleus hippocampus memorizes geographical spaces and paths in a cartographic way. One of the ways to memorize a text is to associate each sentence with a stage of the movement. This is verified. That said, research in neuroscience has a methodological bias, that of giving a preponderant part to the visual dimension compared to other fields, because it is a very accessible field of investigation and scientific research. In fact, the brain does not memorize the place and the movements but only the representation that it builds (the map). In other words, associating a symbolic or semantic content with a visual representation linked or not to the content is very facilitating for the processes of memorization as well as recollection. The “GPS” function is very useful for hikers, at night or in foggy weather. However, it can lead to errors such as going around in circles!
Memorization associated with the production of unrelated diagrams or drawings, or with taking notes is very relevant and frequently used. For the musician, it is the association of the melody with a graphic description: the score which favors memorization and recollection.
Gate 4: The processes of memorization then recollection (PM&PRM) work in the present moment. These processes use the same brain circuits whether to explore the past, the future, the present or empathy (knowledge of the other, “theory of mind”). In all these directions, the “PM&PRM” processes ” are projective processes that appeal to “the imagination”, another cerebral process, still little studied. It is not for nothing that this community is called “memory of the future” !!!
Gate 5: The predominant model of the functioning of consciousness: the Global Space of Conscious Work is perfectly illustrated within the framework of the work The indoor cinema de LN Our brain produces a film, a series of successive images or states of consciousness. Each minimal state of consciousness results from a synchronization (flow of synchronization) between different cerebral processes which “dialogue with each other” in singular dimensions, specific to each process. The primordial and determining factor of these processes of conscientization, for the human species, is that of the reentrance of information (or micro decisions), in the operation of globally non-conscious processes. This obviously incorporates listening for weak signals and intuitive production. (see article)
Gate 6: questioning about the “spiritual” process of seeking a state of mindfulness. LN’s position is clear and simple. This state is a state of full awareness. In Canada this is expressed by the state of “full attention to what is”. This meta position generates increased vigilance and lucidity, far removed from the notion of emptiness. This is above all a state of connection, of global thinking, a form of systemic intelligence described in the previous article: How to develop non-dualistic thinking?
The cerebral processes of conscientization integrate the emotional processes, the elaboration of mental representations and the attentional processes.
In addition, I will add the contribution of a very recent article published in the newspaper Le Monde of August 3, 22: The molecule that sorts good and bad memories
An American team has highlighted the role of neurotensin in building memory, opening up possible therapeutic avenues. these contradictory perceptions (good memory / bad memories and suffering) followed two distinct neural paths inside amygdala, this small core of the brain fundamental in the treatment and the memorization of our emotions.