Question: how do you keep every thing in your head //

Charlotte Flavell answered on 25 Jun 2014:

Hi andreea9,

I’m guessing that you mean how do we remember everything?
The answer to this is we’re not really sure – that’s why I get to do research on memories! 🙂

What we know at the moment is that certain areas of the brain are important for making and storing different types of memory. The cells in our brains all connect to each other, much like the wiring in our house to turn the lights on. We think that the pattern of wiring is important for how we store memories.

Using the pattern of lights in your house as an example; turning on the lights in your kitchen, your bathroom and your bedroom could be one memory, but turning on the lights in your living room, the garage and your parents’ bedroom might be another. We think this combination of certain parts of your brain being “on” while other bits are “off” is what makes up a memory.

In terms of how we can keep everything up there, the human brain is capable of storing huge amounts of information. If you imagined your brain was like a USB stick or an iPod (mine can hold 32 gigabytes), then the brain is capable of storing 2.5 petabytes (that’s a million gigabytes!). So don’t worry, I don’t think you will be running out of space anytime soon 🙂