The Limbic System and Memory

 Ron Eslinger www.eslinger.net, www.mycecredit.com, www.hypnosiscertification.com

The hippocampus, which controls memory, is another player within the Limbic System. There are three types of memory: working memory, declarative memory, and procedural memory.  The hippocampus is critical in cementing declarative memory, which can be compared to the memory in the hard drive of a computer.

Three types of memory exist, but only declarative memory impacts our perception of reality.

 The working memory is similar to the RAM of a computer or a temporary file. The information stored is used as needed.  Then the cache is deleted to make room for more temporary files. So you wonder why you run to the store intending to buy a loaf of bread, but when you return home you wife asks, “Okay. Where’s that loaf of bread?” You just forgot it, because you started thinking about other things and the temporary file was deleted. My wife always reminds me to write down more details when asking for directions.  Although I listen to the directions, I fail to create a picture image with their words or I do not write the instructions.  The details vanish before I am able to even use the information.  Other examples of short-term memory include addition of numbers and composing sentences. You use the information and then erase it.  There is no need to remember it anymore.

 Declarative memory is similar to the hard drive of a computer; composed of all the facts, figures and names you learn throughout your life.  For example, I have a difficult time with names.  I recall my experiences with someone long before I can recall their name.  As an acquaintance approaches, I start thinking to myself, “Oh no. I can’t remember their name. What’s their name? What’s their name?” and finally out loud to my wife, “Honey, what’s their name?” My own self-talk activates my Amygdala System, creating fear and producing stress hormones that degrade and suppress my memory. I have such a difficult time that I depend on my wife to remember names for me.  When we see someone we recently met, she speaks first and says their name.  It is so helpful and then all of my memories about that person start flowing.

 And in the Navy I was in a position where I had to remember 50 names and give all of those names to my commanding officer during an inspection. I could have actually written them down, but I wanted to make an impression.  I established a system.  Every time I introduced myself to one of the people in my platoon, they gave me their name and I repeated it back to them.  On inspection day, my commanding officer asked,  “Well, where’s your list?” I answered, “It’s in my head.” She was not too confident, but I did remember each name.  There is solid proof that I can remember names, I just need the right self talk.  The details you have learned in the past are present in your memory today. You can bring them back by relaxing your mind and focusing your attention.

 All your experiences are in your memory as well.  Unfortunately some experiences are negative.  Recalling those moments sends shivers up and down the spine.  Other memories are happy and make you smile.  For example, a mother can recall a really funny thing her toddler said years ago.

 Recently, I attended the 75^th anniversary celebration of my hospital’s nursing school.  A classmate and I sat chatting about college and careers when a memory from 35 years earlier popped into my head. I recalled a child who refused to drink her milk. I stood next to the child trying to coax her into drinking her milk. All of a sudden the intercom system blared,  “This is the Lord speaking. Drink your milk.”  The kid’s eyes got really big and she grabbed her milk and started to drink.  My former classmate even remembered the little girl’s name, Jenny.  I had not thought of Jenny for 35 years, but sitting next to my classmate brought back the memory and the humor of that moment.   All of our memories are stored and there is no way to know when a memory will be triggered, or while that memory may be.

 However, we do not know where the hippocampus stores all of these memories. We do know cortisol, a stress hormone can degrade memory.  Memories, which can be activated with electrical impulses tile so stimulate hormones and neurotransmitters. Cortisol can degrade this activation which is demonstrated in the video, What in and the bleep… do we know.  As a result, the memory as a single unit or file is fragmented. During recall, we fit together a piece of the puzzle here and a piece of the puzzle there and put it back together as a complete memory.  Hypnotic processes help reconstruct the pieces of a puzzle. Hypnosis helps one to remember how they are supposed to feel, replacing the memory of pain or stress with a new memory of comfort.  Hypnosis brings memories back together completing the picture.   However, memories can be as false as they can be true. All members were based on perception and perception becomes the reality.

 Procedural memory is stored as conditioned responses for reflexes. Reflexes are actions, habits or skills that are learned simply through repetition. 

 We all develop procedural memories.  One of the first procedural memories you may remember was learning to drive a car.  I learned to drive on a standard shift or standard transmission. Do you remember the first time you were sitting in the car?  You may have been thinking, “Okay I’ve got my right foot on the brake. I’ve got my left foot on the clutch. I’ve got to take my right foot, put it on the gas and lift my left foot up at the same time.”  The next thing we hear is ‘thump, thump, thump’ and the car stalls in the driveway.

 You go for a drive. You are driving down the street and you see a red traffic light. “Oh no, there’s a red light. I have to take my right foot off the gas and put it on the brake. I have to put my left foot on the clutch.  Oh please don’t stall. Please don’t stall.” That is the first week.  What happens during the second week? Well guys, you have one arm around your girlfriend and you say, “Here, change the gears for me.” The process becomes natural, a reflex condition.

 Great athletes become great athletes by developing reflex conditions that put them in the zone for their sport.  One afternoon I listened to a broadcast of National Public Radio (NPR).  The host interviewed a gentleman in his sixties. This man holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the most consecutive free throw shots in basketball. How many free throws do you think he made? What did you guess? He made ten thousand consecutive free throws without missing one. As the story went, this record holder stopped because a basketball team scheduled a ball game on the court and he could no longer continue his shots. Some athletes make millions of dollars a year if they can make five out of ten free throws.  During the interview, the Guinness Book of World Record’s narrator asked, “Sir, what are you thinking about when you’re shooting?”

He replies, “Young man, you can’t think. If you think, you’ll miss.”

 That is really the truth of it.  How many golfers, when teeing off at a water hole, automatically take out the water ball?  You guessed it. Their expectation is to hit the ball into the water.  Sure enough, it goes in the water.  

 In a similar manner, individuals with chronic pain may have created a reflex condition or trigger that activates the pain. Chronic pain patients actualize the pain reflex response. They expect to wakeup each morning with back pain, leg pain or even a migraine.  Has that ever happened to you?  Have you ever waked up in the morning thinking “I hurt all over?” So I emphasize to my clients, that the first thing to do when you wake in the morning is to say to yourself, “I feel better today. I feel better today.” Although, I certainly care if the person is in pain, the idea is to recreate in the procedural memory, a reinforcement and repetition of a healing memory.  Words make a difference because words and thoughts affect the Limbic System that affects the perception and response to pain.  Positive repetitions enforce new neuro networking which decreases the pain.  Conversely, negative thoughts and even the fear of pain can increase pain.