Memory Formation and Retention in the Neurons of the Brain over Time

by Kylie Bryant-Rider

Submitted : Fall 2013

The human brain is a complex machine where very little is understood about how it functions. One complex sequence the brain performs is the formation and retention of memories. The purpose of this project was to look at the neurons in the human brain and see how much information is retained over time and at different ages. This was accomplished by looking at the estimated rates of long term retention in adults to which the retentions rates for youth and elders were gathered. It was then found that the amount of neurological connections in the mind at any given age correlates with the volume of gray matter in the brain at that given point in time. Since gray matter volume directly correlated with the amount of connections in the brain it was then calculated the volume of gray matter in relationship to the volume of the brain at given ages. From that information, the estimated amount of connections was found by calculating the amount of connections possible by volume.

It was found that the amount of neurological connections correlated with the volume of gray matter in the brain at a given time. It was found that youth had better memory retention due which could be attributed to the peak in gray matter volume in early years. It was found that once the mind underwent the pruning phase in which the brain removed shorter neuron connections in favor for longer neuron pathways, the retention rate decreased.

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