How does your brain decide what to remember?

[mugaliens]

yes even i agree with mike. Childhood memories are quite random and based on some unique mechanism

I'm not so sure they're random, and I think we remember them all. I simply think we don't recall them until something trips the memories.

The reason I say this is because I've gotten together with childhood friends over the years who've said, "Do you remember when..." and as soon as they mentioned it, before mentioning any details, the entire escapade flooded back into mind, including conversational/situationl details. I simply had not recalled it since the event took place.

 

[sameeralord]

I don't have many random memories. Each memory I have is definitely due to some sort of interest I had on it. I'm more fascinated with how much things we forget?

 

[Nervous]

http://www.news-medical.net/news/2007/04/20/23968.aspx*Check it out, I finally had some imput you other smart guys didn't think of.

 

[Pythagorean]

I've read about cannabinoids playing a role in what our brain decides to forget. Cannabinoids act in retrograde signaling (signals that go in the opposite direction of the action potential, basically) which makes it a candidate for potentiation. Cannabinoid receptors are found in high concentrations in the Hippocampus, responsible for a lot of memory functions.