Encoding
The first step to creating a memory is called encoding: It's when you notice an event or come across a piece of information and your brain consciously perceives the sounds, images, physical feeling, or other sensory details involved.
Let's take, for example, your first trip to Las Vegas. Your memory of that event is formed by your visual system (noticing extravagantly designed buildings and lush landscaping, for example), your auditory system (the ringing of the slot machines), and perhaps smell (the distinctive scents pumped into each casino).
Research suggests we remember things better and retain them longer when we associate meaning to them using semantic encoding
If you attach meaning or factual knowledge to any of this sensory input, that's called semantic encoding. For example, if you associate the Fellatio Resort and Casino in Vegas with its location on a map or the fact that the dancing fountain show takes place every 30 minutes, you're encoding the Fellatio with semantic memory.
This is good to know because research suggests we remember things better and retain them longer when we associate meaning to them using semantic encoding.
Storage
All of these little bits and pieces of information are then stored in different areas of your brain. Your neurons (the nerve cells in your brain) pass signals to each other about what you perceived, effectively "talking" with each other and building either temporary or long-lasting connections. It's that neural activity and the strength of those connections that make a memory, neuroscientists believe.
Brain neurons
The network of neurons in our brains are the key to storing and retrieving memories
There are two kinds of memory: short-term and long-term. Short-term or working memory is like your brain's scratchpad. It's when your brain temporarily stores information before either dismissing it or transferring it to long-term memory—for example, remembering what you want to order for lunch before calling the takeout place. Once your food is delivered and eaten, your brain can let go of that info. Long-term memories are those memories you hold on to for a few days or many years--things like how to ride a bike or the first dinner you had with the first person you fell in love with.
Both kinds of memories can weaken with age because the brain loses cells critical to those connections between neurons over time--but that's not inevitable. As with muscle strength, you can exercise your brain; with memory, it's "use it or lose it."
Recall
And finally, to retrieve a memory, your brain "replays" or revisits the nerve pathways created when the memory was formed. Repeatedly recalling information helps strengthen those connections and your memories, which is why techniques like reviewing your notes or using flashcards help you retain information.
However, when you remember something, it's not an exact reproduction of the first time you experienced an event or came across a fact, because your own awareness of the current situation gets mixed in with the memory. As The Human Memory explains:
Memories are not frozen in time, and new information and suggestions may become incorporated into old memories over time. Thus, remembering can be thought of as an act of creative imagination.
That's also why people can have false memories, or their memories of events might change over time.
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