Biological factors affect on memory

Our memory is not always controlled by us. Sometimes we remember things we don't want to remember and other times we forget even if we want to remember. Sometimes this is caused by different biological factors. PTSD is a shorter name for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This can happen to people who have experienced a very extreme and discomforting situation. It can be children who have been exposed to abuse, raped women, or soldiers coming back from war. Adrenaline is a powerful hormone produced by the adrenal gland during high stress and in these situations lots of adrenaline is released into the system and this helps you remember the event better. If you get PTSD all the emotions you experience will haunt you for years after the event is over and you will remember it as vividly as if it's happening all over again. Dr. Pittman did a study where he dropped rats in a tub of water with a clear plastic box in the middle that the rats could't see. The rats would swim along the edge and eventually they would panic and start swimming around in different directions towards the middle and stumble upon the box. The next time the rats got dropped in the same tub they would first swim around the edge but would turn to the middle and find the box quicker. Then Dr. Pittman did a second trial and injected the rats with adrenaline. The rats would swim towards the middle of the tub at once the second time they were dropped into it, suggesting that they remembered that there was a box. On the third trial Dr. Pittman injected the rats with propranolol. Propranolol works against the adrenaline with beta-blockers that inhibit the binding of the neurotransmitters at the receptors where the memories are formed therefore propranolol may both dampen memory formation and dissociate the memory from emotional response. These rats swam around the tub edge just as if they had never been there before and there was no time change between the first and second time they were dropped. Another thing that can make us forget is not a drug but a disease called Alzheimer's that affects the brain. It kills nerve cells and causes tissue loss throughout the brain. The first and most affected area is the hippocampus. The hippocampus is responsible for the formation of new memories and also some learning and emotions. So this is why the first signs of Alzheimer's is memory loss. During the middle stage the memory loss gets worse and patients start forgetting family and friends and they also easily get lost even in familiar settings. At the last stage the brain is so damaged that the patient can no longer take care of themselves and they need around the clock supervision. There is no medication for Alzheimer's, so the patient will die from it.