Neuroscience: Forgetting is a form of LEARNING that helps us access more important information

Instead of our memories decaying with time, forgetting is actually an active form of learning that helps our brain to access more important information. This is the conclusion of experts from Trinity College Dublin and the University of Toronto, who said that'lost' memories are not really gone, just made inaccessible. Memories, they explained, are stored permanently in sets of neurons, with our brains deciding which ones we keep access to and which irrelevant ones are locked away. These choices, they said, are based on environmental feedback, theoretically allowing us flexibility in the face of change and better decision-making as a result. If correct, the findings could lead to new ways to understand and treat memory loss associated with disease -- such as is seen, for example, in patients with Alzheimer's.