What are these "mnestic" processes? The adjective name itself comes from the Greek root "mnez", denoting everything related to the concept of "memory". As you know, in the ancient Greek pantheon of deities there is even a goddess personifying memory - Mnenosyne. What these processes are, what violations they may be subject to and whether their subsequent correction is possible - we will consider in this article.
What are mnestic processes?
Human knowledge arises as a result of mnestic activity. Which aims to memorize the relevant material in order to subsequently reproduce it. Mnestic processes are those that occur in human memory and consist of the following steps:
- remembering is a process that ensures the retention of captured information, in the scientific sense it is divided into intentional and unintentional;
- preservation - during this process, the acquired information is transformed in various ways: by building associations, that is, by assimilating the incoming material with previously known andby interference, when old material is improved by updating it;
- reproduction is a procedure that embodies and actualizes the phases of already existing experience (imaginations, sensations, thoughts, feelings);
- recall is a process that in theory is often not separated from the process of reproduction, but it should be noted that it is associated with an effort aimed at retrieving images from long-term memory;
- recognition - fixing an object of objective reality or a phenomenon as previously familiar, establishing associative links between the observed and the preserved idea of it;
- forgetting - the loss of the ability to reproduce, and sometimes even recognize previously learned; usually it is subjected to that which is of little importance; can be partial and complete, and also vary in time duration.
In the specialized literature, the combination "attentive-mnestic processes" is also often mentioned. In these cases, we are talking about the processes of attention and memory. As you know, very closely related.
Elementary and specific memory processes
In neurosciences, it is customary to separate elementary and specific mnestic processes. Elementary ones (sensitization, conditioned reflex) are present even in primitive animals. Specific ones are already inherent in more advanced, multilayer types of memory.
Modal-specific mnestic processes are those that are associated with the functioning of various sensory systems. Based on this, the appropriate memory types are allocated:visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, motor. The modal-specific type of memory often becomes necessary in professional activities (auditory memory of people involved in music).
Classification by the nature of mental activity
Individual features of mnestic processes are characterized by what material is best absorbed: figurative, verbal, or equally both:
- Figurative memory. This is the ability to perceive and retain in memory certain visual images (representations, pictures from life) and subsequently reproduce them, the type of memory is determined by a combination of modal-specific sensations. This memory is plastic, can be long-term and appear unexpectedly. It is believed that its structure is made up of complex connections of neuronal links from different brain regions.
- Emotional memory. This type of memory is the result of fixations and a new manifestation of emotional experiences, in other words, it is a memory for feelings. The impression, in which there is an emotional coloring, is remembered instantly and without volitional efforts, thus replenishing the structures of the human subconscious. This is a very stable mnemonic type, the material of which can be reproduced completely involuntarily. Its biological basis presumably contains compounds that combine subcortical neuronal links with links from different parts of the cerebral cortex.
- Semantic memory. This mnestic process correlates with the imprinting of verbal signs symbolizing what is happening inreality and inner experience. Schematically, it represents series-connected linear links. If one of the links suffers, then this is fraught with a break in the entire chain, a failure in the correct alternation of the stored realities and the erasure of certain fragments from memory.
Classification of mnestic processes by the duration of retention of fixed information
Traditionally, the mnestic sphere is divided into 3 classical temporary types of memory:
- Iconic.
- Short-term (operational).
- Long-term (declarative).
Mechanisms of regulation and imprinting
Fixing new information goes through three stages in time: initially, based on the work of visual, auditory and tactile analyzers, an engram is formed, that is, a special trace in iconic memory. At the next stage, the available data is sent to the higher instances of the brain. In certain cortical structures and parts of the limbic system, the incoming material is analyzed and sorted.
It is known that the hippocampus acts as a kind of filter that classifies all this and discards the excess, and the task of the temporal region is to establish relationships with engram storage areas from other parts of the brain. At the last stage, all this is translated into a clear scheme of long-term memory.
Violations of mnestic processes
Research on pathologies is usually conducted in 3spheres:
- clinical;
- neurophysiological;
- psychological.
Pathologies of memory in a general way can be depicted as two separate groups - quantitative (dysmnesia) and qualitative (paramnesia) disorders. The former include such as hypermnesia, amnesia, hypomnesia, and the qualitative ones such as false memories, contamination, jamevu or pseudo-reminiscence.
The most famous memory disorder, often mentioned in films and books, is considered to be amnesia. It can be of different types, they are united by a common inability to reproduce previously acquired knowledge, experienced events or remember new material.
Causes of violations
There are various reasons why mnestic processes suffer to a great extent. In psychology, this is a significant topic for research, since memory disorders underlie many mental illnesses. For example, memory function is often impaired in patients with manic-depressive syndrome.
Modal-specific regulation of memory is dependent on the work of primary fields and functional areas of the cerebral cortex. If their functioning is disturbed, the memory processes are also disturbed. The most severe violations of mnestic processes are those caused by organic changes in the brain.
Modally-nonspecific disorders are formed in pathologies of subcortical brain structures: the neural network of the trunk, the limbic system, the hippocampus. If suddenly the activity of the hippocampus is disturbed, there may be"Korsakov's syndrome", in which the victim, having retained long-term memory, loses the ability to remember recent events.
General principles for the treatment of memory disorders
Disorders of mnestic processes are quite often amenable to drug therapy, as well as other methods of treatment. Options for their use depend on the specific diagnosis, in especially severe cases, at least symptom relief is possible. The main therapeutic scheme is built on the following principles:
- removal of an acute condition (with psychosis, trauma);
- vitamin intake;
- treatment with psychotropic drugs (tranquilizers, antipsychotics);
- correction of cerebral circulation (nootropics: Phenibut, Phenotropil, Mexidol and others).
In addition to the main treatment, the following are prescribed:
- balanced nutrition;
- medicinal herbs (valerian, ginger, motherwort);
- cognitive development of memory (various hobbies, memorizing poems, learning new languages, educational games);
- individual work with a psychotherapist.
Some tricks to solve the problem of disorders in children
In childhood, the correction of mnestic processes is primarily an exercise based on intermodal synthesis, that is, on the transfer of information from the level of one modality to the level of another:
- Translation from tactilemodality to the visual. You need to take voluminous objects of various formations and then randomly depict them on paper. Next, ask the child to close his eyes and feel the objects, and then ask him to open his eyes and choose the correct object from the drawn ones.
- Transfer from tactile to auditory and speech modality. The child also closes his eyes and feels the three-dimensional object, then, with the audio recordings turned on, you need to ask him to choose the sound corresponding to this object.
- Transfer from visual to tactile modality. With closed eyes, the child is invited to feel by touch to find the figures shown to him before.
- Transfer from auditory to visual modality. It is necessary to turn on the child's audio recording with a certain speech sound, or the sound of some mechanism or transport, and then invite him to find the corresponding image on paper or draw it on his own. Regardless of which mnestic type is being corrected, a certain order must be observed. First, mnestic processes of recognition are formed. Then - reproduction, and at the end - selectivity.
It is very important to start the timely development of gnostic and mnestic processes (ie cognition and memory) in early childhood. To avoid problems in the future.
So, mnestic processes are complex and subtle activities. Which takes place in the human brain at the neurophysiological, biological and mental levels. These processes, which arethe mobile structure of our memory, can be subject to disorders of a different spectrum, depending on the nature of the damage to the nervous system. If the cause of the disorders is not deep organic brain lesions, then with the modern approach they are completely corrected.
