Definition
Short-term memory describes the ability of the brain to remember things for a short period of time. Anatomically, the front part of the frontal lobe, the so-called prefrontal cortex, which is located behind the forehead, seems to be particularly relevant for this. The memory can be divided into two groups: explicit memory content, such as facts and events, and implicit memory content, such as actions and emotional content.
In more recent definitions, short-term memory only refers to explicit memory content, while actions and emotional memories are strictly speaking part of long-term memory, because they are also relevant in the longer term. The processing of explicit memory contents is also called working memory, which is equivalent to a modern description of short-term memory. Depending on the type of memory content, there are connections to other parts of the brain which help to process what has been memorized. However, this is already part of the so-called memory consolidation, a transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory.
Duration of the short-term memory
The short-term memory stores information only for a few seconds to a maximum of minutes. Since the storage capacity is not unlimited, information must then either be transferred to long-term memory for memory consolidation or overwritten with new information if the information is not relevant. However, the short-term memory or working memory plays a role not only in short-term memorization or, for example, when writing down a telephone number, but also in virtually every everyday process.
If a term is read, it is parked in the short-term memory until other parts of the brain have linked the letters read with a meaning and the meaning of the word read is formed in the mind. In mental arithmetic, for example, the short-term memory is also very much in demand. This information can then be erased again, as it has no major significance. The short-term memory is therefore more likely to help process more complex tasks and is more likely to be the gateway to long-term memory in the sense of a learning process.
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