Nidhi Mukherjee, 5/14 Week 16 - Mitochondria Is the Powerhouse of the Cell
Seven words were spoken that stuck in my mind, etched onto the very folds of my brain.
“Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.”
Mitochondria Is the Powerhouse of the Cell.
Courtesy of the Brackenridge Research Fellowship from the University of Pittsburg
And years later, I still remember it. Word for word. But why don’t I remember Darwin’s theories of evolution word for word? Why don’t I remember the formula for the Simpson’s Diversity Index? Why is it that—try as I might—I can’t memorize “domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species” with Mr. Baker’s fun mnemonic of “Dear King Phillip came over for green spaghetti”?
UC Davis neuroscientist Professor Charan Ranganath believes that humans have a tendency to remember more useful or rewarding things, noting that “‘Rewards help you remember things, because you want future rewards’” (Fell). He tested this hypothesis with postdoctoral researcher Matthias Gruber by testing volunteers’ memory when they were offered a larger reward versus a smaller reward for getting their answers correct (Fell). At the basic level, the conclusion of this study is suggestive of the fact that “memory could be biased toward high points of experience” (Fell).
So does that mean that I get some sort of reward after thinking “Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell”? Because I don’t feel particularly rewarded. And, more importantly, why can’t I forget that sentence but can forget other, more important things that I desperately need to remember?
Neuroscientist Elizabeth Kensinger states that in order to save something as a long-term memory, it must be “continually re-store[d]...in the brain” (Mineo).
While it sounds somewhat basic, it indeed resonates with the number of times I’ve heard the cliché sentence of seven words on old science textbooks and videos my science teachers assigned me to watch.
Like Kensinger claims, it’s like hitting the “save” button on a computer over and over again (Mineo). And the computer’s eventual crash out can be metaphorical to something similar of mine if I hear the platitude one more time.
Hi Nidhi, as someone who didn’t learn that the definition of the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell the first time I was exposed to the idea, I can’t say that that definition instantly comes into my mind when someone asks what the mitochondria is. However, with the increase of jokes from Mr. Benn in my physics class, I’ve slowly defaulted to saying that it is the powerhouse of the cell, even though complex definitions may say that the mitochondria generates energy in the form of ATP. Yet I agree with your idea that ideas that are repeated are often remembered better. The rule my dance teacher used to say was if you do something three or more times, you’ll remember it significantly better than simply repeating it once or twice. Despite that, when I’m memorizing vocabulary words, my brain needs way more than three times to memorize the definition of the word; I often find myself going through the entire quizlet of words five or six times before I fully remember the majority of the definitions, with a few exceptions here and there. I really like the sophisticated word choice you used in your blog and the in-depth research you’ve done for this topic!
ReplyDeleteHey Nidhi! It amazes me how you always incorporate research findings or statistics in your blogs! It just makes everything so much more clear and engaging to read! I feel like I just gain so much knowledge everytime I read your blogs, like how you mentioned a neuroscientist’s finding that humans have a tendency to better memorize things when you are guaranteed a benefit from it. That idea reminded me of this phenomenon I learned in my psychology class, called the mere exposure effect. It basically explains that the more often you see something, the more likely it is for you to form a preference toward it. Do you think this concept could also play a role in affecting what is kept or erased in your memory system?
ReplyDeleteI think your blog this week also connects back to one of the blogs you wrote previously about how weird song tunes kept playing in your head during important moments. The way in which our memory system in the brain works is so complicated, and it is always fascinating to learn how memories are regulated. I also think that memory maintenance isn’t just a matter of the benefit or your liking of it, but mostly repetition! Thank you for this blog!