Author: asr5410

Declarative (explicit) memory is a type of memory that is encoded by our hippocampus, entorhinal cortex and perirhinal cortex but is stored in our temporal cortex. The declarative memory has two parts to it; episodic and semantic memory. The semantic memory is the act of remembering general facts or things from a young age. Episodic memory is more aimed towards personal facts. These personal facts are more based off of where we were at the time, who was there, the smell, or other senses we can recall from the specific time or place. An example of semantic memory would be recognizing that the grass is green or that the first President of the US was George Washington. These facts are not based off of personal experiences  but they are based off of common knowledge which was stored into our long term memory. An example of  episodic memory would be remembering move in day at college or your 16th birthday. A personal experience that I can talk about that relates to episodic memory would be the first day I moved into a dorm at Penn State. I can vividly remember the pit in my stomach the morning of, the smell of my last NJ bagel, the feel of the warm, damp, dorm room and the sight of the dark, boring, prison like dorm room walls. Even though this memory of mine was not common knowledge and was not stored into my brain at a young age, it is so vivid in my memory because it was so distinct, personal and the senses that I felt during this experience stored this memory for me. A personal experience of semantic memory for me would be remembering PEMDAS in my math class this week. Although, I have not used PEMDAS since early high school, I was able to recall that information instantly because it was stored in my brain from my teacher. I was able to think back to my teacher teaching it to us and it just instantly clicking because I had learned it and practiced it so much that it was programmed for me. Memory is a very interesting gift that us, humans are fortunate enough to have everyday. Being able to recall personal memories is a very sentimental thing that we can do while recalling general facts and common sense helps us live on a day to day basis.

 

Work Cited

“Declarative Memory & Procedural Memory: Explicit & Implicit.” The Human Memory, 27 Sept. 2019, human-memory.net/explicit-implicit-memory/.

The human body has so many functions that control us on a daily basis but the body makes up an excessive amount of signals that we cannot always come to terms with or understand why our bodies send these signals to us when certain situations happen. The sympathetic nervous system is one of those signals that our body sends us when we experience a stressful, overwhelming or high intensity situation or activity. The sympathetic nervous system makes up a part of the autonomic nervous system which contains two divisions; the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. Both of these divisions are controlled by our body and we simply do not have control over them because our bodies naturally send these signals to us when we experience an overwhelming, stressful situation and then the aftermath of our bodies returning to regular heart race and blood flow. In other words, when our bodies prepare to experience something intense, our sympathetic nervous system activates which causes our blood flow to increase, excessive sweating, dilated pupils, heavy breathing and speedy heart rate and then as we work through the experience the parasympathetic nervous system helps our body get through it and return to that “safe” feeling. The sympathetic nervous system is a feeling that no person can escape entirely because at some point in life everyone faces a situation that scares them, makes them angry, sad, stressed or excited. All of these emotions will result in the body activating the sympathetic nervous system to prepare you for this sensational feeling. A time where my sympathetic nervous system came into play was last semester in my Geary Hall dorm where my two friends decided to wake me up from a dead sleep and pretend they were an intruder. There was no rhyme or reason for my friends to play this joke on me other than pure boredom and the fact that they lived 2 floors above me. It was probably around 12am when I fell into a deep peaceful sleep until I was woken up from an alarming, aggressive loud knock on my door. I sprung up out of bed and stared at the door for about 2 seconds until the loud banging picked up again. My stomach fell into my toes practically, I was dripping sweat, my body felt like it was throbbing, my heart was pounding so hard that I felt like I could literally hear my heart beating and I could hardly think straight. In this moment I had no place to run and only so many places to hide so I squatted on my bed frozen not knowing where to go or what to do. The banging continued and within a few more seconds I heard, “OPEN THE DOOR.” With all of my emotions coming into play I began to come to terms with the fact that I was going to die. I could not even control the way I felt and I could not control my heart rate or excessive sweating, in fact all I remember was feeling like I was going to pass out and die. All of a sudden I heard my phone ring and saw a text saying, “ITS ME DON’T CALL THE POLICE.” In that moment my whole body felt relieved and I felt absolutely exhausted but safe and happy at the same time. There was no better feeling in the world then that moment walking over to my door and being able to open it knowing I was not going to die and it was just my friends. This situation that I went through of anxiety and fear related to the sympathetic nervous system because my body responded the exact way it was supposed to. My blood flow increased, my heart was racing, I was sweating and I experienced that feeling of my muscles being so tense. My situation is also related to the repercussions of the parasympathetic nervous system. My body then came back to all of its normal levels after that feeling of anxiety and fear left my body and I was able to relax by feeling safe and comforted. The bodily functions are all very interesting but these divisions of how our nervous systems react and prepare us for certain situations really prove how much our bodies can really do and produce for us.

 

Work Cited

“Nervous System: To Lift or to Rest?” CrossFit Holland Michigan – Try a Free CrossFit Class, www.crossfitlakeeffect.com/nervous-system-to-lift-or-to-rest.

“Fight or Flight: The Sympathetic Nervous System.” LiveScience, Purch, www.livescience.com/65446-sympathetic-nervous-system.html.