Latest Issue of the MindBrainEd Think Tank + (ISSN 2434-1002) 3 MindBrained Bulletin Think Tank Work Mem Mar 1 2 | Page 8

Think Tank:
Working Memory
Cindy Cheng
Dealing with the limits of working memory -
repeated practice
The night before I started to write this article, I had a dream. The surroundings were
dark, and what I could see was only a flickering neuro system. I heard a voice that
told me that when half of your brain is inhibited, the other part will make up for the
damage. At the same time, I saw the other half of the brain starting to spark.
We were always taught that the left side of our brain controls logical thinking; while
the right side of our brain is responsible for creative thinking. However, such
knowledge may mislead us into thinking that the brain is made up of different parts,
which play their roles separately, to make sure our brains notice, process, and
structure. However, I agree more with Professor Kelly (see his article in this issue)
that the brain works as a whole. It is not because of the dream I had, but because
some extreme cases show that people who have lost or damaged part of their brain
can still live a normal life. Also, neuroscientist Gerald Edelman mentioned that
“biological functions are often supported by multiple structures – single physical
features are coded for by multiple genes.” That is to say, different areas of the brain
are not mapped one to one onto structure and function, but coordinate with each
other. Thus, before we start to talk about “working memory,” we should keep in mind
that “working memory” is only a phrase
…components of working
which helps us to understand how the
memory: storage,
brain works and what we can do to take
interaction with long
advantage of it.
term memory, processing,
and guidance toward
current goals.
In the video, Dr. Peter Doolittle explained
what working memory is and the four
basic components of working memory -
7