Neuropsychological Impairments to the Memory System Helps Our Understanding of How Memory Works - Essay Example

Discussing the Extent to Which Research on Neuropsychological Impairments to the Memory System Helps Our Understanding of How Memory Works Discussingthe Extent to Which Research on Neuropsychological Impairments to the Memory System Helps Our Understanding of How Memory Works Introduction The human brain or the memory system is quite complex in nature in terms of structure and working process. It is regarded as the most important organ of a human body. The behaviour and the psychology of the individuals are directly or indirectly aligned with their memory system. In this regard, various studies and researches have been conducted in order to understand about how human memory works and the thinking patterns of the same in a more efficient manner. Researches conducted on neuropsychological impairments are quite effective and potentially beneficial in understanding the processes of the human memory system in a better manner. In precise, neuropsychological impairments further presents a comprehensive understanding of the human brain functions (Brace & Roth, 2007). With this concern, this particular essay intends to discuss the extent to which the researches conducted on neuropsychological impairments in alignment with the memory system helps in obtaining a comprehensive idea about how the memory works in an efficient manner. Discussion Brain is a particular organ, which controls the functioning of the entire body of individuals efficiently. Justifiably, the brain is regarded as the control system of human body, from which an individual gets prompt instructions to perform activity. The following discussion will mainly provide a detailed understanding about how the researches performed on neuropsychological impairments aid in understanding the works and the functioning of the memory: Neuropsychological Impairments Neuropsychological impairments are often regarded as a traditional approach, which involves analysis of the human brain in a comprehensive manner to deal with various mental ailments that are quite complex in nature. The researches carried out on neuropsychological impairments depict this method of brain treatment to be quite effective in case of curing brain injuries and the prevailing neurological issues in certain cases. The researches also presented the fact that neuropsychological impairments are an effective method of understanding the processes of the memory system of any particular individual. The memory system is fundamentally viewed to be one of the most vital components of the human brain. It is the primary storage system of human brain wherein people memorise the events that take place in their daily activities. It is argued that neuropsychological impairments and human brain are interconnected to one another, and hence the study of the brain with the help of neuropsychological impairments can certainly provide a better insight regarding how memory of an individual works efficiently (Brace & Roth, 2007). On the contrary, it is to be affirmed that apart from neuropsychological impairments, there are also certain ways through which a greater understanding can be developed about how memory of an individual works effectively. These ways have been elaborately discussed hereunder. Different Approaches of Studying the Works of Human Memory It has been earlier mentioned that the memory system is an important part of an individual and the study of the same with regards to its functioning is quite complicated in nature. It is worth mentioning that by studying the works of the human brain and the memory system, the thought process of the individuals can be understood easily, which one way or the other might prove to be effective in conducting future researches, determining different behavioural traits. Contextually, there are numerous approaches those are used to research the human memory and its processes. In this regard, psychologists have proposed various approaches in studying the human memory and its effective functioning with the help of laboratory or clinical methods, experiments along with cross sectional researches among others. Besides, computational model also exist, which proved to be effective in understanding the processes of the memory system in a comprehensive manner. Computer based concepts of learning the human brain mainly works in the domain of using cognitive recognition to analyse and evaluate the same. However, the limitations of such methods further propose the need of aligning the processes of the memory with the neuropsychological methods, which restricts in generating positive outcomes (Brace & Roth, 2007). Notably, the brain imaging is also a potential technique, which is used for learning how the memory of any individual works efficiently. Cognitive approaches must also not to be overlooked while understanding the processes of the human brain and the memory system. This particular set of techniques intend to understand the human minds and the structures in a collective manner, which further provides a better idea about the processes of the human memory. These techniques are often regarded as the cornerstone in the study of the human mind and the memory system (Brace & Roth, 2007). With contradiction to the above discussed aspects, researchers advocated the importance of neuropsychological impairments in studying the human brain and psychology in a wider dimension, which have been discussed in detail hereunder. Neuropsychological Impairments to the Memory System: Understanding how Memory System Works Neuropsychological impairments can be effective in understanding the importance and the functioning of the human brain and the memory system. Justifiably, different people possesses dissimilar approaches along with thought processes, which ultimately triggers the need of obtaining a clear idea about how efficiently the memory system of an individual works. Various mental phenomena that include head injury, damage of the brain from accidents and other problems associated with the same are dealt with the help of neuropsychological impairments. The understanding about the functioning or the processes of the memory system of an individual with the help of neuropsychological impairments is denoted by the name of localisation of function. Notably, various neurologists including Broca and Wernicke depicted that neuropsychological impairments can be effective in understanding the human brain and psychology, based on which the processes of the memory system are understood. This is mainly because there involves selective impairments for understanding the long and the short-term memory systems of individuals. For example, a particular patient who injured his/her ‘left parieto-occipital lobe’ of the memory system can be analysed with the help of epilepsy, which is an approach of neuropsychological impairments used to understand short-term memory functioning (Brace & Roth, 2007). In the process of understanding episodic and semantic memory system of the human brain, certain researches have been conducted with the help of determining the mirror image of the pattern of the brain. In this particular approach or concept, patients would be able to overcome ‘albeit anomically’ along with ‘autobiographical memories’ towards recalling their personal experience after encountering head or brain injury. This aspect including episodic and semantic memory is relevant with long-term memory functioning of the individuals. There are also certain specific impairments used to deal with the semantic categories of the human memory system. Researches in this context have depicted those semantic memory impairments of the human brain to deal with the patients who are suffering from certain specific memory loss. Analysis of such patients with the help of specific impairments will provide a better understanding of the pattern of their thought process, which is effective in making proper treatment plans for curing mental diseases in the long run (Brace & Roth, 2007). There are certain specific benefits of using neuropsychological assessment in the background of determining how the memory system of an individual works efficiently. With the help of neuropsychological assessment, accurate diagnosis of the mental problems of the patients suffering from brain ailment can be ascertained. This is relevant to the field of medical science. Health practitioners often find much challenging to reach into a valid conclusion in comprehending mental health due to having less knowledge about the processes of the human memory system. However, the above discussed technique i.e. neuropsychological impairments enable the researchers to obtain better insight of the medical conditions of the brain of the individuals, which further makes them to develop better plan of intervention. It must also be mentioned that different techniques and their effective use are not only limited in the domain of medical science, rather these have relevance within the sphere of solving criminal cases for conducting necessary investigations. On the contrary, a few of the limitations of the technique discussed above including lack of understanding of its use in real-life settings can further create hindrance in its wider applicability (Brace & Roth, 2007). Conclusion Based on the above analysis and discussion, it has been quite apparent that the brain and the memory system are the most vital parts of a human body. These parts eventually control the behaviour and the daily functioning of the individuals. Throughout the discussion, it is learnt that there exists various approaches and techniques of studying the human brain and psychology for solving any scientific and medical problem. These approaches as well as techniques certainly provide a better understanding about how the memory system of an individual works efficiently. In this regard, a few of such techniques of analysing the human brain and determining the works of the memory system include neuropsychological assessment, cognitive understanding and cross-sectional experiments along with studies among others. However, amongst all the methods, neuropsychological impairments of the human memory system are deemed to be the most vital one. Hence, it can be concluded that neuropsychological impairments are indeed quite crucial in understanding the processes of the human brain and psychology in the form of imparting proper treatment to the mental patients by efficiently diagnosing their respective problems. Reference Brace, N., & Roth, I. (2007). Memory: Structures, Processes and Skills. Miell, D, Mapping Psychology, (113-160). Milton Keynes: The Open University. Read More