Memories make us who we are.For all its vital importance in human cognition, for all its routine and obviousness, memory remains in many ways as complex and mysterious today as it seemed to the ancient philosophers. Any memory in our memory has its own life cycle. Before becoming a memory, information first enters the brain in the form of experience we have received in sensations, then it is processed by the sensory systems of the brain and from there it enters the hippocampus. 

To begin with, I will write how memories are formed⬇️

At the first stage of memory formation, incoming information is encoded inside the hippocampus into a memory trace. It is in the hippocampus that information entering the brain is encoded to transform the memory trace. (The hippocampus is a paired structure located in the temporal regions of the hemispheres. The hippocampus performs the function of short-term memory and is responsible for the subsequent translation of information into long-term memory.)In order for the trace to be formed, initially all the perceived information coming from the senses is converted into an internal representation, which we are trying to interpret and comprehend in some way. At this stage, elements of what we already knew before are sometimes connected to the memory trail if they are relevant to our current intentions and experiences. Then this internal representation is transformed into a stable trace, which allows the initial impression to float to the surface of consciousness at any time when it is needed - an engram is formed.

Memories do not like to be kept idle - from this they weaken, lose their accuracy and are gradually forgotten. Only those that we regularly use survive and remain in memory for a long time, continually retrieving from memory and activating a memory trace. Those memories that we do not use are gradually erased from memory and at some point may disappear without a trace - this process, as you might guess, is called forgetting.

There are factors that can affect whether our new experience will stick in memory or not.

First, we are much better at remembering information that is in good agreement with the knowledge and facts that are already stored in our head. If we sincerely admire a person, then most likely we will miss the information that he behaved tactlessly in some situation, but if we didn’t like this type for a long time, his ugly act will become an irrefutable confirmation of suspicions and will certainly be remembered.

Secondly, people better remember emotionally colored events - it does not matter whether pleasant or difficult feelings will be associated with the memory. Emotions are one of the best indicators of the importance of what is happening.

Another important factor that facilitates memorization is novelty. In a new environment, people better absorb the material that needs to be remembered. It is likely that novelty creates a time window when learning is more effective - it is quite possible that dopamine plays an important role here (Dopamine-is a neurotransmitter produced in the human brain and serving as an element of the brain's "reward system", it causes positive sensations based on a certain action), which stands out in response to novelty.

There are several types of memory⬇️

Species memory. The one that is engraved in the genes of the species. In the face of a free lion on the street, the natural human response will be to flee.

Emotional learned memory (unconscious). By living an emotionally charged experience, a brain pattern can be generated. This pattern could determine our future behavior when faced with similar sensory stimuli.(A pattern is a schema-image that acts as a mediating representation, or a sensual concept, thanks to which, in the mode of simultaneity of perception and thinking, regularities are revealed as they exist in nature and society. A pattern is understood in this regard as a repeating pattern or pattern.)

Working memory. It is the information that we have at a certain moment in the conscious plane of our thought. Something like the RAM of computers. With it we bring the learned memories to the conscious plane.

Philosopher John Locke being one of the first to suggest that memory forms the foundation of our identity. 

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman said the decisions we make are based on our memories, not our experiences. The psychologist also had two concepts: the “Experiencing Self” and the “Remembering Self.”The Experiencing Self lives in the present, processing current inputs and information from the physical and social environment. Life is a continuous series of moments of experience. Once these moments are passed, however, most are lost forever.To us, every moment of our life seems precious. What we do minute-to-minute is important to our existence. These experiences should make up the story of our lives. But they don’t.The story of our lives is written by the Remembering Self. Kahneman made the following distinction about how experience and memory affect our future behavior: “We actually don't choose between experiences, we choose between memories of experiences. And even when we think about the future, we don't think of our future normally as experiences. We think of our future as anticipated memories.”