Long-Term Memory

What is it?

Long-term memory refers to the ability to remember things we experience in everyday life, what we learn at school, and so on. It includes, among others, episodic memory (memories of personal events, whether recent or from the past) and semantic memory (learned concepts and general knowledge).

Episodic memory refers to memories of lived events and their spatial, temporal, or emotional context, that is, where and when the event took place, or the emotions experienced at the time. For example, we can remember an event like our first trip abroad, we can recall the moment we flew in an airplane for the first time, the feelings we experienced at that time (such as excitement or stress). This also includes more recent memories, like what you had for lunch earlier today.

Semantic memory, on the other hand, refers to general knowledge about objects, concepts, and words, including their meanings, without reference to when or where we learned them. For instance, we know that a dog is a four-legged mammal we can play with, even if we don’t remember exactly where we learned that fact (semantic memory). At the same time, you can also remember a nice moment you had last week with Fido, your dog with whom you love to play (episodic memory).

What do long-term memory difficulties actually look like?

Éliane has to host an important meeting at the office…

Watch the video below to learn more!

Other examples of long-term memory difficulties

People who experience challenges with long-term memory may notice issues such as:

J’ai parfois des « trous de mémoire », c’est comme si certaines informations ne s’enregistraient pas!

To some extent, this can be normal. Sometimes, we’re not really paying attention to what’s happening around us, which makes it much harder for our brain to store information.
It can also happen that we do store the information, but we’re just not able to retrieve it at the right moment. A helpful tip: as soon as you get a clue or recall the context in which you learned the information, it often comes back to mind!

At the office, I often have new information to learn, but it doesn’t sink in. I always have to refer back to my notes!

Having a memory aid is a great idea. For some people, even simple information—like phone numbers—can be hard to remember. In that case, it’s helpful to put strategies in place to compensate for the difficulty (just like someone might wear an orthotic insole in their shoe to compensate for a foot issue).