MedTerms Medical Dictionary

Memory: The ability to recover information about past events or knowledge, and/or the process of doing so.

Memory is often divided into short-term (also known as working or recent memory) and long-term memory. Short-term memory recovers memories of recent events, while long-term memory is concerned with the more distant past.

Some medical disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, damage the cognitive systems that control memory. Usually long-term memory is retained while short-term memory is lost; conversely, memories may become jumbled, leading to mistakes in recognizing people or places that should be familiar.

See also memory, anterograde; memory, short-term; memory, long-term.

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