Question: can you run out of memory space?

Wilhelmiina Toivo answered on 10 Mar 2017:

Measuring how much space there actually is and how much space different types of memories require is extremely difficult. Forming memories happens by making new connections between your brain cells, and given we have billions of them, the number of the possible connections between them is really high. This is why it’s quite impossible for us to run out of memory space. However, your memory capacity can get worse if you suffer a brain injury: injuries to certain areas of the brain can either make you forget things, or unable to form new memories.

Some memory theorists in the past have said we actually store everything, but forgetting happens because we are unable to to retrieve the memories from our brain. This theory is really difficult to prove though – how can you know whether we actually have stored the things that we don’t remember and it’s really about us not being able to retrieve it, rather than us not having stored it in the first place? 😀