Short-Term Memory

What is short-term memory?

Short-term memory is a temporary storage space that holds information you learned. You can easily access this limited amount of information for a few seconds to a few minutes.

The main functions of your short-term memory are:

• Attention: To help you focus on something in your environment.
• Recognition: To connect or match new information to information that’s already in your brain.

Your short-term memory works closely with your sensory memory and your long-term memory. For example, it receives and processes information from your senses and can convert short-term memories into long-term memories.

You may hear a healthcare provider refer to this as primary memory or active memory.

How long does short-term memory last?

On average, you can hold five to seven items in your short-term memory, like the digits of a phone number or a license plate ID, for about 15 to 30 seconds.

Information from your short-term memory can transfer into your long-term memory. This is a permanent storage location in your brain. You can increase your short-term storage space or move things from short-term to long-term memory by using techniques like chunking (organizing it into groups) or rehearsing (repeating it).

What part of the brain controls short-term memory?

Your prefrontal cortex stores your short-term memories temporarily. This area of your brain is at the front of your frontal lobe, directly behind your forehead.

Your hippocampus also helps form short-term memories into long-term memories. The hippocampus sends those memories to long-term storage in your cerebral cortex.

What’s the difference: Working memory vs. short-term memory?

There are a lot of similarities between working memory and short-term memory. In fact, a lot of literature uses the terms interchangeably. Researchers coined an alternative term that combines both words (short-term working memory). But there is a slight difference between each one.

Working memory is the temporary storage of information that you can change (manipulate) to help with reasoning, learning and understanding.

Short-term memory is a temporary information storage space. You can’t manipulate the information that’s here.

Both working and short-term memories help you gather new information to store in your long-term memory and retrieve that material when you need it later.

What is short-term memory impairment?

Short-term memory impairment is damage to your short-term memory. It may make it difficult for you to remember recent information or events.

There are several possible causes. Some of the most common include:

• Brain aneurysm
• Brain tumors
• Cancer treatments (radiation and chemotherapy)
• Concussions
• Infections
• Medication side effects (antiseizure medications, benzodiazepines, opioids, tricyclic antidepressants)
• Neurodegenerative conditions
• Psychological conditions like depression or PTSD
• Stroke
• Substance use disorder
• Traumatic brain injury

Is there a short-term memory test?

If a healthcare provider suspects short-term memory impairment, they may offer a short-term memory recall test. Your provider will:

1. Show you a series of images or give you a list of numbers or words.
2. Wait a few seconds to minutes.
3. Ask you to recall the images, numbers or words you saw. You may need to recall them in order.

Your provider will calculate the results of this test by scoring how many responses you answered correctly. Positive test results mean that you were able to recall all or most of the items presented. Negative test results mean that it was challenging for you to recall this information.

A healthcare provider will let you know more about the next steps if they’re appropriate.