Memory is how our brain stores and accesses information from past experiences to understand the present and anticipate the future. It is essential, as without it, each new moment in life would be overwhelming and chaotic. It works in three stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Sensory memory is the first step, briefly retaining the information that our senses (visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory) perceive from the outside world, before most of it fades, leaving only a small fraction stored in short-term or long-term memory.
Unlike other species in the animal kingdom, humans are predominantly visual: around 90% of the information our brain processes is visual. This hinders the development of short- and long-term memory linked to the other four senses. For this reason, developing gustatory memory, for example, requires training, and not everyone has the same capacity to do so, due to differences in sensory receptors. Each person's ability to perceive and register sensory details is unique and is influenced by both physiology and the culture and environment in which we live.
People with more sensitive receptors can detect and remember more aromas and flavours, while our personal history and cultural context influence how we describe and interpret those sensations. Language, then, becomes the bridge that allows us to share these experiences with others. We associate each sensation we detect with a record in our memory.
Coffee cupping is a perfect example of how sensory memory works. Coffee contains more than 850 volatile compounds, but humans can only perceive about 40. Because of this, tasting notes and sensory experience are not completely transferable from one person to another: they depend, first, on our physiological capacity to perceive and register sensations, and second, on our personal experience, our culture, and our language.
Enjoy your coffee!
Coffee cupping is a perfect example of how sensory memory works. Coffee contains more than 850 volatile compounds, but humans can only perceive about 40. Because of this, tasting notes and sensory experience are not completely transferable from one person to another: they depend, first, on our physiological capacity to perceive and register sensations, and second, on our personal experience, our culture, and our language.
Enjoy your coffee!
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