There may be new evidence that memories that have been forgotten are only inaccessible, but still continue to exist in the brain.

The evidence is in a new study by neuroscientists at UC Irvine. In their study, they asked participants to look at a printed word and perform a number of mental tasks like imagining the object represented by the word or the way the word would be pronounced backward.

Participants’ brain activity was recorded during these tasks using fMRI machines. Twenty minutes later they looked at the same word once more and were asked to recall some of their mental tasks. Even when they could not recall a task well, their brain activity was similar to that which was generated during the actual task, suggesting the memory was still there, but difficult to access.

"By understanding how this works in young, healthy adults, we can potentially gain insight into situations where our memories fail more noticeably, such as when we get older," said Dr. Jeff Johnson, the lead author of the study. "It also might shed light on the fate of vivid memories of traumatic events that we may want to forget."

Although the evidence the researchers found is promising, they have yet to figure out how to apply it to memory loss treatments. Those who would like to improve their memories now could try Ginkgo biloba or ginseng supplements, as both may help restore mental acuity.