Popular rumor ascribes to the elephants a supernatural memory. It is believed that they will forever remember the places they visited, the ways of their migration, the voices of people ... Someone even believes that they can harbor resentment and revenge on occasion, even after many years.

What does science know about this issue? Do elephants never really forget anything?

Elephant brain

The elephant is one of the most intelligent representatives of the animal world. Scientists put them on a par with dolphins and primates. For most people, all elephants are the same, but in fact in nature there are two distinct subspecies - two in Africa and one in Asia (which is the difference between the Indian and African elephants). Average the elephant’s brain is three times larger than the human. It also has complex networks of neurons, and their number is greater than that of humans. The elephant has about 257 billion neurons, and the human 86.

The size of the animal does not affect the development of its intelligence and ability to remember, because much depends on the part of the brain where the neurons are located. In elephants, 98% of these cells are in the cerebellum. It is located at the back of the brain and is believed to be responsible for motor function and sensory information processing. This means that almost the entire brain of the animal is busy servicing the physiology of a huge body. And this is easily explained.

Only in the trunks of these giants are more than one hundred thousand nodules of muscle tissue.The human imagination cannot even imagine how to operate such a complex instrument. Large animals often require a large brain - they have more skin, muscles and everything else.

But with the cerebral cortex, traditionally linked to high intelligence, elephants were not lucky. Nevertheless, for some representatives of this type of living creatures, for example, the skills of using tools to solve a particular practical problem are recorded.

They also know how to recognize friendly and hostile towards them people, family members of their owners. They well remember the area and are guided by it. Some Asian elephants have reportedly even recognized themselves in the mirror. Which is an impressive achievement for animal intelligence.

Both African and Indian elephants have unique groups of von Economo neurons (VEN), which are believed to be responsible for socio-empathic behavior, and there are, including people! Despite the fact that elephants are amazing animals, the human brain is much denser “stuffed” with neural networks.

Although, perhaps, we should not use our models to assess the intelligence of representatives of the animal world. Elephants can have a completely different type of structure of cognitive activity. Some scientists believe that their brain uses the “wide interconnectedness” of spaced areas. Everything here is based on the proximity of neural groups. Thus, we pretty well understand the structure of the brain of elephants, but have not yet figured out sufficiently how exactly it works.

Nevertheless, observing their behavior in nature, we see that the same long-term memory is developed very well in them.Herds of elephants can count from 8 to 100 individuals, and the experience of the group allows them to behave smarter. It is transmitted from the older generation to the younger. Matriarchy reigns in these families, that is, the main ones in them are females, usually the oldest.

Since elephants can live for 60 or 80 years, this is a huge experience that can always be useful. For example, in 1993, Tanzania experienced one of the worst droughts in decades. Even those sources in which there was usually plenty of water were dry. Herds of elephants, headed by older females who remembered previous cataclysms of this kind, moved to areas where there were more chances to find water. Those who led the younger elephants lagged behind, losing as a result a larger number of young animals under the age of 9 months.

Recognition of “friends” and “enemies”

Elephants also distinguish between "friends" and "enemies." In one study, elephants scrolled recordings with the voices of representatives of the Masai tribes (who are known for killing elephants in order to protect pastures for their animals) and camba (who never touch these giants).

Despite the fact that people uttered the same phrase, most elephants behaved much more wary of the sound of the Masai voice! Thus, a family headed by a female who has the sad experience of meeting with the Masai can evade another confrontation with these hunters simply by hearing their speech.

Today we know more about elephants and their long-term memory than they were a few decades ago.And scientists continue to work, trying to understand the mechanisms of the brain of these animals. Elephants are really very smart. We cannot say for sure whether they forget something and whether they can hold a grudge, but it is quite possible that the answer to this question will be received in the near future.