“Because the hippocampus is only designed to handle a daily load of memorable events, most people are unable to store any more information in the evening, particularly after a busy day. In order for us to be receptive the next day, the hippocampus must move the new information into permanent storage. We can compare the memory contents of the hippocampus to the data on a memory stick. In order to be ready for recording again, the computer transfers the data on the memory stick from the limited memory space to an internal mass-storage device. A similar kind of transfer also takes place in the hippocampus during sleep.”