A memory refresh device comprises an ordinary patrol control unit (24) for controlling an ordinary patrol operation in which a memory (11) is patrolled, an additional patrol control unit (25) for, when an error of the memory (11) is detected in the ordinary patrol operation, controlling an additional patrol operation in which an error generating portion in the memory (11) is patrolled, a measuring unit (15) for, when an error is detected in the additional patrol operation, measuring information on the error in the error generating portion as error frequency, and a refresh period adjusting unit (26) for adjusting a refresh period according to the error frequency measured by the measuring unit (15). Thus, the optimization of the refresh period is efficiently performed according to the state of the generation of the error in the memory.