I was sitting in my computer room recently, when a thought came to me about
something I wanted to discuss with my wife. She was in another room, so I
started for her location. However, by the time I got there, the thought had
completely fled from my mind.
I know that this phenomenon isn't mine alone, and I don't think that it has to do with my age, either. I suspect that we all have experienced what I will label, 'doorway memory loss' at sometime in our life. It acts as a time machine, because it takes the mind back a few seconds or minutes to erase our most recent thought. Here is my theory of what causes it.
Our visual acuity causes the brain to evaluate each new scene as we pass from one room to another, because the doorway partially blocks our view of the new room. Even though we are familiar with the scene in that room, the brain has to refocus on it each time we enter. This mental hiccup momentarily clears the mind of its current thought. You now have to recover that memory, even though it was there just a second ago.
Now ask yourself how you last did get the idea back into your head. If you're like me, you simply walked back into the room where the thought first came to you and it almost always comes right back. Amazing! It works for me every time.
I have to admit that doorway memory loss does occur more often the older I get, but that's due to my memory bank getting more and more full with age. I know that we joke about seniors losing their memory because they have so much to remember over their lifetime, but there's a grain of truth in there. And I'm not referring to serious diseases like dementia or Alzheimer's; the doorway memory loss syndrome is something that affects all of us.
The older we get, the more we focus on the past, and short-term memory seems to fade. That is my opinion of why it is common in older people. They can recall people and events from years ago but can't tell you what they did yesterday. I believe the same factors are in play when we forget the thought that was in our head and on the tip of our tongue just a moment ago as we pass through a doorway.
So, do yourself a favor and go back through the door the next time you lose your train of thought on that important stuff you want to discuss with the person in the other room. It reverses the process, and you can pick up where you left off. Easy as pie!
I know that this phenomenon isn't mine alone, and I don't think that it has to do with my age, either. I suspect that we all have experienced what I will label, 'doorway memory loss' at sometime in our life. It acts as a time machine, because it takes the mind back a few seconds or minutes to erase our most recent thought. Here is my theory of what causes it.
Our visual acuity causes the brain to evaluate each new scene as we pass from one room to another, because the doorway partially blocks our view of the new room. Even though we are familiar with the scene in that room, the brain has to refocus on it each time we enter. This mental hiccup momentarily clears the mind of its current thought. You now have to recover that memory, even though it was there just a second ago.
Now ask yourself how you last did get the idea back into your head. If you're like me, you simply walked back into the room where the thought first came to you and it almost always comes right back. Amazing! It works for me every time.
I have to admit that doorway memory loss does occur more often the older I get, but that's due to my memory bank getting more and more full with age. I know that we joke about seniors losing their memory because they have so much to remember over their lifetime, but there's a grain of truth in there. And I'm not referring to serious diseases like dementia or Alzheimer's; the doorway memory loss syndrome is something that affects all of us.
The older we get, the more we focus on the past, and short-term memory seems to fade. That is my opinion of why it is common in older people. They can recall people and events from years ago but can't tell you what they did yesterday. I believe the same factors are in play when we forget the thought that was in our head and on the tip of our tongue just a moment ago as we pass through a doorway.
So, do yourself a favor and go back through the door the next time you lose your train of thought on that important stuff you want to discuss with the person in the other room. It reverses the process, and you can pick up where you left off. Easy as pie!
And here is another proof and source for my theory's
validity...
Brains
of older people are slow because they know so much. People do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them
longer to recall facts because they have more information in their brains,
scientists believe. Much like a computer struggles as the hard drive gets full
up, so to do humans take longer to access information. Researchers say this
slowing down is not the same as cognitive decline.
"The
human brain works slower in old age," said Dr. Michael Ramscar," but
only because we have stored more information over time. The brains of older
people do not get weak. On the contrary, they simply know more."
Also,
older people often go to another room to get something and when they get there,
they stand there wondering what they came for.
It is NOT a memory problem; it is nature's way of making older people
get more exercise.
Well,
that's also an outcome of doorway memory loss syndrome, but I like my theory
better.
