In case you were wondering the song currently stuck in my head is “The Whole World” by Outkast.
In: 1
To understand this we need to understand how memory works. Memory doesn’t actually record the events or the data about it. It just is a new path that is created in your brain. Think of it like a new road in your neighborhood. And whenever someone goes through that road (think electric stimulation of that particular pathway in brain) you get to relive that memory.
Now, what determines how strong a memory is?
1) The chances of you remembering something is more is that “road” is wide. If the road can accommodate a lot of cars, more cars go through it and you remind yourself of that memory.
This is like thinking about a road that is often used, has a lot of traffic. Think about memorising. Every day you put effort in memorising something, that path is used often and hence becomes more “wide”
2) More roads are created close to each other in a network. If your neighborhood has roads connecting more houses to the new road, chances are more residents will reach and travel the new road. The longer they use this road, the more preferred it is and it becomes a highway.
That is similar to a memory pathway being created and being linked to other parts. Think about the strongest memories, they often are the ones where you have a ton of different pathways coming together. Often sound, optical, touch, taste, pressure, emotional and so on. When the memory pathway is created as bunch of different paths interconnected, the moment one of the path is triggered, the electric pulse travels to other linked paths paking you remember other aspects of that memory.
Now, coming back to the song:
You probably remember the song because it is linked to many other memories (sensations as well) in your head.
You could have been waking fast, hot day, breezy and sipping cola. The next time you do any or all of these things, those pathways light up in your head. If the memory is strong and we’ll linked to these pathways, it will remind you immediately of the song. But if it is weak, the chances are, you won’t be reminded if you were only walking fast, or sipping cola. This makes you think u forgot about the song for a long time because that pathway is not stimulated. The chances of remembrance is higher if you do all the above. Then you remind yourself about that song.
Latest Answers