eli5 why do we “forget” long practiced skills after a period of time of not using said skills? and how can we regain those skills

Question

i noticed that after the holidays my math plummeted and teachers told me its because of the break i took… why does this happen and how can i regain those skills acquired prior to the break

In: 356

Answer 1

Your brain likes to be efficient with its space. It doesn’t like to hoard stuff.

If it thinks you don’t need to remember something, be it a skill, or a memory, it will forget about it. Just saving space for new, more important memories.

This is why cramming is a bad thing in schooling. People only remember the stuff they study, until they can finish the exam. After that, they forget everything because their brain doesn’t think they’ll need it. “If I only needed to learn for this one day, why remember”.

To regain said skills, the only real way is to practice again. But, they will come back quicker.

For example, I’m a brass instrument player. I actually benifited from a 4 month hiatus of playing. It let me break bad habits, and build back up with what I knew was better.

Edit to Clarify: It is more complicated than “hoarding” and “forgetting”, and “efficiency”, and it’s not my intent to anthropomorphise the brain. This is “Explain It Like I’m 5”, and I’m not getting too caught up on specifics.