when you try to remember something, you often see/feel what it is for a second, then forget it again. How can your brain know the answer and ‘suggest’ it to you before you actually remember it?

Question

It often happens to most people: sometimes you have something on the tip of your tongue, and at times you almost remember it, but not fully. It’s almost like you can see the answer, but it fades away almost instantly and you often only remember the thing durably later.

How does it work, and why does your brain struggle to make the thought emerge clearly? I mean, either your brain knows it, or doesn’t, but it almost feels like a different person giving you hints without telling you the answer…

Hope this is clear, thanks in advance! : )

In: 25

Answer 1

Just like what something looks, feels, smells, or tastes like, what something is called is also part of a memory. We’re not *entirely* sure how our brains store memories, but we think that different parts of memories are stored in different parts of the brain, and all have to be recalled at the same time to fully recreate a memory. The “tip of the tongue” effect could be that you remember what something looks or feels like, but you can’t remember what it’s called.

Brains are squishy and imperfect and constantly reshaping and remodeling their inner circuitry, it often takes multiple experiences to fully reinforce something into a long-term memory, and those may gradually fade over time. Even still it’s utterly remarkable how brains are able to recall decades old memories, even if it takes a bit of prompting.