Why do we never lose certain skills we have learned, even if we haven’t practiced them for a long time. like for example riding a bicycle, and we lose some, like a new language we learned 10 years ago but can’t remember anything about it now?

Question

Why do we never lose certain skills we have learned, even if we haven’t practiced them for a long time. like for example riding a bicycle, and we lose some, like a new language we learned 10 years ago but can’t remember anything about it now?

In: 5857

Answer 1

Memory is not one homogeneous area in the brain like your computer’s RAM, nor are each memory or set of skills stored & retrieved the same way.

Some skills remembered are more primal or basic than others, and are stored long term and almost automatic – like walking, balancing – the skills that you need to relearn after a brain or physical/spinal injury. They involve the brain and neural pathways through your body. After an injury, some signals may need to learn new pathways if the old ones can’t be mended. Riding a bike, catching a ball, would be just above those skills.

Language is an important skill that requires many senses – aural, visual, and more. As it invokes many different parts of your brain working as one, it can sometimes be triggered by different stimuli.

Sometimes, when higher brain/memory functions fail due to damage or age, they can be actioned via other stimuli like music, or other senses like smell or taste.

And sometimes, when you are old – you just forget!