Why Do We Forget Things We Just Said Or Did?

Why do we forget things we just said or did? It seems absurd, but sometimes it happens. We just left the mobile in a place and two seconds later we go crazy looking for it. We open the fridge and we don’t know what we were going to look for. We are having a conversation with someone and suddenly we lose the thread and we no longer really know what we were talking about … Do these situations sound familiar to you?

Most likely, yes, because these types of phenomena are as annoying as they are common. Am I losing my memory? Is this an obvious clue that I am already suffering from a clear cognitive decline? In fact, the neuroscience of forgetting tells us that these situations are quite normal and that they are also called the “threshold effect”.

The human brain is not like a large library cataloging every piece of data and meticulously storing every information and experience. In reality, it is like a quantum computer doing infinite things at once. And, indeed, it makes mistakes or more than mistakes, what our mind does is prioritize a series of data over others …

Let’s dive a little deeper into this experience.

Why do we forget things we just said or did?

“Threshold effect or the event horizon model”. This is what neuroscientists call this phenomenon that explains why we forget things we have just said or done. To better understand this situation, let’s put ourselves in context and remember those times when this curious experience has happened to us.

For example, we are preparing our suitcase and we leave the charger ready to store it in an accessible place. When it comes time to put it in that travel bag, we can’t find it. Well, in this circumstance there is an undeniable fact: our mind is aware of many things.

The Threshold or Activity Change Theory

In 2016, Knox College in Illinois conducted a study to understand the reason for these little everyday forgetfulness. Something we must understand first is that the brain is like a large power plant trying to power multiple areas at once. However, the more we demand of it, the more it fails and it is not because it wants to, but because it prioritizes some things over others.

Scientists realized that it is more common to forget things just as we enter other rooms or places (walk through a threshold). They are those situations in which we ask ourselves the classic question of ” why have I come here?”  These forgetfulness also arise when we change from one activity to another. That is, the simple fact of moving from one task to a different one causes us to forget the first one.

The reason? The brain prioritizes what to pay attention to at each moment and this makes us forget what we have done before, because it only cares what we are going to do now. It is a matter of energy saving.

Why do we forget things we just said or did? The busy mind and the problem of consolidation

If we ask ourselves why we forget things we have just said or done, there is an aspect that we must understand. It is the reference to how memory works. It is a highly complex process that requires the brain to perform three types of processes:

• Encode the new information. That is, you have to retain the new information and for this you need two factors: attention and motivation.
• The second phase is storage. The brain has to process this data and integrate it into memory.
• The last phase is recovery or evocation. This is where the failures, errors and forgetfulness appear. Success in evoking a memory or a simple fact from memory depends on the previous phases.

How does this explain why we forget things we just said or did? The answer is simple. Most of the time we operate on autopilot. We do not pay attention to the things we are doing or saying and this causes poor memory retention.

What can we do to improve our memory?

If you are one of those who forget things every two to three, it is always a good time to make changes. Improving your cognitive processes is possible, as long as you combine will and a series of changes. We analyze them.

Train your attention

Memory is like a leaf carried by the wind if we do not include attention. Focusing on what you are doing every moment without thinking about anything else will help you remember things more effectively.

No to multitasking

Having many things in your head is a danger to your physical and psychological health. And by “many things” we mean thoughts, worries, thinking about what you did yesterday, what you have to do now. Thoughts better one by one, life better calm than fast.

Yes to sleep well

Good memory is an ally of good rest. In order for the brain to be able to store and consolidate data and information, it needs us to be immersed in a deep and restful sleep. Sleeping 8 hours a day is health and well-being.

Physical exercise and mental exercise

Your memory will benefit as long as you keep your mind and body active. Going for a walk, learning new things every day, maintaining a curious outlook on life and doing cognitive exercises will directly revert to your brain well-being.

To conclude, although it is true that small forgetfulness are common and normal, let us not hesitate to consult with our doctor in case these memory leaks worry us. It never hurts to have an expert opinion to be more calm.