Why Thinking Interferes With Memory

We've all had the experience of trying to remember a name, movie, place, etc...and we can't!  It happened to me the other day. I was speaking with a  young lady and she said she was from Moncton, NB. I explained my ex-wife was from New Brunswick but I couldn't remember the name of the little town. I said it's in the southern part, on the border with Maine. It has this amazing historic train station. I could give details of the town, even envision what the place looked like...but I couldn't remember the name.

Well here is what is happening. We have an area in our brain called the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC). In fact of all species we have the most advanced PFC. The PFC is the executive control center of our brain. It's the command center for conscious thinking and allows us to rationalize. It's the part of the brain that allows us to plan our day. The PFC seems to have a capacity for only holding 7 or 8 things in conscious thought at any given time. It's our short term memory. Phone numbers are actually designed to have 7 characters for this very reason.

As a side note the PFC does not begin to come into play until a baby is nearly one year old. It continues to develop until we are about 25. The latest research suggests it actually begins to decline by the age of 27. That's a pretty narrow window of peak performance. Is it any wonder that children and teens make some pretty irrational decisions.

So you ask..."What does that have to do with my inability to remember that actors name in the movie I saw last month?" Well the issue is the memory of the actors name is stored somewhere deep in the area of your brain responsible for long term memory. When you are in a discussion with someone you are primarily engaging your PFC (conscious thought). The more you struggle to remember the more active the PFC and it can actually get in the way and inhibit the free flow of information from your long term memory.

Did you ever notice that at some point later, say as you are in bed about to fall asleep...Uerika...Brad Pitt! This is not an uncommon place to have these sudden resurrections of memory since this is a time when the PFC is becoming less active.

So the trick is, when you are struggling to remember someone or something don't spend too much effort trying so hard. Try changing the subject or go engage in an activity like running or meditation. If you distract your little PFC watchman you will be surprised at what might come to light.

And yes...an hour after leaving the conversation with my young friend the name of the town came to me. McAdam, NB. Google this town and look at the beautiful historic train station.