Does it ever seem like something "snatches" thoughts out of your head?

Question

This has always happened to me..And if I go back to the room or the "setting" where I thought of it.and

"left it"

..I can usually "pick it back up".! Do you know why this happens? (not "forgetting"..but being able to "pick it up" at the place where you forgot it?) Does it have to do with magnetism or brain waves or electrical waves...or what? Some of you scientists/biologists will hopefully know. Thanks!

Answer 1

It's called old age :) It happens to me too!

Seriously, this is just how our memory works, and very short term forgetting or remembering happens at any age, though it seems to affect older folks more. The reason why you might remember what you forgot when you go back to the room is because of a phenomenon known as association, where you unconsciously (or consciously) associate a thought with an object or image. In fact, this association is a great technique to use to remember things and indeed has been used for that very purpose since the time of the ancient Greeks (see "Method of Loci"). Interesting factoid, it is also the basis for the phrase, "In the first place..."

Answer 2

Sorry to say,yes I do.It's called getting older.It will happen more and more the older you get.What the heck was I saying?

Answer 3

Yes and I get darned tired of my wife finishing my sentences for me all the time!

Answer 4

No

Answer 5

When you record a memory, you record it along with other information. Your mind ties it in with other stuff like sights, sounds, flavors.

If for example, you have a thought while listening to a song. Listening to that song again will open up a neural pathway to the memory of the thought you had.

The same thing happens when you return to the spot where you last had the thought. The memories of the sights are accessed, and this opens up a neural pathway in your brain to access any other memories linked to it.

Answer 6

thats why i wear a metal collander helmet

Answer 7

huh wat was that you were saying......ok it could just be your selective memory phasing do you have a lot on your mind or even store a vast aray of info in your head this can make you prioratize memory acces ie youl remember theBABY SEAT but not your shoes ect

Answer 8

I've noticed it.  For me the remembering has to pick a time of its own to come back.  I haven't had much success with trying to pry it out by any method until it's ready.

Helps keep me from planning too far ahead with anything important.  Discovering by phone call I agreed to meet someone for lunch in town earlier today isn't really fair to them if they've driven a long way.