How do people forget how to do stuff?

Question

i mean how is it possible to forget something you havent done in a long time i just dont see it. if you knew how to do it at one point in your life how can you forget. like for example i know people who are good at shooting in basketball but then they stop playing and when they come back they cant shoot as well.

(im not talking about disieses that cause loss of memory like altimerz

Answer 1

well i can't remember how to play a card game from one day to the next.  but with the basketball thing, they aren't practicing everyday and don't use those muscles as much.  its not that they forget, they just don't have the strength to do it as well,  

Answer 2

Maybe we kill too many brain cells with drinking and recreational drugs.  Also we all get more forgettful with age.

Answer 3

The reason is rooted in the brain. You have things called synapses in your brain, and what they are basically are little pathways telling your brain how to do something. The more you do something (like shooting hoops) the more pathways you get, making it easier to do it. But synapses are a "use them or lose them" sort of thing - meaning if you don't do something all that often anymore (like stop shooting hoops) then you lose some of those pathways and you can't do it as well. You have to practice more (getting more synapses in there) to re-train your brain how to do it.

Answer 4

you could forget how to spell, and it is easy to forget to answer such questions,    you or anyone has to apply their brain power,   it takes alot of gray matter to forget and keep it to yourself,    as a good friend has told me,   they have reached the age where they can hide their own Easter eggs,        

Answer 5

I believe, once you have been in the zone..it will always come back to you.

"Unless" you have lost faith in yourself and your ability.

Once you lose your confidence and self-esteem..you are lost..HUGS!!

We don't forget how to do something,,we lose confidence that we can do it.

Answer 6

It's just the way the brain works.. I would give you a neurology lesson, but I don't know much. All I know is that the brain is a very complex organ that we still don't fully understand.