Get up and walk from one corner of the apartment to another. Surely this happened quickly and you did not make much effort for this. In addition, most likely, you were thinking at that moment about what was happening and why. Or just imagined in mind the upcoming dinner with the family.
We are not aware of many processes that occur in our body and consciousness. After all, they just are. Is this not enough?
We breathe by inertia. We remember the way home by inertia. We walk and run by inertia. We know what our friends and relatives look like, we remember their names. In all these processes, memory is actively working. But usually we remember and directly interact with her during the session and in other situations when in the short term you need to remember a large amount of information.
However, if you think more deeply and thoroughly, you can come to the conclusion that without memory we would be little more than a stone on the road. Imagine if every day after waking up you have to learn to walk again, learn a language, get to know relatives, and study your job responsibilities again and again. Sounds depressing.
But this is not fiction. That is how our life would go if it were not for the brain's ability to store information.
Memory is the ability to hold and reproduce in the mind a stock of knowledge, experience and impressions. She acts in all areas of our lives. Nothing happens without her participation.
Types of memory
- Emotional - the ability to hold and reproduce any of our sensations and feelings. We remember those events that caused us vivid emotions, both negative and positive.
- Figurative - the ability to remember and recreate images of objects and phenomena. This species works with the help of our senses (sense of smell, touch, hearing, eyesight).
- Motor (motor) memory is a person’s ability to fix and reproduce movements and systems of action, forming skills.
- Verbal-logical - the ability to memorize and transmit thoughts, judgments and conclusions. This ability is characteristic only of man and distinguishes him from animals.
On the Internet you can find many descriptions and ways to develop figurative and verbal-logical memory. They study emotional at acting courses, but they write little about motor memory and rarely speak.
Motor memory
At the moment, the opinions of researchers differ. Motor psychology in psychology, although it appears, does not have a clear and fixed definition. In the specialized literature there is an inconsistency in the use of terms. And this leads to a distortion of information, which can lead to incorrect conclusions.
Each author conducted a study of motor memory, based on their beliefs and by virtue of their understanding. Some associate it with memorization of movements, others attribute it to a visual-figurative one and compare it with memorizing movements and memorizing motor sensations. Still others believe that it functions at the expense of other types of memory. Each of these opinions has its own grain of truth, and so far we cannot say for sure who is right and who is not.
Physical activity
The area of responsibility of motor memory is very large: from simple manual labor and moving the body in space to jewelry work with the fingers of the surgeon during the operation. Motive activity is based on the interaction of two directions. The first direction includes receptors in the muscles, joint bags and tendon organs, which transmit the signal through the spinal cord up to different parts of the brain.
The second stream runs from the brain to the muscles and gives a signal to perform actions. The signals from these areas form a special type of susceptibility, due to which the brain understands the position of the muscles and joints. This forms a pattern or image of the body. Without this state, a person could not perform a single action.
The psychophysiology of motor memory is based on the formation of engrams and goes through three stages. An engram is a trace of memories or a physical habit resulting from learning:
- Based on the operation of the analyzers, a short-term trace appears, which forms an ultra-short-term memory.
- Information from short-term memory enters the higher parts of the brain, where it is analyzed, sorted and processed to reveal new information for the body.
- New information arrives in long-term memory.
Information storage forms
We remember some actions all our lives, while others we forget the next day. The memory is short-term and long-term, involuntary and arbitrary:
- Short-term motor memory - movements are remembered for a short time. For example, when dancing, you learn new movements, they enter the temporary storage department, and if you do not repeat them from time to time, they will be completely forgotten, and if you repeat them, they will go into long-term memory.
- Long-term - actions persist for a long time, or for a lifetime. For example, the ability to walk, jump, run.
- Free memory - assimilation occurs through intentional effort.
- Involuntary - automatic memorization.
The role of memory in human life
What is the main purpose of motor memory? What is its need:
- The formation of basic human skills: writing, walking, swimming, which we learn in childhood.
- It is important in professions where accuracy and speed of movements are required: surgeon, jeweler, etc.
- It is very important for athletes, dancers, drivers and musicians to develop motor memory in order to perform actions automatically.
- It makes it possible to concentrate not on actions, but on information. For example, when printing text on a computer, a person focuses not on keys, but on information.
- Used to improve thinking processes, it frees up space for fresh tasks.
Key characteristics of motor memory
- accuracy - the correct repetition of actions;
- volume - the number of movements that you can learn and recreate;
- sustainability - how much memorization and repetition worsen when distracting factors influence;
- strength - how long do you remember the movement and can make it.
Special exercises for motor memory are aimed at the development and improvement of these indicators.
Why train memory
We continuously comprehend any skills and set before the motor memory more and more new tasks. When you learn a new hobby, the brain will memorize repetitive actions, and with each repetition of the movement will be better. To make this process go faster, and the development of a new skill is more effective, it is worth allotting time for special trainings.
It is possible to develop motor memory both with the help of special exercises, and directly in everyday life. These methods work both individually and collectively.
General development of motor memory
- Get enough sleep at night. In a dream, the brain is restored.
- Go in for sports or dancing. Physical activity saturates the brain with oxygen, and also develops motor memory.
- Eat varied and balanced. With food, the necessary microelements and substances that are necessary for its work enter the brain.
- If you master a skill, then hone it regularly. This will help consolidate the effect and strengthen memory mechanisms.
Exercise memory development directions
- Sit on a chair and fasten a sheet of paper opposite your face.
- Close your eyes and put a dot on the paper with a pencil.
- For three seconds, remove your hands from the sheet.
- Try again to get to the same place on paper.
- Open your eyes and compare the results: two points should be in one place.
Strength Training
- Follow steps 1 and 2 of the exercise to develop directional memory.
- Remove your hands, make circular swings with your hands, twist and shake your hands.
- Follow steps 4 and 5 from the previous one. With regular execution, your gestures will become clearer and more accurate.
Distance Exercise
- Fix the sheet on the surface of the table so that it does not move.
- Squint your eyes and draw a line from left to right.
- Take your hands off for a couple of seconds.
- Draw another line close to the same as the first.
- Open your eyes, measure the lines and analyze the difference. They must be the same length.
Volumetric Exercise Exercise
- Draw three lines of different lengths under each other.
- After a couple of seconds, repeat the action in the same order.
- Check how much they match.
Memory resilience exercise
- Draw the lines of the first batch, as in the exercise for spatial thinking.
- Move your hands and increase the time between drawing.
- Make a second batch of lines. Compare.
Exercise for Accuracy and Gesture Accuracy
- Fix the sheet either on the table or on the wall.
- Rest your elbow on the sheet, then lower your forearm and hand.
- Close your eyes.
- Without raising your elbow or using your wrist, make a circular motion with your forearm and draw an arc on paper.
- Return your hands to the starting position and draw another arc. They must match.
The motor memory in our life plays not the last role, but maybe even one of the main ones. With its help, all our actions are meaningful. When you roller-skate in the park with your friends, type a comment on this article, or race along the highway, remember that you owe all of this to just one small function of our intelligent body, which conscientiously fulfills its duties. If you want to live a meaningful life and maintain vigor and activity until old age, help your body and mind! Do everything in your power to keep it working as long as possible!