What is the difference between doing something once and doing something multiple times, chemically or biologically speaking, that helps with remembering, memorizng activities?
I could expand the same question to how muscle memory works.
In: Biology
Imagine a light snowfall. As time goes by, the snow covers everything so you don’t know what is under it. That is memory loss.
Now imagine learning something new as making a path in the snow. Some less significant things (e.g. phone numbers) leave small paths, like rabbit tracks, more significant events (e.g. an embarrassing moment) leave big deep paths. Small paths will be buried and forgotten soon, big paths will take a long time, and might still be recognizable later for the “canyon” they make in the snow.
Repetition is going over the path again and again. It makes a deep path even if it is a less significant memory.
Your brain is made up of tons and tons of little guys called neurons, all connected to each other, and they keep all your memories and experiences in those connections they have to one another.
You know how muscles get stronger when you exercise them, right? Well, the connections between neurons are like muscles: whenever you experience something, whether that’s watching a movie, playing the piano, or eating a steak, the neurons for that experience flex their “muscles” and their connections get stronger. That means when you want to remember what’s in those connections later, it’s a lot easier – whether it’s the dialog of the movie, the finger positions on the piano, or the taste of the steak. The more you do something, the stronger the neurons get, so the easier it is to remember.
Any action you do is the result of an electric signal being sent from one neuron to another.
You can think of the path that signal travels from one neuron to another like a poorly insulated wire. Since the wire is poorly insulated, the signal loses most of its strength.
Each time the electrical signal is sent, it attracts another chemical to it that produces myelin which insulated the wire. That results in the signal losing less strength.
The more repetitions you make, the stronger the insulation becomes which results in a stronger signal. A stronger signal makes it easier to perform the action.
Information is stored in the brain through connections between neurons. A connection between two neurons becomes stronger when one neuron consistently activates another (such as by doing something multiple times). On a chemical level, this “connection” is the sharing of signaling chemicals. A stronger connection means the signaling path between those specific neurons is easier/faster and thus we remember it better. Muscle memory works the same way, but also involves connections with neurons that attach to muscles.
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