A few weeks ago I wrote about technology and what a curse it was, well now I believe motor memory is also a problem. Here is the definition.
Motor memory (MM) happens when a person repeats an action over and over until it becomes automatic, and you can do it without thinking.
I take the garbage out now and have no recollection of doing it, so I have to look out at the street to see if my cans are there. I will be inputting a password when something stops me and then I can’t remember what the password actually is.
We all drive on motor memory, and we do so many basic tasks with it. People with dementia will keep their MM long after they have forgotten everything else. Glen Campbell was able to go on the road and perform after he got Alzheimer’s. So the other day I am pulling on to the freeway which I have done a thousand times, when I realize they are doing construction and they have dramatically changed the on ramp. I was terrorized. Why, because I had to think. I had to decide how I was going to get on the freeway. It has been several weeks and I still go another way so I don’t have to get on that on ramp. Anyway i guess I should try and use my brain more so I can get use to changes, but it would be wonderful if I never had to think again.
Oh, by the way, after my wife cleaned my son’s bedroom, she started cleaning his bathroom. She pulls out a drawer and finds 4 empty pineapple cans and 3 half eaten clam chowder cans. Do you know what clam chowder looks like after a long time? You really don’t want to know, but I will tell you this, it is no longer white.