Why do we go "blank" at certain times?

The moments in which our mind reaches dead ends have to do with stress.

It has happened to all of us at some time or another that, for some reason, we realize that for a few seconds or minutes we are unable to think about something specific. for a few seconds or minutes we are unable to think of something specific or to remember those elements we are looking for. or to remember those elements that we are looking for in the file of our memory, however basic they may be.

For example, when speaking in public, we may not even be able to remember the basic message we want to communicate, let alone the lines of the script we had prepared. It can also happen in more conventional contexts. For example, when at a meeting with friends we have no idea what to say, even though what was being discussed was a topic on which it is relatively easy to give an opinion.

This phenomenon is known as going blank, and has an explanation that has to do with the way in which memory relates to certain psychological states. It has to do with the way in which memory is related to certain psychological states.

The explanation for the phenomenon of going blank

The first thing to keep in mind in order to understand why we sometimes go blank is that all of our mental activity, even in its most insignificant aspects, has to do with our memories.

Memory is not simply a storehouse in which some little man who manages the workings of our brain accumulates relevant information. Everything we are and do is expressed through our actions because in the past we have internalized all kinds of experiences. A brain totally devoid of memory is inconceivable.A brain totally devoid of memory is inconceivable, because everything that happens in our brain has to do with the imprint that past experiences have left in our brain.

In short, memories are not simply those pieces of information we retain from experiences that have happened to us, nor the data we strive to memorize. Memory is the way in which a smell makes us feel bad because we associate it with something that happened to us years ago, and it is also the way in which we have learned to relate certain ideas to each other. is the way in which we have learned to relate certain ideas to one anotherIt is also the way in which we have learned to relate certain ideas to each other, allowing our thoughts to flow without great effort.

Going blank is a sign that our memory is suffering a small crisis in its basic functioning. For some reason, a good part of our memories have been temporarily out of our reach, and that makes our thinking run into dead ends for a while.

The role of stress in memory retrieval

Occasionally, the occurrence of moments in which we go blank may be due to defects in the parts of the brain involved in memory retrieval.. For example, one of the main symptoms of dementias is impaired retrieval of memories.

However, this same phenomenon (with less intensity and frequency) is also normal in perfectly healthy brains. In these situations, stress plays a very important role. When we go through moments of anxiety, many of the mental processes that govern the functioning of the brain change completely.

Anxiety may not seem like much if we interpret it only as an annoying sensation, but it is actually accompanied by a reaction to the brain. is in fact accompanied by a neurochemical chain reaction that affects the entire nervous system that affects the entire nervous system and the release of hormones that target different organs in our body. And, of course, anxiety also influences memory.

Specifically, when we feel stressed, parts of our body known as the adrenal glands (because they are located above the kidneys) begin to secrete a variety of hormones known as glucocorticoids. begin to secrete a variety of hormones known as glucocorticoids.. These chemicals are not only responsible for our inability to remember what happened to us in times of acute high stress (such as a motorcycle accident), but they also significantly decrease our ability to access our memory, significantly diminish our ability to access memories that we had already stored and that we could have recalled as recently as that we could have recalled just a few minutes ago.

The effect of glucocorticoids on the hippocampus

When we begin to feel stress, such as before an exam, our nervous system enters a state of alertness that it associates with dangerous situations. This means that our body becomes an alarm that reacts to danger signs that in other contexts would have been ignored as unimportant, that is, the activation of the brain is oriented towards the reception of external stimuli..

This makes it possible to start moving quickly to avoid damage, but this comes at the price of not devoting too many resources to reasoning or minimally creative thinking, which is what is necessary to articulate moderately elaborated sentences.

In these situations, the glucocorticoids interfere fully in the functioning of the hippocampus, a part of the brain known to be the repository of memories that can be expressed verbally (declarative memory). As long as the levels of this hormone are high, the hippocampus will have more difficulties. than normal when it comes to accessing memories and associations between concepts learned through experience.

Moreover, the effects of glucocorticoids do not disappear as soon as the acute stress wears off, the effects of glucocorticoids do not disappear just as soon as the acute stress disappears.. Their levels persist for quite a while, and if we experience chronic stress, their levels will almost never go down at all, which means that we will experience these mental lapses more frequently. That's why blank moments don't occur only when we feel very nervous; they may be part of the after-effects of having felt anxiety on an ongoing basis.