Muscle Memory and Cognition

 

What is Muscle Memory? 

Muscle memory is the act of committing a specific motor task into memory through repetition. Actually, “muscle memory” as we tend to think of it, i.e., having little brains in muscles, isn’t actually true. The truth is that the information retained about repeated activities is stored in the brain, not the muscles. While muscles themselves can’t actually remember anything, they are full of neurons attached to the nervous system that play a role in motor learning. Any movement requires brain activity, and repeating a movement, even complicated ones, enough times triggers recognizable patterns in human brain regions responsible for motor skills. Thus, leading to a learned motion will require less brainpower in the future.

Muscle memory is a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition, which has been used synonymously with motor learning. When a movement is repeated over time, a long-term muscle memory is created for that task, eventually allowing it to be performed with little to no conscious effort. This process decreases the need for attention and creates maximum efficiency within the motor and memory systems. Muscle memory is found in many everyday activities that become automatic and improve with practice.

Why is muscle memory important for healthy aging?

Can we teach old dog new tricks? The truth is that anyone can develop new muscle memory. Once-difficult skills can become second nature to us, as long as we focus on our own learning and repetition. This is true even as we age. It can take a little longer to reprogram our minds to retain memory of new activities, especially when we have decades of other muscle memory lingering in our neural pathways—but it’s definitely possible to build instinctive motor coordination as we grow older.

To learn more about how exercise and practice impacts brain function as we age, types of muscle memories, the benefit of regular physical training/exercise, practical takeaways for musical practice, how to develop and improve muscle memory, go to https://www.qualitylifeforum.net/muscle-memory-and-cognition.html

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