A memory workout with three more digits
February 22nd 2011 17:02
Starting Saturday, callers will be required to dial all 10 digits of each and every phone number, even those in eastern Nebraska and the 402 area code. That's because the Nebraska Public Service Commission will roll out the new 531 area code once all 402 numbers are spent.
Now for cell phone users, this likely won't be a problem. Your cell carrier probably already requires dialing the area code for local calls, spurring you to store all 10 digits of every number in your contact list.
But what of that quaint thing called "the landline"?
For those of us who dial the old-fashioned way, remembering to punch the 402 or the 531 might be a cause of consternation, particularly when tapping the numbers of our friends and neighbors, digits we've dialed so many times we dial without thinking.
We have to relearn the numbers, remember to tap in three extra digits. That's going to take some practice. Some flexing of the memory muscles.
"The difficulty of learning a new habit when a strong, competing habit is already present is well known; the phenomenon is termed 'proactive interference,'" said Larry R. Squire, professor of psychiatry, neurosciences and psychology at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.
At first, one must consciously learn the new habit until the new habit takes root.
"However," Squire said, "if the original habit was strongly learned over a long period of time, one can expect it to occasionally intrude," such as during times of stress or when the context of the habit changes.
When we talk about memory, we're not just talking about one thing but many subdivisions of the brain. On a basic level, memory can be broken into two kinds: declarative and non-declarative.
Declarative memory is the stuff we consciously remember, such as facts, events, state capitals, old girlfriends' favorite songs. Non-declarative memory is made up of the harder to articulate, the things you remember without remembering to remember them. Think of playing piano music, perfecting your golf swing, throwing a Frisbee or, yes, dialing a sequence of numbers.
In the case of non-declarative memory (or muscle memory), "clearly the brain adapts, reinforcing those circuits and doing the activity more efficiently or precisely over time," said Daniel Murman, associate professor with the department of neurological sciences at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. "Any athlete that does a certain series of movements improves upon their ability."
Declarative and non-declarative are such different spheres of the mind that they are in fact in different parts of the brain. This is why in cases of Alzheimer's disease, which first affects the long-term memory-storing hippocampus, patients can have trouble remembering recent and important events in their life but can retain certain skills, such as playing a musical instrument.
Much as a musician can remember the sequence of keys to play on a piano without consciously thinking about the notes, one can type in a telephone number on the keypad without thinking about the actual numbers.
"If you have to do a different sequence on the keypad," Murman said, "you're going to have to learn a new pattern." As with all memory, "certain things that are overlearned are harder to go away from than the ones that aren't as reinforced."
If you've dialed a certain seven-digit number for the past several years or decades, incorporating the additional three numbers is going to be a considerable cognitive shift. Of course, if it's too hard to relearn the keypad sequence, you can always program the numbers into your phone's memory.
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