Cannot Compute, Cannot Recall

It's been one of those weeks where I don't remember yesterday. Every day has been so full of constant meetings, calls, "emergencies", discussions, emails, immediate requests and other absolutely non crucial-but-perceived-as-crucial insanity that I have spent my evenings staring blankly at the TV and guzzling wine. And I don't remember a single moment of it, and not because of the wine guzzling.

Turns out this is normal, especially for...yes, you guessed it...introverts! Kim Diorio's online review of The Introvert Advantage by Marti Olsen Laney, Psy.D., reports that, "...introverts use their brains differently from extroverts. While extroverts mostly use their short-term memory and the parts of the brain that deal with sensory impressions, introverts mainly use their long-term memory and the parts of the brain that deal with solving problems, planning, and internal thoughts and feelings. The two brain pathways require different neurotransmitters. The pathway that extroverts use is activated by dopamine, which is identified with alertness, attention, movement, and learning. Extroverts require lots of dopamine to be happy, and activity and excitement increase dopamine production, so extroverts enjoy being busy. Introverts, on the other hand, use a brain pathway that is activated by acetylcholine, which affects long-term memory, the ability to stay calm and alert, and perceptual learning. Acetylcholine produces a happy feeling during thinking and feeling, so introverts enjoy contemplation."

Additionally, it turns out that not remembering things right away (especially if you go from thing to thing to thing) is the natural, physiological way the brain creates memories!! I heard on the radio today about "the spacing effect", which is explained in this (somewhat laborious) scientific article. Here's a snippet:

"Simply speaking, memory uses the spacing effect and the principle of increasing intervals to most effectively fix relevant information in the brain. Upon encountering an event it is temporarily transferred to long-term memory and forgotten in the matter of days. However, if the event is reencountered, the memory assumes increased probability of the event in the future and increases the retention period. Initially, in the retention period, memory is not sensitive to more encounters of the same event. Only at later stages does memory become sensitive again and a new encounter will act as a repetition that will increase the retention period and make memory temporarily insensitive to further encounters."

In other words, repetition spaced over time (but not too long a time) creates memory. Being constantly slammed with new information does not allow any of it to be imprinted and, therefore, learning/remembering does not occur. Additionally, being inundated with a repeated message over a short period of time also does not lend itself to creating a long-term memory. Think of it like cramming for an exam. You might be able to overload your short term memory with enough information to pass, but you're recall of that information later will be limited just a few days (maybe even hours) later.

For me, as an introvert, going from thing to thing to thing essentially leaves me with large segments of days that are completely blank in my memory because I have had NO TIME to process any of it and no desire to create the spaced repetition of the information in order to create a memory. That's why I carry a notepad to all these meetings. And that's why I need a new career. This one is killing my braincells.

P.S. Just found this article as well. Okay, maybe I am rationalizing a failing short-term memory, but I'd rather believe it's the culture and not me that makes me so absent-minded.