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Each of us has entered a room at some point and realized we have completely forgotten why we did so.
Experts have revealed that these so-called 'brain farts' are not anything to be concerned about — in fact, they are the result of a perfectly normal brain response to new surroundings.
Specifically, this occurrence is known as the 'doorway effect,' states Christian Jarrett, who is both a cognitive neuroscientist and an author.
This occurs due to our brain’s natural tendency to categorise tasks and data according to environmental settings, like different rooms or locations.
Jarrett mentioned that the brain experiences a slight reset when transitioning from one room to another. BBC Science Focus, leading to thoughts from the earlier room fading away.
Jarrett referred to the discoveries made by the University of Queensland research that investigated the doorway effect.
He explained that they discovered passing through doorways connecting similar rooms generally had no effect on memory—possibly because there was not enough change in context to form a notable event boundary.
'The moment these researchers kept their volunteers occupied with an additional concurrent activity, the doorways separating identical rooms began to impact memory.'
He suggested that the impact is far more probable when there is a considerable shift in setting — such as moving from your living room to the garden.
He went on: "The Queensland squad mentioned that this aligns with common experiences, indicating that it tends to happen mainly when we're preoccupied with other thoughts and not paying full attention."
Jarrett mentioned that the discoveries could also indicate a possible solution that might stop the issue.
'When you go through a door for a task, try to keep your objective in mind,' he advised, suggesting that it might be helpful to write a reminder on the back of your hand.
Jarrett’s observations align with those of a group of researchers from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, who in 2016 carried out an investigation illuminating how our brains organize information akin to a filing cabinet system.
The researchers contended that once we leave a room, events and memories get ‘stored away’ as though filed under different sections or chapters, much like sequential episodes.
According to the study published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, doorways serve as a type of catalyst for this phenomenon.
A group of American scientists requested participants to utilize computer keys for exploring 55 virtual spaces ranging from big to small.
Every room included one or two tables where the volunteers were required to collect items, move them to the subsequent room, and place them back onto a table.
The moment they lifted the items, the objects vanished.
During the examination, they were shown the name of an item and questioned whether it was the one they were holding at present or the one they had previously set aside.
The findings indicated that memory performance significantly declined when participants crossed through a doorway compared to covering the same distance while staying within the same room.
To validate the observations outside of a digital setting, the group recreated an analogous room setup with tables—concealing the items within containers that the participants held.
Once again, the study revealed that participants tended to forget their items more easily when they moved from one room to another after placing things in a box.
According to a report detailing their discoveries, scientists mentioned that transitioning to a different setting might overwhelm the brain’s working memory, making it difficult to remember why one initially entered a space.
The report indicated that additional data overload and continually add further details to the working memory.
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