Brain fades that make you uneasy

[Gangster Octopus]

It wasn't until I got to work today that I realised that I'd put my jeans on instead of my work trousers. Coupled with a couple of other instances, this sort thing is worrying me slightly.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

Could just be due to tiredness, momentary distraction or a touch of stress rather than anything more significant or worrying.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

Don't worry, it's just brain cramp due to everyday stress.

Time to be concerned when you can't remember your primary school. And/or you begin to repeat yourself every minute or two.

[MsD]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

*duplicate thread*

[Stumpy Pepys]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

Walking into another room, and forgetting what I went in for, used to worry me.

Then I found out it was hardwired into the brain.

[Fussbudget]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

The other day, two of my colleagues (both with very young children) were mulling over the fact that they were constantly so tired that they regularly arrived at the office in the morning not remembering how they drove there. Given that it's at least a 45-minute drive, that sounds a bit worrying for the other road users.

[WOM]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

This is like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for m'shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. "Gimme five bees for a quarter," you'd say. Now where were we... oh yeah...

[WOM]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

Gangster Octopus wrote: It wasn't until I got to work today that I realised that I'd put my jeans on instead of my work trousers. Coupled with a couple of other instances, this sort thing is worrying me slightly.

Three things to look at: stress, sleep, alcohol. If you don't think there's any reason for concern, go see your doctor. But if you do, sort out those three and your head will likely be straight again.

I should point out that I'm not a doctor.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

Fussbudget wrote: The other day, two of my colleagues (both with very young children) were mulling over the fact that they were constantly so tired that they regularly arrived at the office in the morning not remembering how they drove there. Given that it's at least a 45-minute drive, that sounds a bit worrying for the other road users.

That's commonplace. It used to happen to me everyday when I had a regular commute. Fortunately the responsive part of the brain doesn't seem to be affected.

[WOM]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

More and more, I think about the things I have no recollection of.

Like, I remember the broad strokes of travelling through Europe in 1990. I vividly remember the BMW museum, but have no memory of any meals. Did I eat at restaurants? Kiosks? Fast food? No fucking clue. Nothing.

I turned up a few photos of a golf trip I took to Florida with two friends in 1993. I don't remember one meal or game played. I remember the hotel, but can't recall the rental car. And I always remember the rental car.

I guess your memory just dumps the needless stuff and keeps the highlights.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

Quite how the brain selects stuff to keep and stuff to bin is a mystery to me too. Why can I remember TV commercials from the 1950s, but not that my sister fainted standing next to me at a Hitchin Town match a decade later? Shit. I can't even remember going to a match with her. Ever.

[Fussbudget]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

Amor de Cosmos wrote: That's commonplace. It used to happen to me everyday when I had a regular commute. Fortunately the responsive part of the brain doesn't seem to be affected.

Really? Sounds like a sign of driver fatigue to me, I find it hard to believe that reaction times are not affected at all. It also brings to mind the stats on how most accidents happen near home or on familiar roads, as the driver is less focussed than they would be if they had to navigate new settings.

[WOM]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

I can remember almost every concert I've been to, but only in maybe 10% of the cases can I recall with whom I went.

[caja-dglh]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

[Amor de Cosmos]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

Fussbudget wrote:

That's commonplace. It used to happen to me everyday when I had a regular commute. Fortunately the responsive part of the brain doesn't seem to be affected.

Really? Sounds like a sign of driver fatigue to me, I find it hard to believe that reaction times are not affected at all. It also brings to mind the stats on how most accidents happen near home or on familiar roads, as the driver is less focussed than they would be if they had to navigate new settings.

They're also the roads driven more frequently though, so perhaps you'd expect a higher number of accidents.

Anyway I did ask a neurologist about this once, because it struck me as a bit scary. And though I've forgotten the scientific details (hah!) it's apparently pretty much a routine phenomenon. The bit of the brain that alerts us to change/danger etc. still functions we're just not consciously aware of it.

[Borracho]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

I recently turned 40, and I find that not only is my short-term memory going to shit, but I am getting worse and worse with people's names. Specifically, it's happening more and more that while I might be able to recall a person's first name, I have much less luck with their surname. It's a little worrying but I don't suppose there's an awful lot I can do about it.

[treibeis]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

When my mother-in-law remembers things in detail, it’s always slightly negative stuff. For example, she can remember a family trip to Würzburg in 1978 because my father-in-law dropped his beer glass. She can recall 25th November 1982 because the hearth rug caught fire. Recently, she told me about the first time she met me, not because I was “negative stuff” (although I undoubtedly was), but because the chocolate in the cake she ordered was milk chocolate, and she prefers plain chocolate.

Unfortunately, as she has senile dementia, she can’t remember the address, or even the district, where she lived for 30 years, although she only moved out last December.

[Fussbudget]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

"Plain chocolate"?

[treibeis]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

Fussbudget wrote: "Plain chocolate"?

Yeah, the dark stuff. It's called "plain chocolate", isn't it?

Oh, another thing I've started forgetting: the language I grew up speaking.

Edit: I've just looked it up. It is called plain chocolate. Bloody foreigners, making me all insecure because they don't know what plain chocolate is. semi-colon dash closing bracket.

[Fussbudget]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

Nah, it looks like you're right, at least in British English. Why is dark chocolate deemed plainer than milk chocolate though, that's what I want to know.

[WOM]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

About two months ago, my daughter asked me who a song was by on the radio. All I could manage was "Well, I know his real name is Calvin Broadus, but I'm damned if I can tell you his stage name."

I couldn't remember Snoop Dogg....but I could easily come up with Calvin Broadus.

[Jah Womble]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

Plain chocolate 'isn't' dark chocolate, though - let's be clear about that.

MsD wrote: *duplicate thread*

You meanie.

[treibeis]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

WOM wrote: I couldn't remember Snoop Dogg....but I could easily come up with Calvin Broadus.

To be fair (to you), Calvin Broadus has had more than one alias.

[treibeis]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

Jah Womble wrote: Plain chocolate 'isn't' dark chocolate, though - let's be clear about that.

You're deliberately trying to mess with my head, aren't you?

Look, here:

[Jah Womble]

Brain fades that make you uneasy

treibeis wrote:

Plain chocolate 'isn't' dark chocolate, though - let's be clear about that.

You're deliberately trying to mess with my head, aren't you?

Look, here:

I am so 'not', dude.

Dark chocolate has more cocoa, no? Milk chocolate (obviously) has more milk in it, while plain is just yer unadulterated 'chocolate'. At least, that's how I've always understood it.

(Cue fifty years of misunderstanding...)