When you have a tip of the tongue experience what memory process is failing?

It is known as lethologica or the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. Psychologists define this phenomenon as a feeling that accompanies the temporary inability to retrieve information from memory. Even though you know that you know the answer, the elusive information seems to be just outside of your mental reach.

How does your brain know that you know something when you can’t remember it?

When we try to remember an event, the brain recreates the overall experience from stored sensory inputs. When the brain is able to find the missing senses from weak, but still intact, neuronal connections, you suddenly remember.

What does the tip of the tongue state tell us about memory?

The “tip of the tongue” (TOT) phenomenon is a state in which one cannot quite recall a familiar word but can recall words of similar form and meaning. The nearer S was to successful recall the more accurate the information he possessed.

Why words get stuck on the tip of your tongue?

The phenomenon is so common it actually has a clinical shorthand, a “TOT state.” It occurs when the left temporal and frontal areas of your brain temporarily fail to work together to retrieve words or names stored in your memory, or other information, like where you left your keys.

What’s another name for short term memory?

Short-term memory, also known as primary or active memory, is the capacity to store a small amount of information in the mind and keep it readily available for a short period of time.

How do you stop lethologica?

If you want to avoid experiencing the tip of the tongue phenomenon, you’ve got to start with a strong vocabulary. After all, you’ll never remember a word if you don’t really know it in the first place. Minimize your instances of lethologica by actively “playing” with words each day.

Is there a word for when you can’t think of a word?

Lethologica is both the forgetting of a word and the trace of that word we know is somewhere in our memory.

What side of the brain controls the tongue?

There is an area in the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere called Broca’s area. It is next to the region that controls the movement of facial muscles, tongue, jaw and throat.