Good news for people who forget the odd word \u2013 some research suggests it\u2019s not a sign of dementia, but rather an ordinary side-effect of ageing.<\/p>\n
But what about walking into a room with strident purpose, looking around once you enter the door, and thinking, \u201cWait, why did I come in here\u201d?<\/p>\n
The phenomenon is so common that it has a name. Documented by the University of Notre Dame in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, the confusing experience has been dubbed \u201cThe Doorway Effect.\u201d<\/p>\n
But what does it mean, and why does it happen?<\/p>\n
In the University of Notre Dame research, scientists tested participants\u2019 memory when they had and had not moved locations.<\/p>\n
They found that people tended to forget what they were holding or doing when they crossed through a boundary like a door \u2013 even compared to walking the same distance in one room.<\/p>\n
Speaking to HuffPost UK, experts at HealthTest UK explained that this is an example of an \u201cevent boundary,\u201d which the paper says makes people \u201csegment experience into separate event models.\u201d<\/p>\n
In simpler terms, the doorway acts as a reset point that your brain sees as the ending of one event and the beginning of another.<\/p>\n
That might sound profound, but it can mean your mind ditches information it sees as \u201cirrelevant\u201d as it reaches what it believes to be an entirely new series of events, sometimes including the reason you entered the room in the first place.<\/p>\n
2016 research has found that people who sleep less might experience worse short-term memory.<\/p>\n
This can amplify the Doorway Effect, HealthTest suggested.<\/p>\n
Though poor sleep can affect your memory in the long term, too, there\u2019s no reason to believe that the Doorway Effect is, in and of itself, a red flag.<\/p>\n
Instead, it\u2019s simply proof that our brains are creatures of habit and association \u2013 they link certain tasks to certain locations and environments, and pick and choose what they feel is most important in each.<\/p>\n
Sadly, \u201cpicking up the stapler from your living room to seal the bills in your kitchen\u201d does not seem to be one such hard-wired priority.<\/p>\n