It has happened to all of us that, for some reason, we realize that over the course of a few seconds or minutes we are unable to think about something specific or to remember those elements that we are looking for in our memory file, however basic they may be.

For example, when speaking in public it may happen that if we are even able to remember what the basic message we want to communicate was, let alone the lines of the script we had prepared. It can also happen in more conventional contexts. For example, when in a meeting of friends we have no idea what to say, even if what was being talked about was a subject that is relatively easy to talk about.

This phenomenon is known as blanking, and has an explanation that has to do with the way memory relates to certain psychological states.

The explanation for the phenomenon of blanking

The first thing to consider in order to understand why we sometimes go blank is that all our mental activity, even in its most insignificant aspects, has to do with our memories.

Memory is not simply a storehouse in which some little man who manages the functioning of our brain accumulates relevant information. Everything we are and do is expressed through our actions because in the past we have internalized all kinds of experiences. A brain totally devoid of memory is inconceivable , because everything that happens in our brain has to do with the imprint that past experiences have left on our brain.

In short, memories are not simply those pieces of information that we keep from experiences that have happened to us, nor the data that we strive to memorize. Memory is the way in which a smell makes us feel bad because we associate it with something that happened to us years ago, and also is the way in which we have learned to relate certain ideas to each other , allowing our thoughts to flow without great effort.

The fact that it is blank is a sign that our memory is suffering a small crisis in its basic functioning. For some reason, a good part of our memories have been temporarily out of reach, and that causes thought to hit dead ends for a while.

The Role of Stress in Recovering Memories

Sometimes, the appearance of moments when we go blank may be due to defects in the parts of the brain involved in the recovery of memories . For example, one of the main symptoms of dementia is poor memory retrieval.

However, this same phenomenon (with less intensity and frequency) is also normal in perfectly healthy brains. In these situations, stress plays a very important role.When we go through moments of anxiety, many of the mental processes that govern the functioning of the brain change completely.

Anxiety may seem like little if we interpret it only as an annoying feeling, but it is actually accompanied by a neurochemical chain reaction that affects the entire nervous system and the release of hormones that target different organs in our body. And, of course, anxiety also influences memory.

Specifically, when we feel stressed, parts of our body known as the adrenal glands (because they are located above the kidneys) begin to secrete a variety of hormones known as glucocorticoids . These chemicals are not only responsible for our inability to remember what happened to us at times of acute stress (such as a motorbike accident); moreover, significantly diminishes our ability to access memories that we had already stored and that we could have remembered just a few minutes ago.

The effect of glucocorticoids on the hippocampus

When we begin to feel stress, such as before an exam, our nervous system goes into a state of alert that is associated with dangerous situations. This means that our body becomes an alarm that reacts to signs of danger that in other contexts would have been ignored because they are unimportant, that is, the activation of the brain is oriented towards the reception of external stimuli .

This allows you to start moving quickly to avoid damage, but this comes at the price of not spending too many resources on reasoning or thinking in a minimally creative way, which is what is necessary to articulate moderately elaborated phrases.

In these situations glucocorticoids fully interfere with the functioning of the hippocampus, a part of the brain known to be the directory of memories that can be expressed verbally (declarative memory). As long as the levels of this hormone are high, the hippocampus will have more difficulty than normal in accessing memories and associations between concepts learned through experience.

Furthermore, the effects of glucocorticoids do not disappear just when the acute stress disappears . Their levels persist for a long time, and if we experience chronic stress, their levels will almost never drop completely, which means that we will experience these gaps in our minds more often. That’s why the moments when we go blank don’t just happen when we feel very nervous; they can be part of the aftermath of having felt anxiety on an ongoing basis.