What is procedural memory?

Every day we get up and multitask. We shower, make breakfast, brush our teeth, get dressed, walk or drive to work… During our routine we execute a good number of automatic or semi-automatic actions.

We get in the car, and almost without realizing it, we have reached our destination. In between we may have changed direction a few times, as well as accelerated and braked; However, we have done all this practically without thinking. Almost the same as when we learned…

This is very good, since not knowing allows us to save a large amount of energy. Think that our brain is the organ that consumes the most. If we keep it at idle, the gain can be significant. Otherwise, we could arrive at work exhausted.

Thus, the first thing we can say about procedural memory, about that whole set of memories that we use to know how to do something, is that it is very automatic.

What is procedural memory

Being a little more formal, we could say that It is a type of long-term memory that encodes and stores information about procedures or strategies that facilitate interaction and adaptation to the environment. It is capable of directing, in some way, many of our intentional movements associated with acquired motor skills, such as writing, walking, driving or tying our shoelaces. Procedural memory tells us about “knowing how.”

Each of these actions are operated automatically and unconsciously, That is, you do not have to make a conscious effort to carry them out. When you tie your shoelaces or get dressed, they do not need the intervention of consciousness to do so. How many times have you gotten dressed while thinking about other topics? How many times have you driven while talking to another person?

Although these activities are automatic, when we were learning them they required a conscious effort on our part.and. However, once stored in the circuits of our procedural memory, they no longer require conscious intervention and we can carry them out automatically.

Procedural memory is non-declarative

Procedural memory is, then, unintentional, non-deliberate and practically impossible to verbalize, That is why it is also known as non-declarative.

Let’s do a mental exercise to make this point clearer. Imagine that you have a friend who doesn’t know how to tie his shoelaces and calls you on the phone to ask you to explain how to do it. How would you explain it to them? Take some time to think. Keep in mind that your friend cannot see you, he can only hear you.

If you did the exercise, you may have realized that it is really difficult to explain to someone how to tie your shoelaces without resorting to a physical demonstration of the action. You can do this same exercise with other skills, for example, try explaining to an illiterate person how to write the word “Constantinople.” It is difficult to do, practically impossible.

This difficulty in verbalizing the content of procedural memory does not occur with declarative memories (episodic and semantic). Do you want to prove it?

Tell someone the name of the galaxy we are located in (semantic memory) or what you did on your birthday (episodic memory). You see it? Is more simple. With your explanation, the other person can perfectly understand what you are saying. It is easier to describe verbally.

The formation of procedural memory

Like any other type of memory, procedural memory is formed from neuronal connections (synapses). When we practice a skill or an action over and over again, we configure a neural pathway in our brain, that is, we form new connections, new networks.

By continually practicing a skill, we cause the neurons that fire or activate together to associate. These associations are the foundation of procedural memory – and also of other types of memory – since they facilitate the storage of information and its subsequent retrieval.

Associations are what cause some stimuli such as smells, colors or sounds to evoke other memories. Memory is a totally associative process. In the case of procedural memory, we can observe these associations when when executing an action we remember how others are done. When a neural network is activated, the others with which it is associated are also activated.

We already know that memory formation depends on neural associations and the practice that constantly activates them. But what brain structures are involved in procedural memory?

Brain regions associated with procedural memory

A part of the brain relevant to procedural memory is the dorsolateral striatum, because it is involved in the acquisition and formation of new habits. In fact, lesions of the dorsolateral striatum prevent the formation and execution of habits.

The cerebellum is another important structure for the formation of procedural memory, since it is responsible for coordinating, adjusting and controlling movement. Evidence suggests that the cerebellum has complex functions in motor learning. These are divided into two main categories:

Acquisition and refinement of skills ranging from the cognitive to the associative stages of learning. Automation and retrieval, which correlates well with the autonomous stage of learning.

In research, it was found that the trace of procedural memory initially settles in the cerebellar cortex and is then transferred to the cerebellar/vestibular nuclei for consolidation.

Procedural memory has not only been associated with certain regions of the brain, but also with certain neurotransmitters. For example, it appears that dopamine can serve to optimize behavioral choices in the face of environmental demands. This neuromodulator is not only involved in pleasure and rewards, but also in memory.

By way of conclusion, we can say that memory is not only a process dedicated to the encoding, consolidation, storage and retrieval of information and knowledge, but also to the acquisition of specific skills and actions.

What’s more, thanks to procedural memory we can do a good volume of daily activities without investing too much energy in them.

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