Notre Dame Study: Doorways Trigger Memory Lapses

Ever walked into a room and completely forgotten why you went there? It's a common experience known as the 'Doorway Effect.' Psychologists at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana have been studying this phenomenon for nearly 20 years. Their research, using virtual reality, demonstrates that passing through a doorway diminishes our memory of items and intentions from the previous room. The explanation lies in how our brains organize memories into episodes. Walking through a doorway creates a new 'event boundary,' making it harder to recall information stored in the previous episode. Professor Gabriel Radvansky explains that doorways act as event boundaries, compartmentalizing our activities and making it difficult to recall decisions made in different rooms. So, that momentary blank is simply your brain filing away the previous 'episode'.