Because once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget it!

The brain and cerebellum are responsible for the ability to ride a bicycle, a skill that a bit like driving and swimming is never lost.

Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerous

Once we have learned to ride a bicycle, we never forget it. However, this is not a place, but a reality that we can verify every day and the reason for which lies in the functionality of our brain and cerebellum.

Among the many important functions of our brain there is also that of automating certain procedures deciding instead to forget others. Among the first, as you have surely noticed in your life, there is the ability to ride a bicycle which, once acquired, is not lost, even if you do not pedal for a long time, even for years.

What was probably learned in childhood is reactivated whenever it is needed. In short, cycling is learning that remains untouchable, precise and automatic, a bit like the ability to swim, tie your shoes or drive.

But for what reason, this and other skills remain imprinted for life in a corner of our brain. What mechanism orchestrates this kind of skill?

Each of us in the course of our life erases an enormous amount of images, conversations, data, knowledge but cycling is a skill that is not lost. To help us understand why, the explanations of the neuropsicologo Boris Suchan, physician of the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience of the Ruhr University of Bochum, Germany, according to which our brain establishes every experience in two very specific ways.

Memory is organized in two modes: short-term memory and long-term memory. Within the latter, we can also find two other types:

Declarative memory: refers to that type of memory that allows us to return to consciousness and voluntarily to facts, data or experiences of the past. We remember, for example, who gave us the first kiss or how our favorite book ends.

Procedural memory: all the motor and executive skills that we acquire at some point in our life are integrated into this second type. Therefore, skills such as writing, playing an instrument, swimming, driving or cycling are examples of this brain system of automated procedures (as opposed to declarative memory).

The basal ganglia, structures responsible for processing non-declarative memory, are fairly protected in the center of the brain, below the cerebral cortex. Despite this, it is not clear why the contents of procedural memory are not easily forgotten as is the case for those of declarative memory. According to some studies, in areas where declarative memory operates, there are fewer new neurons in adulthood and, without neurogenesis, these contents are less likely to be erased.

Because once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget it!

The cerebellum is actually responsible for our ability to ride a bicycle. It is thanks to him that we also know how to write, use cell phones, computers, drive, swim, play an instrument or enjoy our favorite games or sports.

The cerebellum is responsible for the control of important motor functions, such as coordination or balance. The Purkinje neurons present in the cerebellum are those which, among other things, promote motor and muscle memory which facilitates the automatic movement of pedaling without having to voluntarily remember it.

Neuroscience is also demonstrating the relevance of the cerebellum to any type of sporting activity and any task that involves a type of learning that eventually becomes automatic.

So in conclusion, let's never forget how to ride a bike since the brain has established that there are a number of activities that we need to know permanently to facilitate our adaptation to the environment. If we were to relearn how to drive, run, or do other common motor activities each time, we would waste a lot of time. With the help of the functions of the cerebellum we can have a stable and always useful set of skills.

Fonte: Scientific American