12-05-2011, 09:50 PM
As seen from the comments above, there is a wide variance in what is frequently called "muscle memory".
I tend to believe it is a combination of multiple factors, all grouped into what we call "memory", but which in reality is a complex interaction of muscle response to acquired or instinctual triggers, originating in the brain, or perhaps the spinal column, (depending on the action).
Certain things require no conscious input, IE. we can run without thinking about it, jump without thought when a puddle appears without consciously deciding to do so.
Little about firing a rifle is instinctual, it is learned and acquired, but the actual repeat performance can be drilled so frequently that we can become almost instinctual about performing it.
"Muscle memory" has little to do with the actual process. We can drill the behavior until it becomes as natural as a backhand is to Rafael Nadal, but like the backhand, it is NOT "muscle memory", but a complex and precise neuromuscular response initiated by a learned process in our brain.
I tend to believe it is a combination of multiple factors, all grouped into what we call "memory", but which in reality is a complex interaction of muscle response to acquired or instinctual triggers, originating in the brain, or perhaps the spinal column, (depending on the action).
Certain things require no conscious input, IE. we can run without thinking about it, jump without thought when a puddle appears without consciously deciding to do so.
Little about firing a rifle is instinctual, it is learned and acquired, but the actual repeat performance can be drilled so frequently that we can become almost instinctual about performing it.
"Muscle memory" has little to do with the actual process. We can drill the behavior until it becomes as natural as a backhand is to Rafael Nadal, but like the backhand, it is NOT "muscle memory", but a complex and precise neuromuscular response initiated by a learned process in our brain.
You seek escape from pain. We seek the achievement of happiness. You exist for the sake of avoiding punishment. We exist for the sake of earning rewards. Threats will not make us function; fear is not our incentive. It is not death that we wish to avoid, but life that we wish to live. - John Galt