Sub -Conscious Shift

How do memories shift from conscious thought, to become subconscious reaction?

If you awarefully repeat something enough times, it seems to shift into the subconscious, so that the memory data can be accessed quickly, without you being conscious of it. This seems to be the method of learning many things, that humans use, and the concept of this method can be taken advantage of for many improvements (as I further explained, in my last post; Subconscious Update). The difference of neurological function, after this shift, could be relevant to the function of consciousness and subconsciousness. 

A major component of this shift from conscious thought, to subconscious reaction, is likely neural pathway reinforcement. Once a neural pathway is used repeatedly, it allows an ease of electrical flow through that pathway. But there should still be a difference in neurological function (besides ease of flow), between the processes of a conscious thought, and a subconscious reaction. Reinforcing a neural pathway, makes the flow more probable, but if it was the same neurons being accessed during both scenarios, of conscious and subconscious function, then it seems likely we would experience both in the same way. But we don't. 

It may come down to the quantity and sequence of neurons which are accessed. During conscious thought, it seems we are accessing neural combinations representing memory of factors, as well as the interaction between those factors. I posted a summary of this concept, early last yr; Conscious Comprehension. Accessing memory of an interaction between factors, or effect that 1 causes on the other, seems to be the main step which takes additional time and additional neurons (compared to subconscious reaction). Accessing the neural combo for this step, seems to require accessing a sequence of neurons representing a time period of the interaction between the factors (or time period of the action of a factor causing a change to another). Other neural access, such as subconscious, seems to often only access static data of sensory measurements (such as an image, rather than video recording). But if conscious thought requires this longer time period of sequential neural access, how can it be shifted into a subconscious, faster reaction?

It seems likely that once a repeated conscious process, shifts to a subconscious process, the additional sequential neural combos, representing the factors’ interaction, are bypassed. The factors themselves (represented by neural combos) are still accessed, and still saved as part of the overall macro neural combo, but the details of the interaction of cause and effect between the factors, are left out of the macro combo. This shift to a subconscious reaction neural combo, saves the relevant factors, but skips the longer time period necessary for the interaction. 

If you think about it, with the eg of language, learning new words usually requires conscious comprehension of the meaning of the word, and how that word interacts with other words, and which factors are applicable for the word. But once the word is used often enough, the understanding of how that word interacts with other words or applicable factors, no longer comes to mind (without deliberate analysis of it). Just the memory of basic factors are saved, after the shift to subconscious, such as memory of the pronunciation, the visual spelling, and the factors which the word represents. Learning the concept of simple addition, could be another eg. During learning, you are consciously aware of the interaction between factors being added, and the effect of the result. You are consciously aware of the interaction of 2 objects being added to 2 other objects, causing the effect of the new total being 4. Once this neural combo is shifted into the subconscious, you automatically access this memory, to quickly know that 2+2=4. Only the memory of the factors are accessed, after the shift, skipping the memory of the cause of adding, affecting the result of 4. Or in the case of learning to drive, you are conscious of the effect of the car stopping, caused by pressing the brake. But once this thought process shifts to the subconscious, you automatically do the action of pressing the brake pedal, without accessing memory of the interaction between the brake pedal and the car stopping. 

The neural function of learning something consciously, seems to take more time because of additional sequential neural combos being accessed. But, by skipping the memory access of the interaction between factors, and saving a new macro neural combo of only the prioritized factors, this function is sped up, through the process of a Sub -Conscious Shift.