Procedural memory, commonly referred to as muscle memory, has absolutely nothing to do with your actual physical muscles and is entirely dictated by the rapid firing of neural…

A closer look

Procedural memory, commonly referred to as muscle memory, has absolutely nothing to do with your actual physical muscles and is entirely dictated by the rapid firing of neural pathways established in your motor cortex and cerebellum. When you finally learn to ride a bike or type on a keyboard without looking, your muscle fibers are completely oblivious; it is your brain that has simply aggressively optimized the electrical signals needed to perform the task. Calling it muscle memory gives far too much credit to our dumb, contractile meat fibers, completely ignoring the complex neurological rewiring happening inside our skulls. Your biceps do not possess any cognitive ability to remember how to swing a golf club, they are merely biological puppets dancing on the electrical strings of your highly trained nervous system. Our language constantly praises our muscles for the hard work our neurons are doing