料理中に電話がかかってきて、話している間に肉や魚が焦げ（注1）てしてしまう。また、勉強をしているときに家族に話しかけられ、話が終わったときには、何を考えていたのか忘れてしまう。これらの現象は、「ワーキングメモリ」と言われる記憶に関係しているらしい。
『心と脳の科学』という本によると、脳の記憶には、料理をしていることや勉強で考えていたことを、いつでも思い出せる状態で「保持（注2）」したまま、電話の話や家族との会話など別のことを「処理」する働きがあるそうだ。
「ワーキングメモリ」は、この「保持」と「処理」が同時にうまくできるように働いている。しかし、その「保持」の力には限界があり、この限界を超えると、料理や勉強のことを忘れてしまうということらしい。私も含めてなるほどと思う人は多いと思う。
（注1）焦げる：焼けすぎて黒くなること
（注2）保持：変わらない状態で持っていること
AI translation, cross-checked between two models.
A phone call comes while you are cooking, and while you are talking, the meat or fish ends up burning.（注1） Or while you are studying, a family member starts talking to you, and by the time the conversation ends, you have forgotten what you were thinking about. These phenomena apparently have to do with a type of memory called “working memory.”
According to a book called “The Science of Mind and Brain,” the brain's memory has a function that allows it to “retain” things such as the fact that you are cooking or what you were thinking about while studying in a state that can be recalled at any time, while also “processing” something else, such as a phone call or a conversation with a family member.（注2）
“Working memory” functions so that this “retaining” and “processing” can be carried out successfully at the same time. However, this ability to “retain” information has a limit, and apparently, once that limit is exceeded, we forget about the cooking or studying we were doing. I think many people, myself included, will hear this and think, “That makes sense.”
(Note 1) To burn: to be overcooked and turn black
(Note 2) Retention: keeping something in an unchanged state
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