<p>You'll want to look up literature on the "Tip of the Tongue" (TOT) phenomenon.  It's been studied since the 60s I believe and can be experimentally reproduced.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-30T23:18:13.187Z
[Another cogsci.SE answer](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/677/421) goes into some detail on this phenomenon.
John Pick
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-30T22:01:44.920Z
2012-05-30T22:01:44.920Z
John
<p>You all know the situation described in the title. You forgot something and start to search your memory and then after quite a while it jumps right in front of you, out of nowhere.</p>

<p>My questions are: </p>

<ol>
<li>What happens in the brain during that moment of awareness? </li>
<li>Is it different from when we know something right away, since the subconscious mind is working for quite a while to produce the answer? </li>
<li>Is it possible to measure this moment and was it done already?</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-30T21:03:20.937Z
This Question is similar to http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/1/421 .
John Pick
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-31T02:06:51.953Z
Not sure all 3 questions should be asked in one question...I think some are a lot deeper than you might realize.
Zelda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-26T00:27:24.110Z
This is also almost the same as [this question](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/676/29)
Artem Kaznatcheev
<memory><measurement>
What was her/his name again.....ahh got it!
draks ...
# What was her/his name again.....ahh got it!

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-05-30)

You all know the situation described in the title. You forgot something and start to search your memory and then after quite a while it jumps right in front of you, out of nowhere.

My questions are:

1. What happens in the brain during that moment of awareness?
2. Is it different from when we know something right away, since the subconscious mind is working for quite a while to produce the answer?
3. Is it possible to measure this moment and was it done already?

**Tags:** memory, measurement

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This Question is similar to http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/1/421 .  
> **username_2**: Not sure all 3 questions should be asked in one question...I think some are a lot deeper than you might realize.  
> **username_3**: This is also almost the same as [this question](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/676/29)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2012-05-30. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

You'll want to look up literature on the "Tip of the Tongue" (TOT) phenomenon. It's been studied since the 60s I believe and can be experimentally reproduced.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: [Another cogsci.SE answer](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/677/421) goes into some detail on this phenomenon.  

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