The Broken Escalator Phenomenon 

You’re approaching an escalator. You step on, but it’s not moving. There’s a weird feeling in your body, as if you’re moving, even though you’re not, and it throws you off for a moment. What just happened?

If you’ve ever wondered what causes that sensation, we have the answer for you.

Every time you walk or ride on a moving escalator, your brain learns to expect that escalators move. You progressively fine-tune the motor control of your legs and the balance mechanisms of the inner ear to account for the motion. Even when you know that an escalator isn’t moving, it’s not enough to override the subconscious part of the brain that recognizes the grooved metal staircase as an escalator and expects it to move.

2004 Phenomenon Investigation

Scientists at Imperial College London investigated the phenomenon in 2004 and found that moving on a walking platform just 20 times was enough to condition the brain to expect it to still be moving on the 21st attempt, even though the participants were told in advance that it would be still.

This is a great example of how powerful the subconscious is and why every experience you have helps to shape your habits and behaviors. Each time you gather knowledge and information, a neuron connects to another neuron. You can have 50,000 connections per neuron in the area of the brain where these memories are stored.

Every time you memorize a fact or gather data, it makes a connection—which is a memory. As you develop and learn, your brain gets wired from the knowledge you obtain and the experiences you have. This mechanism is the same whether we’re riding an escalator, riding a bike, or touching a hot stove.

All the information you learned and memorized is essential in preparing you for the next experience. When you apply, demonstrate, and personalize the information, your brain makes more enriched synaptic connections. As you engage your body in new experiences of practical application, the five pathways of the senses send feedback, reinforcing the brain’s initial circuits that were fabricated from memorizing a lot of intellectual data. In this way, episodic memories begin to pattern the framework of new neurological connections.

The memories you create are associated with what your senses experience by interacting with different people and things at different places and times. As you remember how to do certain procedures, you can do them better the next time you participate in a similar situation.

Because the brain doesn’t know the difference between real and imagined, the BrainTap audio sessions help you learn, rehearse, and demonstrate the situations you will encounter in life. This combination of knowledge and internal experience work together to form the best, most refined neural connections in your brain. In the process, you are taking advantage of the plasticity of your brain—exercising the brain, if you will. Although an outside agency can add new circuits to a computer, only the brain can create new wiring patterns for itself, which is one of the main benefits of using the BrainTap sessions.

The BrainTap sessions tap into two laws of how the brain learns—association and repetition. BrainTap’s audio-sessions are designed to associate new beliefs and patterns with new behavior. The audios also use mental rehearsal to provide the repetition piece of the equation. A Stanford University study showed that with relaxation and visualization techniques the average behavior change is made in 21 days. Without relaxation and visualization, it could take up to 18 months.

Use the power of BrainTap’s 700+ audio-session library to associate with the changes you desire to make in your life, and then let the power of repetition (braintapping daily) rewire your brain and create positive new pathways so you can respond to life like as a new improved you—automatically! Start your FREE trial today!