Highway Hypnosis

How you can drive twenty miles without remembering any of it

Highway hypnosis is the experience of driving for stretches without any memory of doing so, despite having stayed in your lane, obeyed signals, and navigated turns. It's a striking example of automatic processing, your brain's ability to execute well-practiced routines without conscious attention. The basal ganglia and cerebellum handle the motor output while the prefrontal cortex, freed from monitoring duty, wanders into other thoughts. You're still a competent driver. You're just not consciously involved in the driving.