Observing a bug in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Just occasionally the self-censorship feature in my wife’s brain malfunctions, with amusing consequences: it kicks in the instant after she has spoken, so that her next words are “don’t tell anybody I said that!”

But I’m sure she won’t mind my sharing a few choice moments with you.

First I should point out that my wife graduated with honours from one of the top medical schools in the UK, so there’s clearly nothing lacking in the rest of her brain. I speculate that Auto Update got turned off in this one area.

The most recent example was when we were discussing a diagram of the solar system with our daughter. “So did the Greeks and Romans know what the planets are called when they named their gods?”, my wife asked me – then immediately put her hand over her mouth in embarrassment.

But the funniest was a few years ago as we were driving through our neighbourhood at night, after there had been a power cut. The houses on either side of the road were eerily dark, and we were suddenly dazzled as another vehicle went past us in the opposite direction. My wife piped up,

“So how come that car’s headlights are still working?”