LEARNING: IT'S ALL IN THE TIMING.(MAIN)

Byline: Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- After learning a new physical skill, such as riding a bike, it takes six hours to permanently store the memory in the brain. But interrupt the storage process by learning another new skill and that first lesson may be erased, according to research into memory and the mind.

``We've shown that time itself is a very powerful component of learning,'' said Dr. Henry H. Holcomb, a psychiatrist who heads a Johns Hopkins University group that studies how people remember. ``It is not enough to simply practice something. You have to allow time to pass for the brain to encode the new skill.''

The researchers used a device …