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The human brai n is like a library that stock s memories instead of books. In some ways, that makes the
hippocampus, the part of the brain most involved in memory, the brain's librarian. The hippocampus has
the most responsibility in this cranial library, juggling the new releases of short-term memory while
cataloging materials for the permanent collection of long-term memory. It's not the only part at work,
however, in storing these chapters of our lives. Different kinds of memory are stored in different areas of
the brain. With such a large system, the brain needs a system of encoding and retrieving memories,
something a bit more complex than the local library's Dewey Decimal System.
The brain has to be able to pull information at the drop of a hat, whether it's a fact on hold (such as
a telephone number) or a dusty memory that's been sitting in storage for years (the memory of your
first kiss). No one likes a library that loses books or shelves them in the wrong place. Yet sometimes we
find ourselves with a very poor librarian on our hands, one that doesn't allow us to retrieve memories
when we need them. Sometimes it's trivial, like when we tear apart our homes looking
for glasses perched innocuously atop our heads, and sometimes these lapses in memories are more
embarrassing, such as when we call a colleague "sport" because we simply can't remember his name.
Whether you're a college student studying for an important test or an aging baby boomer concerned
about forgetting a recent doctor's appointment, there are a few things everyone can do to optimize the
storage and checkouts in our private libraries of memories. Alert the librarian and head to the next page
for the first tip.
10. Drink in Moderation
Before you settle in to read this article, you may want to get yourself a glass of wine. Surprised that such
debauchery begins our list of memory improvers? Well, hear us out. Memory and alcohol have an
interesting relationship.
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Cheers to your health!
First off, you'll notice we didn't advocate bringing the entire bottle back with you. Too much drinking
handicaps the memory, as anyone who's ever woken after a binge with a fuzzy recollection of the night
before can attest. And one component of a DUI test shows how overconsumption of alcohol can
immediately affect the brain: Even simple mental tasks like counting backward and reciting the alphabet
can become tricky under the influence. Alcohol abuse will have a negative effect on the cells of the brain
related to memory.
But as long as you're not pregnant and able to maintain control of how much you drink, there's evidence
that light to moderate alcohol consumption can improve memory and cognition. Though more research
needs to be done, some studies have found that moderate drinkers do better on certain tests of memory
and cognition than nondrinkers and heavy drinkers [sources: Victoroff, Minerd]. There may be some long-
term effects as well. A French study that followed almost 4,000 people over the age of 65 found that light
drinkers, who consumed up to two glasses of wine a day, were 45 percent less likely to
developAlzheimer's disease than nondrinkers [source: Victoroff].
But as we said, don't start tipping back beverages if you have certain risk factors, such as a family history
of alcoholism. No one is recommending that teetotalers start drinking, either. Resveratrol, one of the
flavonoids in red wine that's believed to have special benefits for blood vessels, is also in red grape juice.
If you tend to drink when you're sad, head to the next page for some information on how your blues affect
your brain.
8. Get Moving
Sure, it sounds bizarre, but you can't deny that it also sounds fun. Visualization is at the root of many of
the memory tips left to go on our list, so go ahead and practice by visualizing yourself heading to the next
page for another memory tip.
6. Pay Attention
Eight seconds is more than just a length of time that bull riders try to stay atop a bucking bronco, it's the
amount of time you need to completely focus your attention upon something to effectively transfer it from
short- to long-term memory [source: Crook] . No matter how wonderfully you can conjure up entertaining
and useful visualizations for incoming information, the skill will be useless if you're not paying attention to
what you need to remember in the first place.
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If you pay attention when you meet someone, you have a better chance of remembering a new
name.
Sometimes we can't remember things because we never got the information into the memory bank to
begin with. Like an absent-minded professor, we all have moments where we put down keys or an
important book without noticing. Or we scribble phone numbers or one-word reminders on Post-It notes,
thinking that's all the information we'll need later. However, without paying attention to why you need the
information and its value to you, that Post-It is useless.
Try to stay in the present and really pay attention to the task at hand, whether it's learning new
information for a job or meeting new people. Minimize distractions such as music,television or cell
phones to focus fully. One way to stay mindful of even the smallest actions is to repeat aloud what you're
doing; as you take off your eyeglasses, say aloud "I am putting my glasses on the kitchen counter." While
talking to yourself may feel awkward, you'll be grateful to find your glasses easily later.
When meeting new people, we can often be more obsessed with how we look and the impression we're
making than truly paying attention to the other person. Simply staying focused will boost your ability to
remember the names of new people. But we're not done with faces and names yet. Since that area is
troublesome for so many people, the next tip is all about using some of these techniques to attend parties
with ease.
4. Chunking
Maybe you have no problems remembering your grocery list or names and faces but you repeatedly
stumble over your PIN number, Social Security Number or license plate number. Chunking may be just
the memory method for you. You've used chunking if you've ever read off a phone number as three sets
of numbers as opposed to one long 10-digit number. Chunking puts a large amount of information into
more manageable chunks so that you have less to remember.
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Breaking information into smaller chunks makes it easier to manage.
Let's tease out the phone number example even further. Say you use this phone number every day but
can never remember it: 404-760-4729 (for the record, that's the main line at HowStuffWorks). First, the
area code -- do you love golf? Picture hitting agolf ball twice; you might yell, "Fore! Oh! Fore!" Then let's
say you have seven children and you were born in 1960. By great coincidence, yoursoccer jersey number
was 47, and you'll never be able to forget that theGreat Depression started in 1929. To remember how to
call HowStuffWorks, you just need to think, "golf, kids, year born, soccer jersey, Great Depression." Make
a fun story out of it: Golfing with the kids in the year I was born while wearing my soccer jersey was more
fun than the Great Depression. You'll never forget how to call us again.
OK, maybe that's not the handiest way to remember our phone number. The associations made with
certain numbers will be different for everyone. What's important is to look for patterns and numbers
associated with memorable things for you. Then you can break a long list into more manageable chunks.
Chunking's not limited to remembering numbers, though. Anything can be reduced to smaller chunks. Say
that you need to send an e-mail to George, William, Greg, Jim and Jane. If you remember to invite the 2
G's, the 2 J's and one W, then you're set. If you have a long shopping list, try grouping it according to
sections of the store, so that when you get to the dairy section, you'll know you have a few items to look
out for.
Do you know your way around the local grocery store by heart? You may be able to put that knowledge to
use with our next tip.
3. Method of Loci
The earliest recorded mnemonic device comes from Ancient Greece. One night, a poet named Simonides
was called upon to recite a poem at a banquet. By some stroke of luck, Simonides briefly left the banquet
hall, right when the entire building collapsed. Because the bodies of those that remained inside were so
badly mangled, Simonides identified the dead for their families by recalling where people were sitting at
the time of the accident. This memory device of associating things with a place or location became known
asthe method of loci, and it was all the rage for teaching in Ancient Greece. If you've ever said, "in the
first place" or "in the second place" when rattling off a list, then you're using a modern derivative of the
method of loci.
You can use other things in your environment as well. If you don't want to invest in string just yet, you
could switch a ring, bracelet or watch from one hand to the other as needed to remember things. For
example, if you needed to remember a doctor's appointment, you could visualize a large wristwatch
wrapped around your doctor. If it bothers you too much to switch hands, try just turning the watch upside
down or switching a ring so the stone points downward.
Zia Soleil/Iconica/Getty Images
Putting a pony in your bedroom may be an extreme example of using your environment to
remember something, but an object slightly out of place can serve as a helpful reminder.
There are other things you can manipulate in your environment as well. If you wake up in the middle of
the night with a thought you don't want to forget, make an association with something on your nightstand,
like analarm clock or a book. Then place the object on the floor. The next morning, when you trip over the
item on your floor, you can bring up the visualization. You can also move furniture slightly if that helps. If
you have trouble remembering to take morning medications, place your toaster on its side. When you
stand it back up again, you can take your medications, enjoy some toaster waffles and then return the
appliance back to its sideways position in preparation for the next morning. Move your telephone from
one side of the desk to the other, depending on whether you have phone calls to return.
You could also place things that need to leave the house on the floor in front of the door to serve as an
obvious reminder, or you could make use of the doorknob itself by hanging things on it. For example, if
you return from home day after day without the dry cleaning you meant to pick up, place an empty hanger
on the door. Put it on the front seat of the car, and it will serve as a daylong reminder of an errand you
need to run.
Practice using your environment right now: Click "next page" to see our last tip for memory.