7 unexpected ways to improve your memory

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The more scientists study the processes that affect memory, the more interesting features they find. And some of the patterns are so unexpected that you hardly think about them.

Memory is a "muscle" that can be pumped. Memory is a daily job worth taking care of. Memory is a collection of unusual factors that are useful to be aware of.

Maintain a straight posture

"Nobody loves hunchbacks and does not marry (marry) them," mothers, grandmothers and first teachers scare, forcing us to watch our posture. On the whole, they are right, only that the argument is chosen incorrectly. Much more convincing seems to be a study by researchers at the University of San Francisco, according to which an upright posture increases the flow of oxygen to the brain by 40%. Of course, there is no overabundance of oxygen, but the memory function improves. It doesn't matter if you are sitting or standing - your back should be straight!

Here I would like to talk about the research of German scientists from the University of Witten / Herdecke. They found that a straight "happy" gait helped to recall positive memories, but a hunched over - depressive ones. Spread your wings and walk with a confident stride with a straight posture!

close your eyes

Remember how you or your classmates, standing at the blackboard, tried to "give birth" to a poorly learned poem. Often at the same time, the "martyr" tightly squeezed his eyelids, trying to remember at least a couple of lines. This instinctive behavior actually works, as evidenced by two-stage research conducted at the University of Surrey, England.

In the first case, 178 subjects were shown a crime video about a kleptomaniac plumber who did his job properly, but did not forget to take the trophy with him. The study participants were randomly divided into two groups, one of which was asked to answer questions about the details of what they saw with their eyes closed, and the other with their eyes open. As a result, subjects who closed their eyes during questioning gave 23% more correct answers.

At the second stage, the participants were asked to recall sounds. As expected, closed eyes gave the best effect here too.

It is important to mention one more conclusion of the scientists: friendly relations between the interviewer and the person who were asked the questions also increased the number of correct answers.

Avoid doorways

Hmm, sounds strange, but it is. Scientists from the University of Notre Dame have stated that, when entering or entering a room, a person experiences the so-called doorway effect. The researchers claim that short-term memories are cleared from memory when walking through a doorway. That is, doors catalyze getting rid of thoughts that have arisen in a particular environment.

However, you should not go to extremes and shy away from any doors, because the reverse has a psychological effect:

If you can't remember what idea came to you in the bathroom last night, just go back there to immerse your brain in the atmosphere that triggered the thought.

Use unusual fonts

It is no secret that different fonts are perceived differently by a person: some are read quickly and easily, while others, after a few paragraphs, begin to "flow" eyes. This is why the typography and web environment uses a modest but well-proven set of fonts. This is convenient for all of us: book readers and online publishers.

However, psychologists from Princeton University and Indiana University advise reading some texts in unusual typefaces in order to better remember them. The researchers divided ordinary students into two groups, one of which was offered educational material written by the familiar Arial, and the other in Monotype Corsiva.

Verification testing led to the following conclusion: the unusual font was remembered better, which resulted in higher grades. Scientists attribute this effect to the fact that hard-to-read fonts prevent the eyes from sliding along the lines. A person involuntarily begins to read more thoughtfully and carefully, in connection with which the meaning is better fixed in memory.

Watch comedy series

It's simple: half an hour of laughter improves memory. This is the conclusion reached by scientists from Loma Linda University, conducting a simple experiment on two groups of elderly people. The first twenty volunteers watched a 30-minute humorous video, while the other group did nothing. After that, the subjects passed some kind of memory test. As expected, people with high spirits showed much better results. And all because:

Laughter lowers levels of cortisol, a hormone that can damage the nerve cells in the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for converting information into new memories.

In addition to this, during laughter, endorphins are produced - chemical compounds that increase mood and improve memory.

Chew gum

Chewing gum helps a person focus on tasks that require constant attention over a long period of time.

Kate Morgan

The words of a Cardiff University employee are based on a study in which 38 people took part, divided into two groups. In their experience, scientists invited volunteers to complete a half-hour audio task focused on a person's short-term memory. The participants listened to a list of numbers and had to identify some sequence of odd and even numbers. The conclusions were curious and ambiguous: subjects without gum at the beginning of the task coped with it a little better, but lost by the end to those who chewed gum. Therefore, Keith advises to bring gum with you to extended meetings or seminars.

Write notes by hand

The modern classroom is increasingly replete with laptops and tablets on which students record their lectures. For some, this is a reason to sparkle with their new MacBook, for someone - a way to prepare cheat sheets ahead of time, and for someone - the desire to write down as much as possible. Indeed, well-placed touch-typing allows capturing large amounts of information. However, electronic notes are less memorable than plain old handwritten text.

These are the conclusions reached by researchers from Princeton University. They compared the test results of students who used computers to take lecture notes with those who wrote them by hand. Pen-in-hand listeners were more attentive to information, better able to identify important information, and better organize the material in their heads. The authors of the experiment make a cautious statement that machine "stenography" does not have the best effect on memorization, and, accordingly, on academic performance.