A good memory is often an inborn feature of some people. And therefore, there is no point in competing with genetic "mutants", exhausting yourself with training, including memorizing poems and inventing associative stories. Since everything is written in the genome, you can’t jump above your head.
Indeed, building, like Sherlock, memory palaces and visualizing any sequence of information is not given to everyone. If you've tried the basic tricks listed in the Wikipedia article on mnemonics and it doesn't work, then there's nothing wrong with that - memorization techniques for an overworked brain become a super task.
However, not everything is so bad. Scientific studies show[] that some mnemonics can literally physically change the structure of the brain and increase the skill of memory management. Many of the world's most successful mnemonists in professional memorization competitions began learning as adults and have been able to greatly enhance their brains.
Difficulty in remembering
The secret is that the brain changes gradually. In some studies[] the first tangible result was achieved after six weeks of training, and a noticeable improvement in memory was observed four months after the start of training. Memory itself is not so important - what matters is how efficiently you think at a particular moment in time.
Our brain is not particularly adapted to the modern information age. Distant hunter-gatherer ancestors didn't have to memorize a curriculum, follow verbatim instructions, or network, memorizing the names of dozens of strangers as they went. They needed to remember where to find food, which plants were edible and which were poisonous, how to get home—those vital skills on which life literally depended. This is probably why we absorb visual information relatively well.
At the same time, long-term studies and perseverance will not give the expected result if the mastered mnemonics are not simple enough. In other words, a memory enhancement technique should easily associate important information with an image, sentence, or word. In this respect , in which landmarks on a familiar route become information that you need to remember, is not always suitable for beginners.
Formation of mental images
Visualization is the most important aspect of memorization and memory in general[]. The brain is constantly predicting. To do this, he builds images, visualizes the surrounding space (this is where the phenomenon of prophetic dreams comes from). This process does not require tension, there is no need to look at certain objects or specifically meditate - you just do it.
You want a new car and imagine yourself in it. Or you want to eat chocolate cake, you instantly imagine the sweet taste. Moreover, for the brain there is not much difference whether you really see a certain object or just imagine it - the thought of food causes appetite, and the frightening bogeyman jumping from the closet in a computer game - the desire to hit and run.
Nevertheless, you are clearly aware of the difference between the real image and the imaginary one - these two processes take place in the brain in parallel (which is why you do not break the monitor during the game). To train memory, you need to think consciously in a similar way.
Just think about what it looks like what you're trying to remember. If you can think of a cat, you can equally think of a HUGE, THREE-DIMENSIONAL, WHITE and detailed cat with a red ribbon around its neck. You don't need to specifically imagine a story about a white cat chasing a ball of thread. One large visual object is enough - this mental image forms a new connection in the brain. You can use this method when reading - one visual image per one short chapter of the book. In the future, it will become much easier to remember what you have read. Perhaps you will remember this article just because of the BIG WHITE CAT.
But how in this case to remember many things in a row? , a multiple Swedish champion in memory, one of only 200 people in the world claiming the title of "Grandmaster of Memory", offers the following method. Let's say you need to keep ten tasks in memory at the same time. Think of ten things to remember, visualize them vividly and clearly: finish writing a piece of code, pick up a child from kindergarten, go grocery shopping, etc. For each task, take the first image that comes to mind (a monitor with a code, a child, a grocery bag, etc.).
Imagine a bicycle. Enlarge it mentally and imagine that it is as big as an SUV. Then place each visual image of the task (object) in a separate part of the bike, connecting them in such a way that “front wheel” becomes synonymous with “grocery bag”, “frame” - “monitor with code” (all life is kept at work!) and etc.
The brain will build a new stable connection based on the image of a fantastic bike, and it will be much easier to remember all ten (or more) cases.
From ancient rules to new techniques
Almost all the classic memory training techniques can be found in the textbook of Latin rhetoric "”, written sometime between 86 and 82 BC. The point of these techniques is to take hard-to-remember information and turn it into easily digestible images.
In everyday life, we do not pay attention to banal things and often act in automatic mode. But if we see or hear something extremely unusual, huge, incredible or ridiculous, then we will remember what happened much better.
Rhetorica ad Herennium emphasizes the importance of purposeful conscious attention, distinguishing between natural memory and artificial memory. Natural memory is the memory embedded in the mind, which is born at the same time as thought. Artificial memory is strengthened by training and discipline. An analogy can be drawn: natural memory is the hardware you were born with, and artificial memory is the software you work with.
We haven't come very far in the art of memorization since Roman times, but if you're having trouble with the classic technique (and you often do), take a look at a few new techniques. For example, the famous built around visual elements that are easier for our brains to absorb.
Another popular way to successfully encode information in the brain is to use music.
A song is much easier to remember than a long string of words or letters, such as a bank account password (this is also the reason advertisers often use intrusive jingles). There are many songs to learn online. Here is a song that will help you learn all the elements of Mendeleev's periodic table:
Interestingly, from the point of view of memory, a record made by hand is better absorbed than a computer one. Manuscript , the so-called reticular activating system (). It is a large network of neurons with branched axons and dendrites that make up a single complex that activates the cerebral cortex and controls the reflex activity of the spinal cord.
When RAS is triggered, the brain pays more attention to what you are doing at the moment. When you write by hand, your brain forms each letter compared to typing on the keyboard. In addition, when creating a record manually, we tend to rephrase information, thus enabling a more active type of learning. Thus, remembering something, if you write it down by hand, becomes easier.
Finally, for better memorization, you should actively work on preserving the information received. If you do not refresh your memory, within a few days or weeks, the data will simply be erased. The most effective way to retain memories is to do spaced repetitions.
Start with short memory intervals - two to four days between workouts. Each time you successfully learn something, increase the interval: nine days, three weeks, two months, six months, etc., gradually moving up to intervals of years. If you forget something, start short intervals again.
Overcoming the difficulty plateau
Sooner or later, in the process of improving your memory, you will become so efficient that you will basically solve tasks on autopilot. Psychologists call this state the “plateau effect” (plateau means the upper limits of innate abilities).
There are three things that will help you overcome the “stagnation” stage: focus on technique, persistence of purpose, and immediate feedback on work. For example, the best skaters spend most of their training time doing the rarest jumps of their program, while novice skaters practice the jumps they have already mastered.
In other words, normal practice is not enough. Once you hit the memory limit, focus on the hardest and most error-prone elements, and keep training at a faster pace than usual until you get rid of all the errors.
At this stage, you can use several scientific life hacks. So, according to a publication in the journal "Neurobiology of Learning and Memory" [], daytime sleep for 45-60 minutes immediately after learning practice can improve memory by 5 times. It also greatly improves memory] performing aerobic exercise (running, cycling, swimming, etc.) approximately four hours after training.
Conclusion
The possibilities of human memory are not unlimited. Memorization takes effort and time, so it's best to focus on the information that your brain really needs. It's pretty weird trying to remember all the phone numbers when you can just type them into your address book and make the right call in a couple of taps.
Everything insignificant should be quickly uploaded to the "second brain" - to a notebook, cloud storage, to-do planner, which are ideal for working with routine everyday information.
Source: habr.com