5 ways to boost your memory

Memory is essential to our lives. We depend upon it to remember things about ourselves, our surroundings and those we interact with. There isn’t really any limits on how much we can store in our memories, however there are limits on some aspects, for example short term memory. I’m going to share a few ways we can boost our memory based on research.

Sleep

Having good sleeping habits before and after learning new information that is important is extremely beneficial. Having less sleep has been linked to less activity in the hippocampus which is essential for memory. Previous research showed that participants who had slept well remembered 19% more images than other participants who had been sleep deprived.

Learn Mnemonics

Research from 2003 studied memory champions and found no differences in their brain structure or their IQ. They did however find that these champions used techniques for learning for example the method of loci, in which items to be remembered are imagined as meaningful objects or people, which seems to aid memory.

Puzzles

There is some important research which suggests that doing puzzles such as crosswords and other word puzzles, can help boost memory as well as keeping us busy. Research looking at nuns found those who took part in word puzzles were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Stop cramming

Research has shown that cramming when studying does not help with memory. The best way to revise and be able to remember long term would be to review the material periodically. You should review the material for 10-30% of the time you want to remember it. Re learning everything over in the same day will not boost memory but pacing and reviewing it at a later time does.

Eye movements

Moving our eyes a certain way can also boost out memory. Research found that people who moved their eyes left to right in a ‘wiggle’ motion after memorising a list of words were able to recall more words than those who stared straight ahead or moved their eyes up and down. Researchers believe the side to side movement of the eyes helps to improve communication between the hemispheres of the brain thus improving the amount able to be remembered.