by Jim Bessey

Created on: July 23, 2009

Try these mental "tricks" for improving your short-term memory

Where did I leave my car keys? Memory is a fickle friend, and seems to leave us farther behind every year. Remember when you could learn new things and spit back "important dates in history" effortlessly? You probably knew the names of at least half the kids in your graduating class. Now you sometimes mix-up your co-workers' first names. It's true: the older we get the more difficult it becomes to safely store short-term memories.

The good news is, with a bit of effort and some time-tested "tricks" you can force your memory to do your bidding. Take a minute, before you continue reading, and try to remember these five words: car, dog, banana, aspirin, napkin. Got it? Okay, let's dig in...

First, let's admit that there can be important physical reasons for declining short-term memory. Poor nutrition affects brain agility, as do many age-related ailments. In addition, certain medications, as well as alcohol and tobacco, can impair memory. Inadequate sleep can be a factor, too; and it now appears that dreaming plays a major role in the brain's attempt to "sort out" new memories (this is called "consolidation"). Compare your own experience with that of your contemporaries. If you sense that your ability to recall recent events and details isn't up to par, please do seek medical help.

If you are otherwise healthy, you certainly can teach your old brain some new tricks.

When you were young and cramming for finals, your mind had enormous capacity for recollection. Now - with a family, career, hobbies, a home computer, video games, and a thousand cable channels - your brain struggles each day to find room to store the new stuff. We live in a world of infinite distractions. Short term memory relies on distinctive events. If you really want to remember something that matters, you have to create that distinction.

How?

You have to work at it. So far there is no magic pill, though some may claim otherwise. In order to retain a lasting impression you have to physically create a home in your synapses for that new memory. Before we talk about that, let's dispel a common misconception. Some have theorized that your brain somehow manages to "record" everything you experience during your waking hours. They claim that, with the right tools (hypnosis, for instance), you can retrieve even the most minute details from this amazing stockpile of knowledge.

That's poppycock. Don't believe everything you see on CSI: Miami. No one

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>