Scientific Secrets for a Powerful Memory

After a quick memory test to set the stage, Professor Vishton introduces you to one of the most basic ways your memory can encode information: the Major System. With this strategy, you’ll learn how to encode numbers into words and then into distinct images that can help you recall the numerical information whenever you like.

Focus on one of the simplest tricks for memorizing information: the Method of Loci. Like the Major System, this strategy encodes information into a format your brain is especially good at using; in this case, it ties information to a physical location. Gain familiarity with this method through several engaging exercises.

In this insightful lecture, Professor Vishton walks you through the three steps of successful memory: a perception to short-term memory, encoding short-term memory to your long-term memory, and retrieving information from your long-term memory. In addition, you’ll explore how amnesia and other hippocampus-related damages can disrupt this normal memory process; and much more.

Among the topics you’ll investigate are the “Ebbinghaus forgetting function,” which offers insights into the relationship between time, amount of studying, and the likelihood of memory recall; the most effective way to remember a new set of information (hint: it doesn’t involve cramming); and how to access that pesky piece of information that’s “on the tip of your tongue.”

To have a good memory that functions at the peak of its powers, you need to keep your entire brain healthy. Professor Vishton shows you how to do just that. You’ll learn how not just a part of your brain, but the entire organ, is involved in remembering things. You’ll also investigate the science behind studies of exercise, sleep, and nutrition.

Why should you bother enhancing your memory when there are computers to do it for you? In what ways is information stored on a computer different from information stored in the recesses of your brain? What are the limits of how memory functions? What are some important roles that technology can play in backing up our memories? Why are “source memories” and “flashbulb memories” so problematic?