Page 78 - The Memory Program How to Prevent Memory Loss and Enhance Memory Power

Page 67

And in your own life, when you are really enjoying a movie does your attention waver and
lose track of what's happening? Of course not. You are so engrossed in the movie's details that
forgetting isn't an issue. The same thing applies to reading a book that fascinates you.
Motivation is what generates a high degree of concentration, and this leads to excellent recall
of the event. But if you're not motivated to remember what you need to remember, here are a
couple of tips:

a. Place the event in context to give it meaning. Focus on why you need to remember. Think
about the positive aspects of the event and relate it to something else you like and know well.
For example, if you're in a boring meeting, focus on someone you know or like in the room
and link the points that you need to remember to imaginary actions carried out by this person.

b. Practice repetition. Even if you're not very motivated, repeating things in your mind will
help you register the event. If you hear a piece of music often enough, and this includes music
you don't really like, the tune will start playing in your head. That is how your hippocampus
operates: if it receives a stimulus often enough, it gets registered as a piece of memory.

Mnemonics

The word mnemonic comes from the Greek goddess Mnemosyne, who knew everything: past,
present, and future. Therefore, loosely translated, mnemonics can be used to remember almost
anything. The memory questionnaire in the first chapter had a section on how frequently you use
mnemonics.

In the loci technique, you create an imaginary house and place items you need to remember in
specific rooms, using visual imagery. The peg technique involves the mental use of pegs or anchors
for each event, and is similar to the loci technique. To work well, the loci and peg techniques require
both an aptitude for visual memory as well as considerable mental effort. Teenagers and young
adults are able to take advantage of these methods better than middle-aged or older people.

I will now discuss simpler mnemonics that include associations or links, rhyming and letter
association, imagery and visualization, chunking, and lists and memory assistants.