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ou Can Improve Your Memory!
Memory enlarges our world. Without it, we would lack a sense of
continuity and each morning encounter a
stranger staring ack from the mirror. ach day and event would
e"ist in isolation# we could neither learn from
the past nor anticipate the future.$%MY&'(I& )* '+
MI-.$
W+Y is it that some irds can rememer months later the places
where they stored seeds for the winter and suirrels
ememer the locations where they uried nuts, ut we may forget
where we left our keys an hour ago/ Yes, many oomplain of a faulty
memory. Yet, the human rain, though imperfect, has an ama0ing
capacity to learn and remem
he secret is to make the most of what we have.
normous 1otential
he human rain weighs aout three pounds [1.4 kg] and is roughly
the si0e of a grapefruit, yet it contains s
33 illion neurons, or nerve cells, all of which form an
incredily comple" network. Indeed, 4ust one neuron may
onnected to 233,333 others. 'his wiring gives the rain the
potential to process and retain a vast amount of informat
he challenge, of course, is for a person to recall the
information when it is needed. &ome e"cel at this, including
m
ith little if any secular schooling.
or e"ample, in West 5frica, nonliterate trial chroniclers called
griots can recite the names of many generation
eople in their villages. 6riots enaled 5merican author 5le"
+aley, whose ookRoots won a 1ulit0er pri0e
nvestigate his family tree in 6amia ack through si" generations.
+aley said7 I acknowledge immense det to
riots of 5frica%where today it is rightly said that when a griot
dies, it is as if a lirary has urned to the ground.$
onsider, too, the famous Italian conductor 5rturo 'oscanini, who
was discovered$ at the age of 28 when called u
o sustitute for another conductor. In spite of his poor
eyesight, he was ale to conduct the entire opera Aidafmemory!
uch feats may ama0e us. Yet, most people have the potential to
rememer much more than they think they can. W
ou like to enhance your memory/
mproving Your Memory
Memory involves three stages7 encoding, storage, and retrieval.
Your rain encodes information when it perceives it
egisters it. 'his information can then e stored for future
retrieval. Memory failure occurs when any one of these th
ages reaks down.
Memory itself has een divided into various kinds, including
sensory memory, short9term memory, and long9t
memory. &ensory memory receives information from stimuli
through the senses, such as smell, sight, and touch. &h
rm memory, also called working memory, holds small amounts of
information for rief periods. 'hus, we can add
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umers in our head, rememer a telephone numer long enough to dial
it, and rememer the first half of a sente
hile reading or listening to the second half. :ut as we all
know, short9term memory has its limits.
f you want to store information indefinitely, it must go into
your long9term memory. +ow can you put it there/
ollowing principles will help.
Interest Cultivate an interest in the su4ect, and remind
yourself of the reasons for learning it. 5s your own e"perie
n life may tell you, when your emotions are involved, you
enhance your memory. 'his fact can e a great help to :
udents. When they read the :ile with the twofold goal of drawing
closer to 6od and teaching others aout him, t
memory can e consideraly enhanced.%1rovers 'imothy =72?.
Attention Most @memory failuresA actually represent failures in
attention,$ says the ookMysteries of the Mind. W
an help you to pay attention/ :e interested and, where possile,
take notes. ote9taking not only focuses the mind
so enales a listener to review the material later.
Understanding With all that you acuire, acuire understanding,$
says 1rovers B7
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he ook Searching for Memory states7 If we operate on automatic
pilot much of the time and do not reflect on
nvironment and our e"periences, we may pay a price y retaining
only sketchy memories of where we have een
hat we have done.$
Consolidation 5llow time for the information to e processed, to
soak in, as it were. )ne of the est ways to do th
review what you have learned, perhaps y repeating it to someone
else. If you had an interesting e"perience or
omething upuilding in the :ile or in a :ile study aid, share it
with someone. In that way oth of you will enef
our memory will e reinforced and your friend, encouraged. *or
good reason, repetition has een called the mothe
etention.
Mnemonics%5 seful 'ool
n ancient 6reece and (ome, orators were ale to deliver long
speeches without referring to a single note. +ow did t
o it/ 'hey used mnemonics. 5 mnemonic is a strategy or device
that helps us store information in the long9t
memory and recall it when needed.
mnemonic device used y ancient 6reek orators was the method of
loci, or the location method, first descried
reek poet &imonides of Ceos in B
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cus your attention on the most important things.
arn mnemonic techniues.
ink sufficient water. -ehydration can cause mental
confusion.
t enough sleep. -uring sleep the rain stores memories.
la" while you are studying. &tress triggers the release of
cortisol, which can disrupt nerve interactions.
void alcohol ause and smoking. 5lcohol interferes with
short9term memory, and alcoholism can lead to a deficienc
hiamine, a :9vitamin that is essential to the proper working of
the memory. &moking reduces o"ygen to the rain.H
+ootnote]
ased on information pulished in the electronic maga0ineBrain
& Mind.
o!)ictures on "age #-, #]
A/0 A' IA2I'AR3 A(/
ow would you rememer a grocery list with several items, such as
read, eggs, milk, and utter. sing the loci met
ou could see$ them as you go for an imaginary walk through your
living room.
isuali0e a cushion of read in the armchair
ggs incuating under the lamp
our goldfish swimming in a tank of milk
utter smeared all over the television screen
he more humorous or unusual, the etter! When you get to the
store, retrace your mental walk.
o! on "age #]
0 2(A% &5A& 3OU CA' +OR20&6
magine what your life would e like if you rememered everything,
whether important or trivial. Your mind wo
ecome filled with clutter, would it not/ In fact, one woman who
could recall practically everything that occurred in
fe, descried her constant recall as @non9stop, uncontrollale and
totally e"haustingA and as a @urden,A$ says N
cientist maga0ine. 'hankfully, most of us do not have that
prolem ecause our mind, researchers elieve, has
ility to weed out irrelevant or out9of9date information.
fficient forgetting,$ saysNew Scientist, is a crucial pa
http://wol.jw.org/es/wol/fn/r1/lp-e/102009060/0http://wol.jw.org/es/wol/fn/r1/lp-e/102009060/0
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aving a fully functioning memory. When we forget something
useful, . . . it 4ust shows that this pruning system
orking a little too well.$
