Yes, sometimes we just can’t recall where we put our car keys, whether or not we locked the door, or what that thing is called in Spanish. However, there are a couple of tricks which you might want to implement right away to improve your memory!

Check out: 5 Simple Tricks to Remember Everything You Learn

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Listen

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Glossary

• astounding – surprisingly impressive or notable
• spatial – relating to space
• innate – inborn; natural
• imprint – impress or stamp (a mark or outline) on a surface
• toss – throw (something) somewhere lightly or casually
• discrepancy – an illogical or surprising lack of compatibility or similarity between two or more facts
• tether – tie (an animal) with a rope or chain so as to restrict its movement

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Think about it

Answer the questions below.

• What is the idea of memory palace based upon? How can you apply it in practice?
• How does encoding prevent us from recalling where we put everyday objects?
• Why weren’t people able to recall the details of the squares used in one study?
• What example of a mnenonic is given in the text? Did it help you?
• Why is it easier to remember a baker, rather than a Baker?

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Practice makes perfect

Fill in the blank spaces with either the missing words (use ONE word per blank space) or the correct form of the words in capital letters. 

We form ________ VISION memories much like how a camera records an image: What we see gets ________ PRINT, kind of like a photograph, in a specific set of brain cells in our hippocampus, deep inside the brain. This process is called encoding.

The reason we ________ PLACE things like our keys, wallet, phone, or car so often is because we store so many similar versions of those memories. Think of how ________ times you’ve parked your car or tossed your keys somewhere. Your brain ________ encoded thousands of those memories. ________ time, they begin to blur.

To improve your memory, you ________ to be able to keep those recollections apart. Next time you set ________ your keys, try creating a precise scene in your head, suggests US Memory Champion Joshua Foer. Take note of the surface on which you’re resting it. ________ it wood, steel, or concrete? Red or blue? Is there a photograph or an object nearby that you can ________ in mind?

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