Have you ever found yourself in a room and don't have a clue why you went there? Or do you have a name / word on the "tip of your tongue" but you just can't remember it? Our brain is the organ that acquires, organizes and stores a vast amount of information but, at times, makes "mistakes" that lead us to forget something, even a concept that has just been formulated. Fortunately, there are methods you can use to bring back what you have forgotten.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Helping the Memory
Step 1. Learn what the steps in the memorization process are
To be able to remember something, the brain has to go through three stages: acquiring, consolidating and retrieving information (also called remembering). If something gets stuck in these three steps, you have a hard time remembering what you want to remember.
- In the acquisition phase, the information you have just learned is stored in short-term memory before being discarded or encoded as a long-term memory. If you don't pay attention to something, such as where you put your glasses on before leaving a room, there is a much better chance of not remembering it when you return to the room itself.
- In the consolidation phase, the information you have learned is transferred to long-term memory. This process is more likely to happen if the information is related to your long-term memories, if it is somehow important (connected to a historical or significant event) or if it is associated with strong sensory stimulation.
- In the recovery phase, the information present in your memory is brought back to consciousness thanks to the activation of the neuronal patterns that were used to consolidate it. This stage is related to the feeling of having something "on the tip of your tongue" and there are several techniques you can use to unlock it.
Step 2. Retrace your steps
Research has shown that much of memory is "strictly context dependent"; this means that people remember information better in an environment that coincides or evokes the one in which the information was learned.
For example, if you think about something particular in the living room and forget it on the way to the kitchen, try returning to the living room. Your family background is likely to help you find lost information
Step 3. Rebuild the list of your thoughts
If you cannot physically go back to the place where you acquired information (and what you have now forgotten), try to imagine where you were, what you were doing and try to understand how thoughts have come about and interconnected with each other. Since a lot of information is stored following the same neuronal pathways, the reconstruction of the sequence of thoughts helps you to find what you have forgotten thanks to the stimulation of related ideas.
Step 4. Recreate original environmental clues
If you were listening to a particular song or visiting a certain website when you had a specific thought that you don't remember now, try to bring it back to your mind by rethinking the song or internet page.
Step 5. Think or talk about a different topic that the forgotten thought is unrelated to
Since the brain superimposes multiple ideas on the same neural patterns, it's easy to get stuck when trying to recall related but "wrong" information, for example when trying to think about the actor who played Batman in the last movie. you remember all the actors who played this role except the one you are interested in. In this case it is useful to think of something completely disconnected to "reset" the process of remembering.
Step 6. Relax
Anxiety makes it difficult to remember even the simplest of notions. If you have trouble remembering something, don't be stubborn; take a few deep breaths to calm down and then try to think about the information.
Method 2 of 2: Improve Memory
Step 1. Create "specific clues" when you want to remember something
You have a much better chance of encoding a notion as a long-term memory if you associate something particular with it that acts as a "clue" or cue. Anything can be a clue, but a detail that is actively linked to the thought to remember works best.
- For example, when you chat with a friend at the bar who talks to you about her upcoming birthday, try to link this information to another that you can remember very well: “Melissa told me her birthday is June 7th., exactly one week after my mom's birthday”.
- These ideas can also be of a sensorial nature. For example, smells can trigger very vivid memories in many people, just like the scent of freshly baked cookies that immediately bring to mind the days spent in grandma's house. If the memory can be associated with a smell, in the example of Melissa's birthday it can be the scent of coffee or cinnamon croissants, try to stimulate the memory with a trace of this familiar smell.
Step 2. Link memories to specific places
Memory is closely connected to the environmental context in which information is learned. You can use this mechanism to encode it and bring it back to mind later.
Try to create a verbal connection between the information and the place: "When I met Melissa at the bar in Piazza Principe, she told me that her birthday is June 7"
Step 3. Repeat the notion immediately
If you have a very common tendency to forget people's names practically the instant they are presented to you, try to repeat them aloud as soon as they are pronounced. If you connect the name to as many clues as possible, such as the person's appearance, what they are wearing and where you are, you will have a better chance of remembering them in the future.
If you are at a party and a friend introduces you to a person named Masako, try to look him in the eye while smiling at him, shake his hand and say something like: “Nice to meet you, Masako. Your shirt is a very beautiful blue!”. This reinforces a lot of sensory information that will help you store and remember the name
Step 4. Create a "palace of memory"
Memory palaces are a very common mnemonic technique that is used to create connections between notions and environmental contexts even if, in this case, they are imaginary environments. Even the famous detective Sherlock Holmes (albeit a fictional character) uses this method.
It is a technique that requires some practice to be perfected, but it is really very useful for storing the information you want to remember because it emphasizes them by associating them in a creative and, at times, absurd way with places
Step 5. Avoid learning when you are in stressful situations
This is not always possible, but if you can avoid studying new information when you are very stressed (for example the night before an exam) your ability to remember will be much better.
Step 6. Get plenty of rest
Sleep, especially the rapid-eye-movement (REM) phase, is crucial for processing, consolidating and storing information. Sleep deprivation "burns" the neurons making it more difficult to code and remember the notions.
Step 7. Drink water
Do something different, if you are truly convinced to help your memory, you will see that you will remember.
Advice
- Saying the task you have to do aloud as you pass from room to room helps you remember it. For example, if you are going to the bathroom to take the multivitamin supplement, you can repeat: "I'm going to take the multivitamin" until you reach the bathroom.
- Use an agenda or a smartphone application that helps you remember really important information, such as birthdays and doctor's appointments. Even the strongest minds need a little help!
