We all forget, and if there is one thing that memory research has shown, it is that most of our experiences are doomed to be forgotten.
The most typical complaints and worries about everyday forgetting are driven mainly by deeply rooted misconceptions about what memory is for in the first place.
Memory is the process by which our brains extract what’s important—that is, information that helps us make sense of an uncertain and ever-changing world.
We use memory to reason, plan, and imagine, to communicate and connect, to forge our identities, and to ground ourselves in time and space.
Memory is a resource to pull from, as opposed to a comprehensive archive of the past, we can make mindful choices in the present to curate a rich set of memories to take with us into the future.
When we recall a memory, we imagine how the past could have been.
Recollections are shaped by our beliefs, goals, and perspectives, much like a painting reflects an artist’s unique perspective on their subject.
Whenever we reconstruct memories, the brain strengthens, weakens, or modify different aspects of the memory from the moment it is pulled up.
The constructive and malleable nature of memory means that we can often remember events incorrectly.
The brains is susceptible to distorted memories by design, as the world around us is constantly changing, so we need to update our memories to reflect these changes.
The brain has evolved to revise traumatic memories to reframe how we feel about them by incorporating a new perspective.
People can update painful memories so that they can be experienced more tolerably, providing us with valuable lessons for the future.
The brain is wired to learn from mistakes and challenges-error-driven learning.
This simple principle can explain the conditions under which we learn best and retain what we have learned over the long period.
When a memory is recalled a memory, it can be updated.
Error-driven learning explains the benefits that comes when learning by doing rather than passively learn by memorizing.
One learns the most being challenged.
The prefrontal cortex allows us to filter out distractions to create rich and detailed memories that stand out from the clutter of mundane experiences.
The prefrontal cortex allows mobilization strategies for learning efficiently.
The prefrontal cortex gives you the mental resources to think critically when you remember so that your recollections do not become distorted.
The prefrontal cortex allows deployment of memories in real time to anticipate what is about to happen next.
The prefrontal cortex is one of the first regions to decline with age, worsening with multitasking, stress or not sleeping enough.
Frontal function is also affected by physical health conditions like diabetes and possibly long COVID and by mental health conditions like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Frontal function can improve through physical exercise, mindfulness practices, eliminating environmental distractions, like text and email alerts, and compensating for sensory problems by using hearing aids.
To improve memory retention:
Mnemonic Techniques: Mnemonic training technique, has been shown to enhance durable, long-lasting memories.
Mnemonic training involves visualizing a familiar place and associating the information to be remembered with specific locations within that place.
Mnemonic technique decreases task-based activation in certain brain regions and increases hippocampal-neocortical coupling during memory consolidation.
Engaging in physical exercise four hours after learning can significantly improve memory retention.
This timing is crucial as it allows for the release of neuromodulatory factors that promote memory consolidation.
Exercise performed immediately after learning does not have the same beneficial effect.
Retrieval Practice: Repeated retrieval of information, rather than repeated studying, significantly improves long-term retention.
This practice enhances memory consolidation and reconsolidation, making the information more durable and easier to recall in the future.
Sleep plays a critical role in memory consolidation.
Seep between learning sessions can reduce the amount of practice needed and ensure better long-term retention.
Seep between learning sessions strategy leverages the off-line reactivation of memories during sleep to strengthen memory traces.
Mindfulness practices can improve verbal learning and memory through enhanced encoding processes: it involves focusing attention and being present during the learning process, which enhances the initial encoding of information.
Adherence to healthy dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean, DASH, and MIND diets is associated with slower cognitive decline and improved memory retention.
These diets emphasize high consumption of fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats.
People get “training data” from lived experiences as we go to different places and interact with different people.
Episodic memory is the ability to travel back in time to past events, which allows us to use our unique experiences to update our knowledge and flexibly adapt to new situations rapidly.
We can enhance episodic memory by diversifying our training data: changing scenery from time to time and expose ourselves to people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, we can form richer, more distinctive episodic memories.
When we spend too much time interacting with the same people, in the same places and situations, we have impoverished memories.
By exposing ourselves to a diverse range of people and ideas, we can discover connections and recombine episodic memories into imaginative constructions that transcend the sum of their parts.
Memories reflect both what we experienced and our interpretations of what happened.
Techniques you can try to help improve your memory:
Repetition-Repeating the information you want to remember out loud or write it down multiple times.
Repetition can help reinforce the memory.
Association-Creating associations or connections between the new information and something familiar to you.
Breaking down large amounts of information into smaller chunks, makes it easier to remember and process.
Visualizing the information in your mind as creating mental images or mind maps to help you recall the details later.
Mnemonics are memory aids that help you remember information through patterns, acronyms, or rhymes.
Practicing mindfulness -present and focused can help improve your memory, by minimizing distractions and staying engaged in the moment when trying to remember something.
Adequate sleep is important for memory consolidation.
Staying organized-Use planners, calendars, or digital tools to track important information and tasks.