Has this ever happened to you? After a long and interesting conversation with someone you have just met, you turn to introduce them to another person – and find you cannot remember their name. Failing to put a name to a face is something that happens to most of us. Fortunately, there are some simple […]

The key to memorizing something new lies in mentally placing it within a simple and well-defined structure that has already been fixed in the memory. Usually, some association makes this connection permanent – either with the structure itself or with another element conjured up specifically as a ‘fixative.’ Two and a half thousand years ago,

We tend to talk about memories in terms of hearing and sight, but scent, touch, and taste also help recall. When we stimulate more of our senses, more of the brain becomes actively engaged in an experience, increasing our chance of remembering it. Try these sensory exercises and see if they work for you. Test

Deja Vu One of the most peculiar tricks that memory can play, Deja Vu is curious, marked by a sudden, intense impression of familiarity – a feeling of ‘being here before’ or having lived through the moment already. A sense of deja vu can occur in any situation. You may be visiting some entirely unfamiliar

Research has shown that human beings have a special ability to recognize faces. We can often tell at a glance Whether the face We are seeing is familiar – even if we can’t remember the name or where we have seen the person before. Faces are the first thing we learn to recognize visually. Newborn

Sometimes, it seems that for every occasion when we are able to remember something, there is another frustrating occasion when memory lets us down. Why does this happen? We frequently forget things, but it can seem baffling why this should happen in some instances and not others. Psychologists have found that forgetting is the result

The most infuriating form of memory failure is a mental block. You feel sure the detail you need is somewhere in memory, but it is as if a brick wall has sprung up to hide it. Memory blocks can strike at any time and range from mildly irritating lapses in mid-conversation to catastrophic memory failures

Everyone has moments of absent-mindedness, but as we get older, we tend to view these moments as evidence of memory decline. Like the body, the brain slows in later life, but perceived memory loss may be as much to do with our preconceptions about aging as it is with actual decline inability. Memory loss is

The extraordinary skills of memory experts, who train themselves to remember vast quantities of often random material, seem beyond the reach of ordinary people. While natural talent is certainly an advantage, the technique is also vital. With the right training and dedication, could any one of us become a memory maestro? On a visit to

The concept of a photographic memory has a stronghold on the popular imagination. Many people claim to have known someone with such a memory. But does photographic memory actually exist? It was not until the first half of the 19th century that the first photographic process was developed. There was a technique that could freeze