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 Your Visual Memory
Visual memory is particularly strong, and this sometimes leads us to misjudge the accuracy of what we ‘see’ in memory. Try to visualize something you see every day – perhaps your front door, your street, your desk at work, or the layout of your living room. Now try to draw it, including all the details you can remember, and later check your sketch against the real thing. You may be surprised at how many omissions you make and the items you add that are not actually there.
Scent Your Memories
The sense of smell is directly linked to the amygdala-hippocampus complex in the limbic system of the brain, often called the ‘seat of the emotions and also important for memory formation. This gives the scent a strong power to evoke memories. Use this power to your advantage if you have to learn something for a test or audition by wearing a distinctive scent or body spray that you have not used before. Apply the scent again just before your test, exam, or audition – it may help to trigger stored information. Or you could keep the memories of a holiday fresh all year round simply by using a different soap or shower gel while you are away. Afterward, whenever you feel stressed or tired, washing with the same brand of soap should bring back relaxing memories.
Recapture Your Tastes
Now that most foods are available all year round, regardless of the season, we have lost some of our most powerful taste cues to remember. Can you recall how the taste of tangerines used to conjure up Christmas or how strawberries meant June sunshine? And there waste unique cinnamon-and-peel spiciness of hot cross buns at Easter – now on the shelf all year round. You could try to recapture the memory power of taste with cuisine that reflects the changing seasons: for example, steamed new potatoes and mint in springtime, soft –fruit pudding in summer, blackberry and apple pie in the autumn, chunky winter vegetable soups. Or introduce some unusual delicacies or tastes at picnics and celebrations. The next time you taste them, they may bring back the memory of a day by the river or a special birthday.
Train Your Sense Or Touch
Put a handful of different British coins in a bag and try to identify them all by touch alone. For a harder task, select a dozen foreign coins left over from trips abroad. Take each one, in turn, note the currency and value, then feel its edges – is it milled or smooth? Is the shape round or angled like a 50-piece? Is there a hole in the middle or a portrait on the front? Once you are familiar with the coins, throw them into a bag and attempt to identify each coin by touch before you pull it out again. You could also try to remember something about the country of origin as you take each one out.
Combining Senses
Try a memory task using just one sense, then two, and then three, and see if your performance improves. Start by writing out three lists of objects around the home, ranging from screwdrivers to teaspoons to towels. Make each list about 10 to 12 items long. On three separate mornings, take one of the lists and spend five minutes learning it. Memorize the first list simply by reading it silently (sense: sight). Try to write out the list and note your score. Learn the second list by reading it out loud to yourself, preferably in a singsong voice (senses: sight and hearing). You should find you remember more of the items. For the third list, assemble the objects, sing their names, and handle them briefly (senses: sight, hearing, and touch). This should be the best-remembered collection of all.
