<![CDATA[Neuropsychology For You - Strengthening Memory]]>

<![CDATA[Neuropsychology For You - Strengthening Memory]]>Thu, 24 Aug 2023 10:34:25 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[STEP FIVE: Strategy #4 - Adding Meaning]]>Wed, 28 Jun 2017 04:00:00 GMThttp://www.neuropsychologyforyou.com/strengthening-memory1/step-five-strategy-4-adding-meaningThis next strategy is somewhat related to strategy # 3 in the previous post, in that they are both based on the importance of emotion for our memory. Information that is very important to us, or that has a lot of meaning to it typically has more intense emotion attached to it.

Most information we need to remember ...

...already has important meaning associated with it. When we end up forgetting something, sometimes the reason was because we didn’t take a second or two to fully think through the meaning or importance of it. In that moment, we knew, intellectually, that it was important information, but we maybe didn’t allow our brains time to fully attach the emotion to the information itself.

For example, as I write this I am visiting family for the holiday. Just an hour or so before writing this, my nephew called to speak with his mother. She was not available, so I agreed to have her call him upon her return. I am embarrassed to say that I forgot to do so. (This is pretty embarrassing. Now you see how bad my memory really is).

Take a few extra seconds to think through the meaning/importance of it.

Obviously there was meaning and importance already attached to my nephew’s request. I certainly knew this was important, but didn’t actually take the time to think through why and how this was important. If I had actually taken a minute to think about that meaning, that importance, I would have been more likely to remember and follow through on the request.

We can add meaning to information by imagining the consequences of forgetting. In this instance, I should have taken just a second to imagine the outcome of me forgetting to pass along my nephew’s message: his sadness that his mom was not returning his call; my guilt/shame when I eventually realized that I failed to follow through on something I agreed to do.

Imagine the consequences
of forgetting
that information.

Referring back to the example I used in the very first of these “Dealing with Forgetfulness” posts (the introduction): I forgot to return library books, at my wife’s kind request. I would have been less likely to forget if, at the time of her request, I had taken a few seconds to think through the importance. Again, I could have done this by thinking through the potential consequences of forgetting.

In that example, possible consequences of forgetting could have included being charged late fees for the books, my wife feeling ignored and dismissed, and me getting in trouble. I was quite fortunate in that none of those consequences became a reality. However, if I had thought through those potential consequences, then the emotion circuits of my brain would have viewed the library books with greater importance, which would have helped the memory circuits hold on to the information better, thereby reducing the likelihood of forgetting it.

Over the next week, when presented with something you need to remember, take a few seconds to acknowledge a few specific reasons why that information is important. Think through the potential consequences of forgetting that information. You might even try visualizing (recall strategy #1) yourself forgetting, and then visualize experiencing one or two negative or unpleasant consequences because of it.

]]><![CDATA[STEP FOUR: Strategy #3 - Making It Silly]]>Sat, 27 May 2017 01:22:55 GMThttp://www.neuropsychologyforyou.com/strengthening-memory1/step-four-strategy-3-making-it-sillySo now you have been practicing visualization/visual imagery (strategy # 1) and elaboration/connection (strategy # 2) for a couple of weeks. The next strategy is a little more fun.

Understanding the structures and functions and also the organization of the brain helps us learn how to use our memory more effectively. I won’t bore you with too much neuroscience, but we know that the emotional structures of the brain and the memory structures of the brain are very close to each other. To be more accurate, our emotions are generated not by a single structure, but by a collection, or a circuit of structures. The same is true of our memory. As it turns out, the emotion circuitry and the memory circuitry ...

actually share a few structures. There is significant overlap in these circuits. Therefore, our moods and emotions affect our memory.

This can work either for us or against us, depending on the situation. Information that has little or no emotional intensity does not get remembered as easily or as well. Information that involves high emotional intensity gets etched in our memories much more quickly and securely. This is true regardless of whether the emotion is positive/pleasant or negative/unpleasant.

This is the reason why we tend to remember more details about very happy or exciting experiences in our past, such as our wedding, the birth of our children, or our favorite vacation. We tend to remember fewer details about average or so-so events. This is also the reason we can remember even very small details about life threatening or extremely scary experiences. Those details also tend to remain in our memory for a long time.

Information with
high emotional intensity
is remembered better.

We can use this tendency of the brain to our advantage. If there is information that we need to remember, and it does not already trigger a specific emotion for us, we can come up with ways to generate and attach emotion to that information. The easiest way to do this is to take the information-to-be-learned and make it silly in some way. This is best done in combination with visualization.

For the paper towel example discussed in the last two posts, I would get a mental image (visualization) of the paper towel, and make it silly by imagining myself balancing it on my head as I brought it up the stairs.

For the grocery list, make it silly by substituting a cow for the milk, with a chicken laying eggs on a slice of soft bread, all on the back of a cow.

For the doctor’s appointment, imagine traveling to the appointment on a unicycle, or driving racecar with the racecar’s number being the time of the appointment.

Come up with silly visualizations.

Over the next week, look for opportunities to come up with silly visualizations. This requires a bit of creativity, but again, you will get better at this the more you practice it. Share what you come up with in the comments section below, so you can all learn from each other’s ideas.

]]><![CDATA[STEP THREE: Strategy # 2 – Elaboration and Connection]]>Tue, 16 May 2017 04:00:00 GMThttp://www.neuropsychologyforyou.com/strengthening-memory1/step-three-strategy-2-elaboration-and-connectionThe last post discussed improving memory by creating mental pictures of information that needs to be remembered. The second strategy builds upon that. Now, in addition to just creating a mental picture of the object or information itself, take a few steps further and elaborate upon that picture, connecting it with other, related information.

For example, using the paper towels from the previous post, I would first create the mental picture of the paper towels. Then I would elaborate by generating a mental picture of where the paper towels are located in the basement. That might include a specific shelf. I might also imagine what other objects are on the shelf next to the towels, including anything that I might have to move out of the way.

I could elaborate further by ...

...creating a mental picture, or rather a mental video of myself walking over to the shelf, removing the paper towels, and carrying them back upstairs. This process seems like it would be time consuming and too much work. In one sense it is, but the extra time and effort are actually part of the reason why this strategy is helpful. However, if you have already practiced strategy # 1: visual imagery, then this second step won’t be as troublesome as it sounds. Additionally, the more you practice it, the easier and faster it becomes.

How about the doctor appointment that needs to be remembered? Hopefully you have already written down the appointment in a calendar, or put it into your smartphone with a reminder alert. Even so, you can still use such a situation to practice this memory strategy, which will help you be more effective at using this memory strategy for information that you didn’t have a chance to put into your calendar or phone.

For the doctor appointment, create a mental picture of yourself not just at the doctor office, but create the mental video of yourself going to the doctor office and walking through the door. More importantly, use the elaboration strategy by thinking through details of the day on which you have the appointment. For example, think through:

What will you be doing right before that appointment?
Where will you be? How will you get to the appointment?
What route will you take to get there?
Who will be with you?
Where will you be going afterward?
What will you do if the appointment runs late?

Run through these extra details in your mind, and then create the mental video of yourself leaving your previous location, traveling to the appointment, and arriving on time, including a mental image of yourself looking at your phone calendar as you walk through the doctor’s office door. Watch the mental movie in your mind.

For another example, consider a grocery list. Again, hopefully you have it written down. But how many times have you created a grocery list, and then forgot it at home? Or you started a list, expecting to get to the store on Wednesday, only to find yourself at the store on Tuesday unexpectedly, and without the list? You should keep making grocery lists, but use that as an opportunity to practice these memory strategies. Write out your list, and then memorize it.

You should keep making grocery lists,
but use that as an opportunity to practice
these memory strategies.

Using the two strategies so far, create mental pictures of each item on your list. Elaboration could then involve picturing where each item is in the store, and imagining the route you might take around the store to pick up the items quickly. Picture the specific brand, packaging, and the expected price of each item.

You might then use a combination of visual imagery/visualization and connection to create a single picture containing all of the items on your list: elaborating on the details and connecting the items to each other. You create a piece of abstract art in your mind. A sculpture. For example, visualize: a loaf of bread on the bottom, a carton of eggs on top of the bread, a gallon of milk balancing on the eggs, and so on. Add to this the picture of what would happen if you actually stacked these things for real: the squished bread, broken eggs and such.

The more silly you make it,
the better it will stick
in your memory.

Over the next week, look for opportunities to add the strategies of elaboration and connection as you continue to practice the visualization strategy. After a few days of practice, leave a comment below so we might all learn and benefit from each other. What information have you remembered with these strategies? When have the strategies worked? When have they not worked? What questions do you have?

]]><![CDATA[STEP TWO: Strategy # 1 – Visual imagery/visualization]]>Tue, 02 May 2017 04:00:00 GMThttp://www.neuropsychologyforyou.com/strengthening-memory1/step-two-strategy-1-visual-imageryvisualizationNow that you have spent a week strengthening your attention and noticing your forgetfulness, we are ready to begin discussing additional strategies for reducing forgetfulness.

The brain takes in information through our senses. When talking about memory problems and forgetfulness, we are usually referring to memory for information that has entered our brain through the sensation of hearing, such as information that has been told to us by our friends or family. The strategy of visual imagery works on the idea that our brain will memorize and store information more securely when it is experienced through more than one sense: information that is both heard and seen will be remembered better than information that is just heard.

The skill of visual imagery ...

takes information that is verbal or only heard, and creates a visual version of it. We don’t have to actually “see” the information in front of us, but rather we just have to create a mental image (see it in our mind) in order to get our brain’s visual system to help out with storing this new memory.

Create a mental picture.

To use the skill of visual imagery, take the information that needs to be remembered (whether it is information that has been heard, or even read), and create a mental picture of it. For example, if my wife asks me to get her a roll of paper towels from the basement, I would not just say “yes dear” but would then also use the strategy of visual imagery by generating a picture in my mind of a roll of paper towels.

Now, ideally, I should just jump right up at that instant and get the paper towels without hesitation. But, it is more likely the case that I am in the middle of reading an email or something, and I instead put off her kind request for a few minutes. Unfortunately, a few minutes are sometimes all it takes for a small piece of information, such as paper towels, to be forgotten. Then I would have to ask her again what she needed. She may then feel as though I was not paying attention or listening, would feel a little undervalued, and there you have the mild beginnings of frustration and relationship stress.

This of course is just a silly little example. One instance of such a scenario is no big deal, but having this sort of forgetfulness occur repeatedly can truly cause stress and strain on even the most healthy of relationships. Visual imagery, then, is a fairly simple, fairly quick way of enhancing our brain’s learning and memory for such pieces of information. This not only helps our memory, but also as you can imagine, may even be good for our relationships!

What if the information to-be-remembered is not an object, but rather is a task? Visual imagery can still be used. Taking out the trash, for example. Generate a mental image of the trash cans. How about a doctor’s appointment? Visualize yourself at the doctor’s office. You could even visualize a calendar with the correct date, on the wall of your doctor’s office.

Over the next week or so, look for opportunities to practice visual imagery: creating mental pictures of information that you need to remember. The next few strategies that will be posted in coming weeks will build on this first strategy, in ways that make it more flexible and more effective. However, practicing this first step repeatedly, such that it begins to be more automatic or second nature, will make your use of the next few strategies that much easier.

Be sure to leave a comment below. Comment on what information you have remembered with this strategy. Such strategies don’t work in all situations. Comment on when it has helped and when it hasn’t. Ask any questions that you might have. In this way I can be more helpful to you, I can learn how to be more helpful to others, and other readers can benefit from your experiences.

]]><![CDATA[STEP ONE]]>Sat, 22 Apr 2017 04:00:00 GMThttp://www.neuropsychologyforyou.com/strengthening-memory1/step-one-introductionJust the other day, my wife asked me to return a few books to the public library on my way to work the following morning. They were due back, and she would not have a chance to get there herself. I, of course, said “no problem,” with every intention of being helpful to her in this way. She then laid them on the corner of the table, where I would pass them as I headed for the door the next morning.

After work the next evening, ...

... I was sitting at that same table. I happened to glanced toward the corner where the books had been laid the night before, and then it hit me…I had forgotten the books. My wife was already well aware of my forgetful error. Earlier in the day she had discovered the forgotten books and found a way to take care of them. Being the saint that she is, she never said a word about it (which only added to my sense of guilt and remorse).

Forgetfulness is one of those experiences common to all human beings. Unfortunately, some of us (myself included) are more forgetful than others. When forgetfulness happens once every now and then, it is maybe no big deal. But when such things happen as a regular occurrence it can become quite frustrating, worrisome, stressful, and can even lead to relationship trouble.

Fortunately, however, we don’t have to just accept the current state of our memory and frequency of our forgetfulness. There are things we can do to improve it.

We don’t have to just accept
the current state of our memory

In an earlier post, I discussed the importance of improving attention as a first step to improving memory. This is extremely important. If you have not read it already, check it out (Want to improve your memory? Start with your Attention). Then browse the posts that discuss in detail an effective strategy for strengthening attention (A Mindfulness Metaphor and Mindfulness exercise: picking the right weight), and begin practicing mindfulness for strengthening attention. The importance of this cannot be overstated. This first step will help increase the effectiveness of the strategies I will be discussing next.

In addition to strengthening attention, a variety of strategies can be used to help reduce forgetfulness. Many of these are the organizational approaches I referred to in the previous posts. Over the next few weeks, I will post a different strategy each week. For these strategies to be truly helpful, like most things, they need to be practiced repeatedly. When we practice these strategies regularly, they become more automatic, more natural, more of a habit, and therefore more effective.

After reading over a strategy, practice it daily. Practice it any chance you get throughout your normal day to day activities; be on the lookout for opportunities to practice it, or even make up reasons to practice it. Practice with information that you hear from family and friends, or with appointments, tasks on your to-do list, or with information you hear on the news. Again, the more you practice a strategy, the better it will work for you.

These strategies will be in no particular order, other than that I may try to start with simpler strategies, moving to more complex strategies later on. A number of the strategies can be combined for even better results (those that build on each other will be presented in the appropriate order). Some of these strategies may already be familiar to you, and may be things that you are already doing. However, I would encourage you to read through those anyway, as there may be additional details or tweaks to them that you may find useful for maximizing those familiar strategies.

The more you practice a strategy,
the better it will work for you.

Before reading the first strategy, use the next week or so to begin strengthening your attention through daily mindfulness exercise (according to the posts linked above, especially the Mindfulness Metaphor post and the Mindfulness Exercise post). Also take note of any examples of forgetfulness that happen to you over the next week. Then post a comment below about your experiences with mindfulness and your examples of forgetfulness. Your comments will be most helpful for me, as I can then even tailor my posts to the needs of our readers; and your comments will be encouraging and helpful to each other.

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