There seems to be a never-ending fascination we have with studying the memory. Perhaps it’s because we are always on a quest to make the most of our minds and maximize the potential of our memories.
There are hundreds of spectacular features and facts about the memory to explore, but before we delve into the facts about memory, let’s first address some of the most common myths about memory.
Myth 1: Memory Loss is Directly Linked to Aging
Many people assume that there is a causation relationship between aging and memory loss, meaning that most people believe getting older causes us to lose our memory.
However, research has shown that much of the memory loss we experience in old age is not simply because we are older. Rather, it is due to a lack of mental exercise that we tend to experience as we age.
Myth 2: The Key to Memory is Repetition
As it turns out, repetition alone is not the key to memory. Rather, repetition is far more effective when it is combined with unrelated information. Pairing information we need to remember with unrelated information makes the brain work harder to retrieve the information.
The brain is forced to go back and “retrieve” that information from our long-term memory stores each time we do it, strengthening that neural connection for future use much more than simply repeating something over and over (which offloads some of the work to your short-term memory.
Myth 3: Memory is Fixed to One Part of the Brain
In recent years researchers have disproven the myth that memory is confined to one area of the brain. Science now shows that memories are stored throughout many brain structures and the connections between neurons (Ashford, 2010).
According to McGill University and the Canadian Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction, short-term memories are processed in the front of the brain in the pre-frontal lobe. Short-term memory is translated into long-term memory in the hippocampus.
The hippocampus helps to solidify the pattern of connections that form a memory, but the memory itself depends on the solidity of the connections between individual brain cells (Ashford, 2010).
25 Facts About Memory: What The Science Shows
Fact 1: Short Term Memories Are Very Short
As it turns out, short-term memory is much shorter than most people realize. Experts theorize that items can be stored in the short-term memory for only about 20 to 30 seconds.
Famous psychologist George Miller suggested in his influential paper, The Magical Number Seve, Plus or Minus Two, that people could store between five and nine items in the short-term memory.
More recent research has narrowed in on that number, estimating the amount of information capable of being stored in the short-term memory to be about four chunks or pieces (Cherry, 2011).
Fact 2: Being Tested on Information Helps You Remember It Better
Research shows that being tested on information is one of the most effective ways to improve memory. A 2015 experiment found that students who studied and were subsequently tested on the information they studied had better long-term recall of the material, even on information that was not covered by the tests.
Meanwhile, students who were given extra time to study but were not tested on the information studies showed significantly lower recall of the material (Brame and Biel, 2015). It is believed that testing on information studied improves memory because it forces individuals to confront gaps in knowledge which then forces the brain to work harder in order to retrieve a piece of information.
As the brain works to retrieve the information the neuronal connections are strengthened which makes that piece of information easier to access in the future (Roediger et. al., 2011).
Fact 3: You Can Learn to Improve Your Memory
Many people will be pleased to know that researchers have proven that memory can be improved, and there are strategies we actively implement to do just that. One such strategy is taking a ‘mental picture’ of information that we need to remember.
This strategy simply involves taking a brief pause to mentally note and visualize the information before moving on to another activity or task. This simple act then makes it easier to recall the information later down the line (Proven Techniques That Really Work To Improve Your Memory, 2015). Another strategy to improve memory is to employ a memorization technique.
Memorization techniques can include things such as mnemonics or repetitive rehearsal. These techniques essentially train the brain to function more effectively and thus aid in committing the desired information to memory.
There are other steps that can be taken to improve memory that directly impact portions of the brain connected to memory, learning, and retention. Limiting or removing alcohol, drugs, and other neurotoxins is a vital step, as excessive drug and alcohol use has been linked to synaptic decline. Limiting stress is another significant step that can be taken.
Research has found that prolonged exposure to stress interferes with neurotransmitter function. Additional studies found that stress can actually shrink neurons in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus areas of the brain. Another beneficial step is getting regular exercise.
Numerous studies have shown that exercise increases oxygenation of the brain which is essential for synaptic function and growth. Along those same lines, it is just as important to regularly exercise the brain.
Various studies have demonstrated that consistent participation in mentally engaging activities leads to an increase in synaptic connections in the brain (Brain Basics: The Life and Death of a Neuron, 2019).
Fact 4: New Memories Trigger New Brain Connections
There is research that shows that memory creation is linked to the strengthening of or creation of connections between neurons. Synapses, the connections between nerve cells, allow for information to travel from one neuron to the next in the form of nerve impulses.
It is the changes that occur within the synaptic connections in areas of the brain such as the cerebral cortex and hippocampus that are linked to learning and retention of new information.
A study conducted at the New York School of Medicine observed the formation of synapses in the brains of genetically engineered mice. The study showed a rapid growth rate in the small protrusions at the end of neurons, which coincided with the rapid development of the visual cortex.
Lead researcher Wen-Biao Gan noted, “…you actually don’t need to make many new synapses and get rid of old ones when you learn [or] memorize. You just need to modify the strength of the preexisting synapses for short-term learning and memory (Brain Basics: The Life and Death of a Neuron, 2019).
Fact 5: Scent Can Trigger Memory
As it turns out, our sense of smell is significantly connected to our memory. The nerve connected to our sense of smell, the olfactory nerve, is located close to the amygdala, which is the area of the brain connected to emotional memory.
The olfactory nerve is also close to the hippocampus, which is linked to memory. Some research suggests that studying information in the presence of an odor can increase the vividness and intensity of that remembered information when that odor is presented again (Fields, 2012).
Fact 6: Sleep Can Improve Memory
The connection between sleep and memory has been documented by researchers since the 1960s. A 1994 experiment demonstrated this link by depriving participants of sleep after exposing them to a series of lines that they were tasked with remembering.
The experiment found that depriving participants of sleep impaired their memory and thus impaired their ability to improve performance on a line identification task. Other research has shown that depriving students of sleep after learning a new skill significantly decreased memory of that skill up to three days later (Hershner, 2014).
More recent research has delved deeper into the connection between sleep and memory. As it turns out, the influence sleep has on procedural memory (motor and perceptual skills) is much stronger than it is for declarative memory (memorization of facts).
This means that if you were simply being tested on the memory of a list of words and definitions, sleep would have little to no impact in helping you with the recall of this information.
However, if you were tasked with identifying the differences between the English Language and the French language, sleep would have an impact on performance and prove to be beneficial since you’re being called on to report more than just basic facts (Press, n.d.).
Fact 7: The Brain Begins Forming Memories in the Womb
There is budding research that shows memory can begin forming before infants are even born. This memory, known as fetal memory, can begin to form as early as 4 months (20 weeks) into pregnancy.
A 2009 study published by Child Development looked at short-term memory in preborn children ages 30-38 weeks. The preborn babies of approximately 100 pregnant women were tested for their response to vibroacoustic stimulation.
The first time fetuses were exposed to the stimulation, they were startled. However, after repeated exposure, the fetuses got used to the sound because they remembered it (Hutcheon, 2009).
Fact 8: The Amount of Information the Brain Can Remember is Limitless
The storage capacity of the brain is essentially limitless. Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University, Paul Reber, calculated that the brain is capable of storing 2.5 Petabytes of data. That equates to roughly 2.5 million Gigabytes.
The brain contains roughly 1 billion neurons, each of which forms approximately 1,000 connections to other neurons. In all, that amounts to more than 1 trillion connections. It is these neural connections that increase the brain’s memory storage capacity to accommodate endless amounts of information.
Fact 9: False Memory Exists
Research is beginning to show that the mind is capable of exaggerating, distorting, re-inventing and even creating a memory following a traumatic experience, an event that significantly impacts us, or after being exposed to certain interview techniques.
Psychological Science published a paper that recounted a research experiment out of the University of Bedfordshire. In this experiment, interviewers were able to convince 71% of the participants that they committed a crime as a teenager when in actuality they hadn’t. Dr. Julia Shaw noted that some participants even recounted vivid details and re-enacted crimes they never committed (O’Grady, 2015).
The experiment showed that tactics such as social pressure and visualization could lead participants to create memories of events/instances that never occurred.
Fact 10: We Begin to Forget Childhood Memories During Childhood
Psychologists at Emory University conducted research to determine when we begin to experience childhood amnesia. The results of their study revealed that children age five through seven remembered 60% more of their early life events, while children ages eight and nine could only remember less than 40% of the same memories (Bauer & Larkina, 2013).
Fact 11: Emotional Intensity Prioritizes How Memories Are Stored
The brain uses emotion as a means of sorting through the mass of information it receives and processes each day. Dr. John Medina notes, “Emotionally charged events are better remembered- for longer, and with more accuracy- than neutral events.” From a scientific standpoint, the chemical dopamine aids the brain in the process of assigning emotion to an experience or event, whereby the things that produce a strong emotional reaction are deemed more important by the brain and thus prioritized in the memory.
The brain then essentially auto-filters out those events and the information that does not produce a strong emotional reaction, assuming that they are less likely to be important.
This suggests that if learning is one in a fashion that emotionally engages us, we are more likely to remember it. It also has implications on the way we study. If we take the time to establish the meaning or significance of information, we are trying to learn versus simply memorizing facts, we are more likely to commit it to memory.
Fact 12: Depression Impacts Memory
A study published in the 2018 edition of Neurology outlined a link between depression and memory problems. A study of 1,111 people found that those with depression-related symptoms possessed a smaller brain volume and had worse episodic memory, which is a person’s ability to remember specific experiences and events.
The scores on the tests of those with greater symptoms of depression were 0.21 lower of a standard deviation as compared to those without greater symptoms of depression (American Academy of Neurology, 2020).
Fact 13: Writing Things Out Aids Our Memory
Research shows that the act of writing information out on paper allows for greater memory retention. A study conducted by Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer of Princeton University and UCLA Los Angeles respectively, found that students who wrote their notes by hand were better able to commit that information to memory than their peers who took notes on their laptops.
Over the course of several experiments, the students’ memories were tested for factual detail, conceptual comprehension, and synthesizing capabilities. Results showed that students who took notes by hand had a stronger conceptual understanding and could recall more factual detail (Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014).
Fact 14: Closing Your Eyes Helps You Remember
There is research that seems to support the idea that closing your eyes while trying to remember something actually helps with recall. A study published in the journal Legal and Criminology Psychology found that eyewitnesses to crimes remember the details of those crimes more accurately when they close their eyes while being called upon to recount the details (University of Surrey, 2020).
In a separate study, 178 people found that those who closed their eyes were able to remember the details of a film they watched with 23% more accuracy than those who attempted to remember with their eyes opened.
Fact 15: Spices Can Aid In Memory
Science has shown that certain herbs and spices can boost memory. A study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture found that cilantro impacted the memory of rats. In the study, researchers added ground cilantro leaves to the rats’ food in 5 percent, 10 percent, or 15 percent portions by weight. Both young and old rats performed better in learning to run a maze compared with rats that were not fed cilantro, and the benefits were directly proportional to the amount of cilantro in their diet (Mani et. al., 2010).
Another study in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Biology spiked the water of rats with an extract of cumin and then tested the rats’ rate of learning and memory retention. The researchers trained rats to jump on a pole at the sound of a buzzer to avoid a shock delivered through the metal floor of their cage. Rats drinking pure water learned to avoid the shock perfectly after 11 days of lessons.
Rats imbibing the cumin-tainted water learned faster. Those receiving the highest dose of cumin extract learned to escape the shock after only eight days of lessons, and the length of time it took rats to learn this task was proportional to the concentration of cumin extract they had been drinking (Koppula & Choi, 2011).
Fact 16: Chewing Gum Helps Short Term Memory
UK psychologist Andrew Scholey of the University of Northumbria in Newcastle, UK found that people who chewed gum throughout tests on long-term and short-term memory produced significantly better scores than their non-gum chewing counterparts.
Scores of those who chewed gum were 24% higher ton tests of immediate recall and 36% higher on tests of delayed word call. They also were more accurate on tests of spatial working memory (Young, 2002).
Fact 17: You’re More Likely to Forget Information You Can Access Quickly
Studies suggest that the brain is less likely to remember information it is aware it can access again with ease. This phenomenon is known as the Google Effect. University of Birmingham School of Psychology lecturer, Dr. Maria Wimber states, “[The way we handle and store information] makes us good at remembering where to find a given bit of information, but not necessarily what the information was. It is likely to be true that we don’t attempt to store information in our own memory to the same degree that we used to, because we know that the internet knows everything. (Google Effect: is technology making us stupid?, 2015).”
A recent study by the Kaspersky Lab suggests that roughly 90% of people suffer from digital amnesia. The study found that more than 70% of people did not know their children’s phone numbers by heart and that nearly 49% did not memorize the phone number of their partners.
Fact 18: The Act of Forgetting Helps Us Remember
As contradictory as it may seem, the process of partially forgetting something and then struggling to remember it actually helps to reinforce that information in the mind.
As we struggle to remember a piece of information, we activate the part of our brain that tells us a piece of information is significant and that we need to store it somewhere more easily accessible. This is the science behind the concept of spaced repetition. This technique involves revisiting information at set intervals as a means of strengthening the memory of the information.
By revisiting the information just as you are on the verge of forgetting it, you draw the information back to the front of the mind into the stream of active consciousness. This makes the information easier to access the next time it is called upon.
Fact 19: Caffeine Can Improve Memory Retention
One study has found that taking a caffeine pill after learning a new task improves memory recall of the task for up to 24 hours after the task was learned. The Johns Hopkins researchers conducted a double-blind trial in which participants who did not regularly eat or drink caffeinated products received either a placebo or a 200-milligram caffeine tablet five minutes after studying a series of images. The next day, both groups were tested on their ability to recognize images from the previous day’s study session.
More members of the caffeine group were able to correctly identify the new images as “similar” to previously viewed images rather than erroneously citing them as the same (Barota et. al., 2014).
Researchers noted that the brain’s ability to recognize the difference between two similar but not identical items, called pattern separation, reflected a deeper level of memory retention.
Fact 20: Berries Can Boost Long-Term Memory
Berries seem to have a positive impact on long-term memory. A study from the University of Reading and the Peninsula Medical School found that supplementing a normal diet with blueberries for twelve weeks improved performance on spatial working memory tasks within the first three weeks and continued for the length of the study (The Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, 2020).
Additional research points to the high content of flavonoids found within berries that seems to strengthen existing connections in the brain. It is the strengthening of the existing brain connections that appears to solidify memories in the brain.
Fact 21: Meditation Can Improve Working Memory
It appears that the practice of meditation can strengthen working memory. A randomized investigation on this theory was conducted whereby the effect of a 2-week mindfulness training course was measured with regards to mind wandering and cognitive performance.
Experiment results showed that the mindfulness training improved GRE reading comprehension scores and working memory capacity. Additionally, it minimized the occurrence of distracting thoughts during the tests (Mrazek et. al., 2013).
Fact 22: Left-handed People Have Better Memory
Evidence suggests that people who are left-handed have a better memory than their right-handed peers. Psychology Professor Stephen Christman of the University of Toledo and Ruth Propper of Merrimack College studied this in two different experiments. The results of those experiments showed that people better remembered whether they had seen a word before if they were related to a left-handed person, or if they had been shown the word twice on different sides of the visual field, stimulating both halves of the brain (Minkel, 2001).
Since left-handed people and their relatives seem to have larger sized corpus callosums, which are the bridges of neurons linking the brain’s hemispheres, the interactions between the two halves strengthen the brain’s memory for events (Minkel, 2001).
Fact 23: Sitting Up Straight Is Good For Your Memory
A study published in the journal Biofeedback examined the link between sitting up straight and memory. Researchers at San Francisco State University asked 216 students to sit slouched and recall negative memories, followed by recalling positive memories.
Students were then asked to sit upright and to repeat the same task. The results of the study showed that 87% of students reported it was easier to remember positive memoirs while sitting straight.
These results suggested that standing or sitting in an erect (straight) position made it easier to recall memories because this position boosts blood and oxygen flow to the brain by nearly 40% (Viani, 2017).
Fact 24: Memory Functions Better Outdoors
University of Michigan psychologists found that memory is improved when people are outside. Research published in Psychological Science examined the benefits of outdoor activity on memory and attention span.
The results of their research showed that attention span and memory performance improved by 20% when people spent an hour interacting with nature outdoors. The researchers theorized that being outdoors positively impacted memory by offering similar impacts of meditating and other brain-boosting activities.
The study also noted that looking at pictures of nature resulted in similar positive impacts on memory (University of Michigan, 2008).
Fact 25: Saying Something Aloud Improves Memory
A University of Waterloo study has found a connection between saying something out loud and memory. The concept, known as the production effect, is that the dual action of speaking and hearing yourself has a positive impact on memory.
The study showed that adding the active measure of saying and hearing what was said helps the information become more distinct which helps store that information in the long-term memory (University of Waterloo, 2017).
The above facts demonstrate how complex and amazing the human mind, and specifically the memory, can be.
There are likely thousands of other things about memory that we have yet to discover, but the things we know about memory now should help us make the most of it and use it to its fullest potential.
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