Secrets of Memory All-Stars: Brain reflects superior recollection strategy
By Bruce Bower
Some people have flypaper memories. Bits and pieces of information stick in their minds, enabling them to remember a dizzying array of stuff.
These memory all-stars aren’t smarter than the rest of us. Nor do they possess brains equipped with beefed-up memory centers. According to a report in the January Nature Neuroscience, their advantage lies in a propensity to use a learning strategy that engages brain areas important for spatial memory.
This particular memory-boosting strategy, described almost 2,500 years ago by a Greek poet, requires visualizing a pathway along which items to be remembered are situated at different points. A person later recalls the items by mentally retracing the route.