People with ordinary memory can enhance their ability to recall in just a matter of a few weeks. This was the findings of a group of scientists from Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands.
The team of scientists conducted an memory enhancement experiment with three groups of people with average memories. The first group was not taught any technique at all. The second groups were asked to recall a series of numbers they hear and locations they see. The last group was asked to use the "loci" method of memory enhancement.
"Loci" method of memory enhancement was used by ancient Greeks and later by Romans for memorization. This was the reason why they were able to deliver very long speeches and lectures. It was like visual filing system wherein the person remembers things visually kept and arranged in his memory, according to Mind Expanding Techniques.
In this method, participants were asked to imagine a mental scene. Then, they must fill the mental scene with memorable items such as words that they were asked to remember. The participants can add new items to their list.
Results revealed that those who used the "loci" method of memory enhancement improved their memories markedly. Their ability to recall was almost as high as those of memory experts. Craig Stark, neuroscientist from University of California Irvine considered this as proof that the brain changes through use, according to Science News.
Participants to the experiment underwent brain scans as well. Results showed that the brain scans of those who used the "loci" method of memory recall resembled those of world memory masters.
While memorization was considered useless in real life, many students were able to pass some of their subjects by using the loci method of memory enhancement. New concepts need to be recalled. Without an excellent memory, it will be difficult to remember those concepts and apply them to real life situations.
