Memory tests and tricks that can help boost your brain power
December 9th 2009 23:16
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While you're awake, your brain generates 25 watts of power. That's enough to illuminate a light bulb.
But how bright is your bulb? How good is your memory?
One way to test your memory is the object game: put a group of about 20 objects on a tray, take a good look, then cover them up. Write down as many objects as you can remember. About seven is considered good.
Dr. Eric Chudler says a trick is "chaining" the objects together.
"The more bizarre image that you can come up with, the easier it will be for you to remember," says Dr. Chudler, research associate professor at the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Let's say there was a crab, a ring, and a pencil in your group of items. Imagine the crab with a ring on its leg. Then, the crab writing with a pencil.
"So, now we have ring. We have crab. We have pencil. I see the crab writing c-r-a-b," says Dr. Chudler.
Another test is the tennis ball game. Place the ball a few feet away. Then, close your eyes and try to go there.
"And that's testing memory for place and space," says Dr. Chudler.
To remember names and faces, picture the first letter of the person's name on one of their features.
"Whenever I see that face, I can see the letter K on Kevin's glasses," explains Dr. Chudler
Also, use your senses. Think about the smells that were around when you saw something.
Try to chunk info together. Instead of remembering the number 2,054, think of it as 20-54. And tie the information to something important to you.
Most of all, keep challenging yourself. It won't be long before you've aced these tests.
Here's another test for your memory. Can you remember the first fact at the top of this article without scrolling up?
See if you can answer it now: how many watts of power does your brain use while you're awake?
Now look up and see if you got it right. Did you pass this memory test?
RESEARCH SUMMARY
TOPIC: TEST YOUR MEMORY:
FUN FACTS ABOUT THE BRAIN:
-The adult human brain weighs about three pounds.
-The adult human brain is about 2 percent of one's total body weight.
-The average human brain is 140 mm wide and 167 mm long.
- The human brain has about 100 billion neurons.
- Neurons multiply at a rate of 250,000 neurons per minute during early pregnancy.
-Unconsciousness will occur eight to 10 seconds after loss of blood supply to the brain.
(Source: University of Washington)
MEMORY TRICKS: Eric H. Chudler, Ph.D., from the University of Washington in
Seattle, says you can sharpen your memory with a little practice. "Memory is not a fixed thing," Chudler told Ivanhoe. "It can be improved over time."
Chaining: Chudler recommends trying the "chaining" method when trying to remember certain objects. The idea is to make a mental picture of the items for better recall. "The more bizarre the image that you can come up with, the easier it will be for you to remember," Chudler explained to Ivanhoe. For example, if you are trying to remember the words "book," "pencil," "apple," and "car," you might want to visualize a book with a pencil going through it. You can also picture that pencil sticking through the apple. Then, you can picture the pencil sticking through the book and the apple sitting in a car as it's driving down the street.
Chunking: Another "trick" to remember a list of numbers is to "chunk" them together. This means combining them. For example, if you are trying to remember the three numbers 1, 5 and 6, try to visualize them as "156." Dr. Chudler says it's easier to remember one chunk than three separate numbers.
Sleep: Dr. Chudler says sleep is also very important for a good memory. "Sleep is very, very important to consolidate information that we learned the day before," he explained.
Catchy phrases: Dr. Chudler says you can help yourself remember lists of items by coming up with catchy phrases. One popular "trick" for remembering the planets in order is to use a phrase that has each planet's first letter in it. "My Very Excellent Mom Just Served Us Nine
Pizzas" is the phrase that helps some. Each first letter represents the first letter of a planet. So, the "m" in "my" stands for Mercury, "V" stands for Venus, and so on.
From: Reporter: Maureen McFadden
Email Address: maureen.mcfadden@wndu.com
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