My Blog

Here you'll find my comments and links to the latest memory science from the web. Plus, additions to Memory-Improvement-Tips.com!

Check back often to stay up-to-date on memory improvement.

May 27, 2008, Eat Black Beans for Brain Power

A health article in today's Yahoo! News points out that black beans are an especially powerful brain food:

"All beans are good for your heart, but none can boost your brain power like black beans.

That’s because they’re full of anthocyanins, antioxidant compounds that have been shown to improve brain function. A daily half-cup serving provides 8 grams of protein and 7.5 grams of fiber, and is low in calories and free of saturated fat.

SUBSTITUTES: Peas, lentils, and pinto, kidney, fava, and lima beans. FIT IT IN: Wrap black beans in a breakfast burrito; use both black beans and kidney beans in your chili; puree 1 cup black beans with 2 Tbsp olive oil and roasted garlic for a healthy dip; add favas, limas, or peas to pasta dishes."

So try and work black beans into at least one meal a day to help keep your brain working at its best.

May 21, 2008, Hexxagon brain game

Hexxagon is a challenging puzzle game that builds concentration and strategy ability. Play free now!

May 21, 2008, Alphabet Jungle brain game

The Alphabet Jungle game helps improve mental processing speed and verbal fluency. Play free now!

May 20, 2008, Glitter Memory game

The Glitter Memory game helps improve your short-term memory. Plus it has cool sound effects. Play free now!

May 16, 2008, Polygon Puzzle

Polygon Puzzle is a challenging brain game that helps build attention and spatial memory. Play now free!

May 15, 2008, Lightning Librarian memory game

Lightning Librarian is a fun and fast-paced game that trains your short-term memory. Play free now!

May 14, 2008, Scooby Doo - The Creepy Castle game

Guide Scooby through a series of interactive action and logic-based puzzles. Play now for free!

May 2, 2008, Memory Training Increases Intelligence (!)

A new study shows that a certain type of memory training actually makes you smarter!

The study, published March 18, 2008 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concludes that regularly training "working memory" - the kind of memory used to remember telephone numbers - can actually increase fluid intelligence beyond what you are born with genetically.

Fluid intelligence is the kind you use to solve problems when presented with insufficient information or new situations. This type of intelligence is highly correlated with economic and professional success.

To learn more, check out the article Memory Training Shown to Turn Up Brainpower in today's New York Times. To read an abstract of the actual research study, check out Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory.

The Best Part: You can start training your working memory right now, scientifically, for free! Just sign up for the Lumosity brain training service. Lumosity is the brain training system that I personally use every day. The cost is $6.60 per month, but you can try it free for two weeks to see whether it fits your lifestyle.

Honestly, I think you're crazy not to at least try Lumosity. Who doesn't want to be more intelligent and have a better memory?!

My prediction: One day (in a generation or two, maybe), daily training sessions with services like Lumosity will be required in the schools of countries that want to give their citizens a competitive intellectual advantage.

Apr 9, 2008, Mass Attack

Mass Attack is a challenging brain game where you try and balance the two masses on different sides of a scale. It's harder than it looks! Play free now.

Apr 8, 2008, Cribbage

Cribbage is a great card game for building your strategy ability and other brain skills. Play now free!

Apr 7, 2008, Teen Binge Drinking Destroys Memory

If you are a teenager or the parent of one, beware! A new study shows that teen binge drinking can permanently destroy memory cells.

It was already known that binge drinking of alcohol can wipe out memories of past events (which is bad enough!). But now it appears that binge drinking also destroys "prospective memory". This is the kind of memory you use to remember future tasks, such as the items on your to-do list.

Keep this in mind the next time you decide to go out and "party". The effects can stay with you for a lifetime.

Click here for the full article.

Mar 9, 2008, Santos Wins Best Memory in U.S.

Yesterday, Chester Santos of San Francisco won the title of "Best Memory in the U.S." He clinched the trophy by correctly recally the exact order of a deck of 52 shuffled cards after looking at them for only five minutes.

Here's the full article: Software engineer is top U.S. mental athlete.

So what's his secret? Santos uses mental images to remember each card. Plus, he practices his technique a few hours each night.

To see this technique in action, check out this excellent YouTube video: World memory champion Andi Bell's card technique. In this video, memory expert Andi Bell memorizes the order of 10 shuffled decks in 20 minutes. That's 520 cards. Wow!

The important thing to realize is that anyone - including YOU - can use techniques like this to build a better memory.

As Tony Dottino, founder of the U.S. Memory Championships, says, "People are deathly afraid of losing their memories, but if you practice and use the right techniques, you can develop your memory at any age."

So if you feel your memory is not as strong as it should be, do something about it!

Feb 28, 2008, New Way to Memorize the 11 Planets

In case you haven't heard, astronomers have added a couple of "dwarf planets" to the solar system. Plus, Pluto got a demotion. So now there are 11 planets instead of 9. This means school children everywhere (along with the rest of us) need a new way to memorize the names of the planets.

As a child, you may have learned a mnemonic like "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas" (the first letter of each word reminding you of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto). Sorry to say, that one and others like it don't work anymore.

Fortunately, a little girl in Great Falls, Montana named Maryn Smith has come up with one we call all use now:

My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants

This new mnemonic will help us remember that the new order of the solar system is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres (dwarf planet), Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto (now a dwarf planet), and Eris (dwarf planet).

Good to know! Click the link below for more about Maryn's gift to us.

Jan 30, 2008, Memorize Like a Monk

Just by coincidence, I recently came across an intriguing memory technique used by Tibetan monks.

Apparently, monks in the lamaseries of Tibet are required to memorized a lot of scripture and other information as part of their training. In his book, The Third Eye, T. Lobsang Rampa describes the memory technique they were taught to use:

A method of memory training had been evolved throughout the centuries. We imagined that we were in a room lined with thousands and thousands of drawers.

Each drawer was clearly labelled, and the writing on all the labels could be read with ease from where we stood. Every fact we were told had to be classified, and we were instructed to imagine that we opened the appropriate drawer and put the fact inside.

We had to visualize it very clearly as we did it, visualize the 'fact' and the exact location of the 'drawer'. With a little practice it was amazingly easy to - in imagination - enter the room, open the correct drawer, and extract the fact required as well as all related facts.

I guess you could call this the "Memory Drawer" technique. Sounds like a powerful method!

Anyone who needs to memorize a lot of facts (students, etc.) might want to give this a try.

Jan 7, 2008, Naps May Boost Memory

New research indicates that a 90-minute power nap during the day can enhance long-term memory.

A recent study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience showed that when one group was allowed to take a 90-minute nap during the afternoon, the participant's memories were greatly improved compared to the group that did not take a nap.

Ah, if I only had time for a daily siesta!

Many employers have not bought in to the power nap idea. My old company in Houston laughed at a co-worker of mine who suggested the idea a few years ago.

However, some companies do recognize the benefits of the daily nap, including Nike.

Who knows, maybe the nap will catch on. If your schedule allows a daily nap, try it for a week or two and let me know whether your memory has improved.

Dec 30, 2007, Face Memory Game

Dec 29, 2007, Tech Depot Search box test