Category: Memory

Psychologists asked people to play a classic memory game, sometimes called Concentration or Pairs — half were allowed to take notes.

Making notes can actually reduce what you remember.

In a reverse of what many people expect, writing down information causes it to be flushed from memory.

We seem to intentionally forget what we write down.

Concentration

To prove it psychologists asked people to play a classic memory game, sometimes called Concentration, Pairs or just Memory.

A whole pack of cards is spread out across the table face-down.

Then each person turns over two cards, looking for a matching number (or picture) card.

You repeat this, turn by turn, and the winner is the person who gets the most pairs.

For the study, half were allowed to make notes about the locations of the cards, the other half not.

Here’s the trick, though: those allowed to make notes had them taken away before they were tested on the locations and identities of the cards.

The study’s authors write:

“One might have predicted that the note-taking group should show evidence of having better memory for the identity and location of the cards, as it could be argued that the form of studying that they were engaged in was more active and elaborate than the forms used by the study group.”

However, the study showed the exact reverse, as the authors explain:

“[the results showed] participants in the note-taking group remembered significantly less location information than did participants in the study group.

These results are suggestive that note-takers intentionally forgot the location information.”

The reason, then, is that the brain says to itself: “Well, I’ve written this information down, so there is no need to remember it!”

The authors write:

“Not unlike a person using a day planner to keep track of appointments, the results indicate that participants relied on their notes as an external store for the cards’ locations.”

So, be careful what you make a note of, especially if you think you might lose the notes!

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The study was published in the journal Memory & Cognition (Eskritt & Ma, 2014).

Higher consumption of these foods was linked to improved memory by the study.

Eating more fruits and vegetables protects against memory loss, research finds.

Fruits and vegetables also help reduce the risk of heart disease.

Higher consumption of protein-rich foods was also linked to improved memory by the study.

A previous study, though, found that it is vegetables, more so than fruits, that really help to preserve memory.

Green leafy vegetables showed the strongest association with a better memory in that study.

More than two servings of vegetables per day was linked to the slowest rates of cognitive decline in older people.

Vegetables contain high amounts of vitamin E, which lowers the risk of cognitive decline.

Green leafy vegetables are also a key component of the MIND diet, which is frequently linked to memory improvements and reducing the risk of dementia.

Two other foods in the Mediterranean diet that have been individually linked to improved memory are nuts and mushrooms.

The Western diet

Set against these beneficial foods, one of the main enemies of healthy brain aging is sugar.

Eating too much sugar is linked to brain shrinkage.

Similarly, red meats, organ meats, butter and high-fat dairy can increase Alzheimer’s risk.

Unfortunately, these last two sentences pretty much define the so-called ‘Western diet’.

In other words, what many eat in the modern Western world is bad for the memory and bad for the brain overall.

Brain benefits of cereals

The latest study included 139,096 older Australians who were tracked over almost a decade.

Along with the finding that fruits, vegetables and protein improved memory, the researchers also found that cereals may be protective for those over 80.

Dr Luna Xu, the study’s first author, said:

“Our present study implies that the healthy eating suggestions of cereals consumption in the prevention of memory loss and comorbid heart disease for older people may differ compared to other age groups.”

Memory loss is one of the most common early symptoms of dementia.

People suffering from dementia often have other conditions, said Dr Xu:

“The dietary intervention in chronic disease prevention and management, by taking into consideration the fact that older populations often simultaneously deal with multiple chronic conditions, is a real challenge.”

Diet is key to fighting these conditions, said Dr Xu:

“To achieve the best outcome for our ageing population, strong scientific evidence that supports effective dietary intervention in preventing and managing co-occurring chronic conditions, is essential.”

The study was published in the International Journal of Public Health (Xu et al., 2020).

How we breathe affects brain activity, memory and the emotions.

Breathing in through the nose boosts memory because inhaling stimulates the brain. Scientists have shown for the first time how the rhythm of breathing affects electrical activity in the brain. People were more likely to remember objects they had encountered while breathing in than breathing out, the study results showed. While breathing in, people were also quicker to identify a fearful face. Mouth breathing did not have the same effect — it had to be inhaling through the nose. Dr Christina Zelano, the lead author, said:

“One of the major findings in this study is that there is a dramatic difference in brain activity in the amygdala and hippocampus during inhalation compared with exhalation. When you breathe in, we discovered you are stimulating neurons in the olfactory cortex, amygdala and hippocampus, all across the limbic system.”

The scientists first came across this curious phenomenon when studying seven patients with epilepsy. Recordings of their brain activity showed it changed with breathing. For the study, 60 people were shown faces on a computer screen and later objects they had to remember. There was evidence of the same curious changes of brain activity with breathing. Rapid breathing may give us a cognitive advantage in some situations, said Dr Zelano:

“If you are in a panic state, your breathing rhythm becomes faster. As a result you’ll spend proportionally more time inhaling than when in a calm state. Thus, our body’s innate response to fear with faster breathing could have a positive impact on brain function and result in faster response times to dangerous stimuli in the environment.”

Dr Zelano said it also provided insight into how practices like meditation affect the brain:

“When you inhale, you are in a sense synchronizing brain oscillations across the limbic network.”

The study was published in the Journal of Neuroscience (Zelano et al., 2016).