4 Small Habits Experts Say Can Quietly Protect Your Brain From Dementia As You Age
Cottonbro | UnsplashIf you read a lot but seem to forget most of the information you so eagerly soak up, this is for you. I’d like to give you three things today: A wake-up call, an explanation of why it’s necessary and how it’ll help you remember better, and four genius memory hacks to remember everything.
Don’t just learn for the sake of learning. Be a practitioner. Use the information you consume. It’s only as good as what you do with it. That’s what matters. Ironically, learning things just in time when you need them will also help you remember them better and protect your brain from dementia as you age. Why? There are two types of memories:
- Memories you make a conscious effort to form.
- Memories you form unconsciously through experience.
The first type of memory is stored in your hippocampus. It’s what happens when your new neighbor, John, introduces himself to you and you go: “John, John, John, John, John…” in your head, over and over again, to not forget it.
The second type of memory is stored in your neocortex. When you go to Disneyland with your grandparents for the first time, and get ice cream, it falls on the floor, and the nice lady behind the counter gives you a new scoop, this experience ends up there. Memories stored here are much stronger because each part of your memory is stored in a different section.
Here are 4 small habits experts say can quietly protect your brain from dementia as you age:
Small habit #1: Spacing
Mumbling John’s name over and over again, the first time you hear it won’t help you remember. It’ll make your brain bored. Research shows your brain needs breaks to remember things.
Sending yourself a reminder with John’s name two days after you heard it the first time will be much more efficient. This is called the spacing effect.
Small habit #2: Taking breaks
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Your brain tends to remind you of things you’ve left unfinished. This is called the Zeigarnik effect. In learning, this means while you’re taking a break after a 4-hour hardcore math session, your subconscious keeps processing the last problem you got stuck on, and the solution might come to you in the shower the next morning.
So there’s a double benefit to taking breaks: the right input frequency will let the memory sink in deeper, and your brain automatically reminds you of the information at the right time.
Small habit #3: Chunking
1117200112241999 is tough to remember.
But two consecutive dates aren’t: 11/17/2001 and 12/24/1999. Especially if I put them into context: my friend’s birthday and Christmas 1999. Chunk up large pieces of information into smaller bits and put them into context, and they’ll be much easier to recall.
According to memory researcher Monica Thieu, a postdoctoral fellow at Emory University, breaking information into smaller pieces and attaching personal context makes it far easier for the brain to hold onto. She explains that our brains naturally remember things better when they have meaning. The more you connect new information to something you already care about, the stickier it becomes.
Small habit #4: Unlocking your memory palace
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While experiences are the most powerful way to remember, you can also create them in your head to observe a somewhat similar effect. Walk along a route you know well in your mind and place objects or things you want to remember along the way.
Neuroscientist Lisa Genova explained that our brains are wired to retain information that is "meaningful, emotional, surprising, or new," which is exactly why anchoring facts to a familiar place you can mentally walk through works so well. For example, imagine taking a walk through your house and putting your grocery list items in different places.
The onions go in your sock drawer, bread on the kitchen table, and lemons in the closet. Then, once you’re at the grocery store, all you have to do is take your mental walk again and pick up all the items as you go along.
Niklas Göke is a bestselling author and lifestyle, productivity, relationship, mindset, and habit-breaking coach. He's the founder and CEO of Four Minute Books, a collection of over 1,000 free book summaries teaching readers 3 valuable lessons in just 4 minutes each.
