[Zgarbas]

Right, so I noticed that my long-term memory(which was really poor to begin with) is declining. This is...not good.

I have really good short-term memory. Not in a "memorize word-by-word" way (I am ridiculously poor at that), but in a "read something once and I can already tell you all the basic things about it" kind of way. But when it comes to long-term, or even a term of a few months, I'm pretty poor at it. If you'd ask me to tell you the basic plot lines of all the books I've read this year I'd probably couldn't even remember all the titles. Character names escape me as soon as I'm done with it. I can't remember anything about movies I saw more than a year ago. And, worst of all, I can't remember anything that I've studied.

Say I spent a few months in spring memorizing tankas. I'd gotten to about 30, most of them memorized without any issues. I stopped practicing and I struggle to recall even one now. Not just the whole tanka, I've already forgotten the first lines (which should be too basic to forget). Over the years I've read numerous things on history, and when I needed them for school I could basically recite all the events of a period (minus years since they never stick) without much difficulty. Not to mention all the details on literary currents, their impact, and what not. After a few months, nothing stays. I can't even recall all the plots that I wrote about in my thesis 2 months ago. Even some of the titles escape me. Not to mention authors.

This is particularly problematic since I'm pursuing an academic career, where being able to recite fancy quotes, ideologies and terms is pretty important. But I forget everything about them easily, and I can't spend my life cramming every day so as to remember.

Is there any way to actually improve your long-term memory?

There's something I would like to post about improving memory.

I saw a post about https://www.pmemory.com/ here before, I'm at lesson 9(from 59) and I can tell that it does work, read the manual, do a few first exercises in and you can find it out yourself. I would advise anyone to try it (you dont have to pay to try something, internet is a big place...). At first I had to remember a chain of 25 words, it took me 6-7 times to get it done, with 4/25 correct at the first try. Now, when Im only at lesson 9, I could remember 33/40 at the first try, I did memorize 50 states of USA a few days ago and I still remember them. It's hard, it requires work, but I would say it's around the same ammount of work you had to do while going through RTK (btw, from it alone you should know, how being able to memorize can speed things up). I was at 4500/6000 in core6k deck, I've stopped doing it altogether, until I get done with pmemory and actually start memorizing things, not accidentally, but intentionally with a total control of it. The other effects of doing this course are what I wanted for a long time after having depression and breakdowns - being able to concentrate, when I'm doing the exercises from pmemory, even when I hear someone talking, his words just flow by and doesn't mean anything to me. While reviewing in anki, that alone would piss me after a while, it's like I'm in a different world now. I'm getting back my ability to act like a human being, not like just an animal and I feel confident like never before, not blaming everyone around me anymore.

Memorization is usually superficial. The fact itself does not matter, what matters is its application and the impression left by the acquired information.

Create thorough associations and/or deeply understand what you've learned. Apply it to real-life applications to make the memory more concrete. E.g. make more associations by using it in different contexts

I know a bit about memory due to competing in pub quizzes and being selected for UK game shows. An academic friend of mine once said my tremendous memory hid the fact I was an idiot, and I feel there is a great deal of truth in this. I would recommend trying several mnemonic techniques to see what works best for you. I would also recommend using a dictaphone.

I would reccomend reading as many books on the subject as possible.

Probably the best piece of advice I can give you is to practise memory days for 10 minutes a day as opposed to an hour once a week. I think daily practise is a good way of improving your memory.

I think long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids are good for the memory and that diet is quite important.

If you're forgetting something that you haven't reviewed for months or years, it's less likely because your memory is failing and more likely because you haven't reviewed for months or years. After a few odd years of not reviewing, even someone who aced math in high school will probably forget fundamental concepts like the quadratic equation or alegebraic rules of equivalency.

do you really hvae to remember that stuff? isn't that what google is for? obviously you forgot it because there's more important stuff to remember. like for example the tanka... you do not get in contact with it outside your memorization sessions right? you don't hear it or see it or anything outside of the memorization seession.. that's why. it's not useful... for you to survive in the world so your brain just throws it away

the only advice i can think of is stop using your smartphone lol... im' sure this is really killing people's short-term/long-term memory since google's right there..

[Zgarbas]

Also, one more thing that I tend to be forgetful about is people. And I don't mean "that one guy I met in a bar 10 years ago" so much as "people that I used to hang out on a regular basis for years up to a few years before". Always fun to realize that you recall hanging out with someone but have no idea what their name is or how they look like.

@vileru but you can't review everything you've ever learned, can you?

@Joshua I forget mnemonics quicker than anything else . One thing I noticed about RTK, for example, was that I would forget the stories really quickly, whereas the images stuck with me far better. It might be because I've never used them much (one trick I do use when trying to memorize is tapping a beat to a string of words, which does stick quite well). How do you make mnemonics when reading a book, anyway?

Know any good memory tests? I signed up on Lumosity but it seems to test attention span and short-term memory (like most brain games) more than anything.

tapping a beat to a string of words IS a mnemonic in that it helps your memory. A mnemonic doesn't have to be a game. I have coached several people to pass exams, often with snake oil talk type success, and I think catering to individuals is the main thing. Have you tried a metronome?

I actually recommend Tony Buzan's books on memory.

[Zgarbas]

I am aware of that. It helps for really short-term cramming, but I forget it within days (if not hours ), way before I forget what i was memorizing. Passing exams isn't my problem, actually retaining something is.

ask yourself this question. why would you remember all that crap if that many months or days or whatever passed? maybe it's just common sense and you just let it be. there are those people that remember every day of their life and they can describe it in detail. i'm sure there's a downside to that like not being forget horrible memories.... you should just accept yourself lolz.

Oh Zgarbas, I feel your pain.

Probably the problem is not in recalling information from memory, but in imprinting it on memory to start. Do you have problems following oral speeches? Like, a series of speeches just finished and you have a hard time summarizing what were them about?

What about when you're reading on internet forums like this or social networks? Do you tend to read the content of posts but sometimes have a hard time tracking who said what?

Zgarbas Wrote:Also, one more thing that I tend to be forgetful about is people. And I don't mean "that one guy I met in a bar 10 years ago" so much as "people that I used to hang out on a regular basis for years up to a few years before". Always fun to realize that you recall hanging out with someone but have no idea what their name is or how they look like.

They say that "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." Probably some people's minds are just too great to retain petty details, as names or faces.

There are several mnemonic devices that can work for remembering names and faces too. For example, you can associate people's name with famous people that have the same name, you can make word plays with their names or use images. For example, if you know a guy named Mike, you can imagine his head as a big microphone.

Zgarbas Wrote:(one trick I do use when trying to memorize is tapping a beat to a string of words, which does stick quite well)

Zgarbas Wrote:I am aware of that. It helps for really short-term cramming, but I forget it within days (if not hours ), way before I forget what i was memorizing. Passing exams isn't my problem, actually retaining something is.

Probably you're just more a "rhythm" person than a "verbal" person. Do you remember song's rhythm better than lyrics?

If so, probably you could use that to your advantage. For example, tapping specific songs beats to the words you're trying to memorize. It would be like the memory palace, or rather a "memory concert".

If you find anything that helps you with your problem, please don't forget to share it here.

From what I remember of my research on the subject, sleep is extremely important to long term memory. If you can not achieve sufficient REM stage sleep, your long term memory will decline quite quickly. After being a near hermit (home protector) for around four years, I don't understand how so many people can get by on five or six hours of sleep.
Before I go on too long of a tangent, the point is to make sure you're well rested. You can not calculate the amount of rest you need based on averages, since some people require more or less sleep, for example, I require at least eight hours to be fully functional the next day, some people need only six or so. Test this yourself when you have a day off by sleeping until you wake up naturally. No alarms.

Also, part of your problem might simply be a lack of interest. I can't remember anything that I don't find interesting in some way, which is why I don't watch much television.

Another thing I've noticed and read some about is compartmentalizing data. I notice this especially with books; I can't recall much of anything while I'm not reading it, because all of that information is stored in the context of itself. Even after a couple years of wait between books, it only takes me a couple pages at the most to remember everything about the previous books. Of course, there's plenty of help from the author, but it also happens when rereading a book.

Healthy life habits are a must to retain your mental faculties throughout life, but I might suggest supplementing certain minerals that are lacking in vegetables grown in commercial farms and greenhouses, where the only things available to the plants are what's given to them.
(I'm not a licensed doctor or pharmacologist, so do your own research and don't take my word on it)
Try researching supplements such as low doses of lithium-aspartate taken daily to maintain brain health over the years while possibly improving mood, lowering fatigue, and improving memory (you know, since it's simply a lower dose of the stuff they give to bipolar patients, like myself).
Also research huperzine A for short-term and possibly long-term memory improvement. Studies show no sign of toxicity in fifty times the recommended dose, though anyone interested should read up on the side-effects, which aren't very common, from my research, so may or may not be real. Studies have also shown effectiveness in both healthy young people as well as those with various forms of dementia. It takes approximately six hours to metabolize, so beware of that. Huperzine A acts as an inhibitor to the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. And high levels of acetylcholine during sleep may actually hinder the formation of long-term memories, since tests have shown acetylcholine levels drop quite a bit during certain stages of sleep, including REM sleep.
Don't take it over long periods of time as it may cause desensitizing of certain chemical receptors. It's nothing irreversible, but it's not something I'd recommend getting to after becoming dependent on melatonin once.

Do your own research if you're interested. I didn't use SWIM simply because I trust the visitors of this forum to not to take strange pills without knowing what they do (it also sounds stupid and suggests I'm talking about a legal gr[e/a]y zone, like the places where I originally learned of some of these things).

Apologies for the long post, but I've done quite a bit of research on memory, so I get excited while talking or writing about it.

Echoing what Aspiring said, understanding concepts and relationships between them is the most important thing really. Being able to recall peripheral data accurately is unnecessary as long as you remember where to find it when you need it.

Hardly anyone absorbs information in the long term from superficial reading of texts. Academic experience comes from years of reading, rereading and consolidating various accounts of topics in one's mind, plus of course practice/independent research.

[Zgarbas]

Sebastian Wrote:Oh Zgarbas, I feel your pain.

Probably the problem is not in recalling information from memory, but in imprinting it on memory to start. Do you have problems following oral speeches? Like, a series of speeches just finished and you have a hard time summarizing what were them about?

Yes! Attending lectures does absolutely nothing for me usually, unless the teacher has a quirky voice. I also have a really slight hearing problem, so that doesn't help (my hearing is perfect aside from a single pitch... which coincidentally a lot of people seem to use when they talk). Have to watch everything with subtitles, and I can barely pay attention to audio-only resources; remembering something from them is pretty hard.

Quote:What about when you're reading on internet forums like this or social networks? Do you tend to read the content of posts but sometimes have a hard time tracking who said what?

Yeah, but that's mostly since I don't often read the usernames unless the post had something that got my attention ^^'. If the user posts commonly enough I recognize their posts without having to look at the name and remember all sorts of useless details, though.

Quote:They say that "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." Probably some people's minds are just too great to retain petty details, as names or faces.

That's such a nice way of putting it ^^.

Quote:There are several mnemonic devices that can work for remembering names and faces too. For example, you can associate people's name with famous people that have the same name, you can make word plays with their names or use images. For example, if you know a guy named Mike, you can imagine his head as a big microphone.

I used to do that o.O. Sort of. When I was more at peace with my poor memory when it comes to people, I'd just give everyone nicknames. Still remember most of the people whom I nicknamed. Decided it was rude at one point and stopped, though.

Quote:Probably you're just more a "rhythm" person than a "verbal" person. Do you remember song's rhythm better than lyrics?

Both. Musical things stick to me pretty well. I usually have to read lyrics to actually hear them, though.

@sholum. I sleep a lot, about 9hours per night, and rarely use alarms (aside from my cats). And I forget things which I find interesting as well, otherwise I wouldn't have spent precious time reading about them. I generally stay away from pills as I have this weird immune system that makes me immune to them after a while (I'm already immune to most common antibiotics and painkillers), but I might look that up.

Quote:Hardly anyone absorbs information in the long term from superficial reading of texts. Academic experience comes from years of reading, rereading and consolidating various accounts of topics in one's mind, plus of course practice/independent research.

I obviously don't expect to remember something I read about once in a newspaper, but I forget information which I did learn and re-learn over the years. I think the first time I heard about the fall of the Roman Empire was in primary school, add to that all the references about it in books, movies or classes + random conversations, and the fact that I've read about it multiple times. Yet, for the life of me I can't pinpoint what century it was or remember any of the details aside from the fact that some barbarians and poor leadership were involved (to give a really common example).

Do grad school students remember everything they were taught in college all the time?

http://www.mydogear.com/articles/51e2098...40a8080bc8

Zgarbas Wrote:I obviously don't expect to remember something I read about once in a newspaper, but I forget information which I did learn and re-learn over the years. I think the first time I heard about the fall of the Roman Empire was in primary school, add to that all the references about it in books, movies or classes + random conversations, and the fact that I've read about it multiple times. Yet, for the life of me I can't pinpoint what century it was or remember any of the details aside from the fact that some barbarians and poor leadership were involved (to give a really common example).

If you haven't studied it in a long time then that's completely natural though.

^That sound pretty fair, to be honest. For instance, I have a basic knowledge of England's colonial involvement with Australia (where I live) have over the years have ran into countless references of the First Fleet, etc. but ask me dates or vital figures and I'm stumped. Due to changing high schools many times, I managed to miss the modern history lessons specifically about Australian early and modern history; so I've never really undergone a rigorous study of specifics.

My (very limited) understand of how the brain sorts all this data is that since I haven't really had a strong emotional relevance to dates and the like- let alone specifics of something I haven't really studied in detail- that a lot of these things are filtered through as less important. Everyone works slightly different but I roughly believe that unless there is some constancy in the involved study of certain types of data (in your case: dates and specific events time-frame involving the Romans and Asterix & Obelix) then there is very little impetus for these artifacts to become well formed blogs of neurological importance.

The brain is rather plastic and due to this flexibility, certain data preferences must be adapted for use, or else they will become no longer used data packets slowly being weeded out of the user registry during sleep.

mmhorii Wrote:Do grad school students remember everything they were taught in college all the time?

http://www.mydogear.com/articles/51e2098...40a8080bc8

A very interesting read, thanks for sharing.