To Commit Something to Memory, Build a ‘Memory Palace’

Quick Win

This strategy for improving memory leverages the power of your spatial memory.

Try This Today

• Make a list of what you’d like to remember (items from a shopping list, for example).
• Choose a building you know well. Take a detailed mental walk through the space. Visualize opening the door and strolling through each room. Then designate stopping points. For example, the foyer is “1,” the foyer table “2” and so on. The number of stopping points should match the number of items on your list.
• Now, take the first item on your list and visualize it at your first stopping point. If the first item is bananas, for example, picture a giant dancing banana in the foyer. Continue moving down your list, visually connecting each item to a specific area of the building.
• Finally, picture yourself walking through your memory palace again — but this time, see yourself picking up each item as you move from location to location. 

Why

Developed in ancient Greece and also known as the “method of loci,” the memory palace is a type of brain-training exercise called a mnemonic technique. "Mnemonic techniques, such as the method of loci, can powerfully boost memory," say the authors of a study on the topic published in Science Advances in 2021. A memory palace may work by engaging areas of the brain, such as the hippocampus, that are involved in spatial processing, the researchers explain. In their study of 50​​ adults between the ages of 19 and 35, one group was given six weeks of training on the method of loci technique, and another group received more general training designed to enhance working memory. A third “control group” received no training. Everyone was asked to complete tasks designed to test memory and recall and also received brain scans. After training, the group that was taught the method of loci performed significantly better on the memory tests compared to the control group and the working memory group, and their brain scans revealed activation patterns similar to those seen in memory athletes who compete in events like the World Memory Championships.