“To remember well, go through 3 steps”… What is this technique from a brain doctor with 40 years of experience?

“To remember well, go through 3 steps”… What is this technique from a brain doctor with 40 years of experience?

Experiencing memory loss and becoming increasingly forgetful is a natural part of aging. Is there any way to preserve your memory?

Professor Gary Small of Hackensack College of Medicine, who has been studying the brain for over 40 years, said in an interview with the American weekend news magazine 'Parade' that "people have much more control over memory maintenance and brain health than they think" and introduced a simple three-step technique for maintaining memory.

 

“The various ways to compensate for age-related memory decline can be summed up in three words: see, capture, and connect,” he said.

 

"Seeing" means focusing attention. "The biggest reason people forget is because they're distracted and don't learn the information in the first place," he explained.

"Taking a snapshot" means keeping it in your head like a photograph. "Snap a mental snapshot of what you want to remember later," he said. "This allows us to tap into our brain's natural ability to remember visual information."

 

The final step, "connecting," involves linking mental snapshots together to create personal meaning. "If you can create something meaningful, it will be memorable," he said.

 

The three-step habit of strengthening your memory sounds great, simple, and even appealing in theory. However, applying it to daily life can be challenging. Professor Small provided specific examples, focusing on situations where people say they find memory impairment most frustrating.

 

“It’s easy to apply this technique to common memory problems, like remembering names or faces,” he said. “If you have trouble remembering the names of people you’ve met before, this three-step technique can help.”

 

He said, "If you meet Lisa and she has the Mona Lisa smile, keep that image in your mind. Then, the next time you see her, you will call her by her name."