Scanning the brains of 23 “world memory champions”, neuroscientists try to discover what makes these super minds work. This benefits the average person, in that these findings will be used to supercharge their memories, improving life for others.

An online scientific journal, Neuron, published this study.

Where it all started

Using structural MRI scans, researchers in the Netherlands looked at the brain of those with exceptional memories. The size of the brains was no different but the connectivity was different. In fact, 25 connections were different than in the brains of regular people.

Each of the participants with the super memory banks said that they participated in special memory training. With scientists want to know if just anyone can do these same exercises and improve their memories.

And then they tested this theory.

With 51 participants with regular memory skills, scientists used a program called “loci training”. This memory training technique comes from the Greeks and Romans. Loci means “places” or premises which you can use to remember certain words by remembering places.

Training took 30-40 minutes a day for 40 days. Before the teaching, participants could remember a little over 20 words and afterwards an average of 65 words.

Another MRI performed to see if connectivity had changed in the average person’s memory. Researchers were pleased to see that this was true.

Two areas showed a marked increase in connectivity-the medial prefrontal cortex and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These areas govern strategy and already learned information. This is no surprise, and with continued training, other regions may increase as well.

You can try out the method of loci training used in the study for yourself on MemoCamp.com.

Credits: iflscience.com