Prone to a messy palace? Hop on the bandwagon and use Mari Kondo's method to keep a tidy space.
Read moreDoes your relationship make your memory better? Let’s talk transactive memory.
Does your relationship make your memory stronger? Check out our Valentine's Day post about transactive memory.
Read moreMemorizing Drug Trade Names
Learning trade names (or brand names) of medications poses a classic memorization challenge for medical students transitioning from preclinical to clinical medicine. We learn all manner of generic drug names as first- and second-year students, only to find that doctors and patients throw around trade names far more frequently. Knowing these trade names can be invaluable. Here’s how Alex tackles it!
Read moreHit the Ground Running: A Quick Guide to Mastering the Memory Palace Before School Starts
We’ve received a few messages recently from people who are starting a professional school this year. While we love the memory palace technique, there can be a significant barrier to use, especially if you're about to enter a high-stakes learning environment. Here's an easy one-month ramp up to mastering the palace technique before you start a new learning adventure.
Read moreShould I Reserve Special Memory Palaces Like My Home?
Should special memory palaces (like your home) be reserved for more important topics? Alex shares his approach to palace allocation.
Read moreSilence Is Golden? White Noise, Coffee Shops, and the Learning Boost of Habituation
Do you prefer to work in silence? With music? The jury's still out on the benefits of white noise, but we've got our own preferences. Cathy shares her thoughts from a coffee shop.
Read moreDrawing Pictures: A Memory Technique That Works?
Alex discusses a recent New York Times article highlighting research on drawing pictures as a memory aid. Recent studies have uncovered that the technique can be surprisingly powerful. But why does it work? And can drawing pictures be sustainably implemented to improve learning?
Read moreThe Body Palace: Memorizing the Review of Systems
A key tool in the physician’s arsenal is the review of systems, or ROS—a run-through of pertinent symptoms while taking a patient history. To the novice clinical student, it can feel overwhelming. Medical students often first learn the ROS as Alex did—as a giant, inscrutable list of symptoms. Here’s how he uses a memory technique to tackle it painlessly.
Read moreNew Year's Resolutions for a Better Memory
Alex and I just got back from the beach with our families. Now that I’m back at my desk, I’m starting to look ahead at the new year, including writing resolutions. While I prefer to start self-improvement whenever inspirations strikes—even on a random day like December 28—I admit that a fresh “January 1” startline can be extra motivating. Here are three memory-related resolutions I’m considering.
Read moreIt's in the Genes: How to Memorize Tricky Number/Letter Associations
Our newest question comes from a reader who’s a medical student in Italy: “I use a lot the memory palace for my studies but I was wondering if you can help me to memorise in an easy way the genes, because they are made with letters and numbers for example: BRCA1, FGFR1, HLA, Cn3D.... something like this! I hope this can be helpful for all the other medical students.”
Read moreWalking on Sunshine
Rain or shine, we're out here walking our dog—turns out that helps with memory! A recent NY Times article reports that daily walks, even as short as 10 minutes, can give your memory a boost. Read the article, and Cathy's musings, here.
Read moreHow Should Medical Students Use Memory Techniques in the Clinical Setting? [Video]
Ever wondered how best to apply memory techniques in the clinical setting? Should I use memory palaces for patient interviews? For presentations? How might practicing physicians make use of memory techniques? In the video below, we give an overview of how we think memory techniques are best applied in clinical practice.
Read moreSurface Learning Still Matters
By discouraging memorization and drilling, we’ve been implicitly taught that conceptual understanding of a topic is equivalent to learning. A student who memorizes is, therefore, a subpar learner. But without internalization of surface concepts—acquired through surface techniques such as memorization and drilling—deeper ones will continue to evade the learner.
Read moreHIIT Study Session: Maximize Your Time
We’re big fans of high-intensity interval training or HIIT. Effortful retrieval is actually a well-studied learning technique that can help you "HIIT" your studying.
Read moreMemory Tips for Medical Students (Live Seminar) [Video]
A short seminar we recently gave to the first year class at our medical school. It covers some science-backed tips we think every learner should know.
Read moreHow to Memorize the Entire Facial Nerve Using a Memory Palace [Video]
In this 20-minute video, Alex walks through how to memorize the entire facial nerve (cranial nerve VII) using a memory palace. The facial nerve is a key player in neuroanatomy and pops up during gross anatomy in medical school.
Read moreHow to Memorize the Drugs that Cause Pancreatitis in 60 Seconds (and Remember Them a Week Later) [Video]
We collaborated with medical learning powerhouses Osmosis and Sketchy Medical to create this intro video on memory palaces. We demonstrate the technique with a list of drugs that cause pancreatitis. Here's how to make those essential drug groups really stick. (7:05)
Read moreFighting Palace Fatigue with Interleaved Practice
Interleaved practice is great for keeping things interesting and making sure you can do a quick mental jump to the relevant locus. Research has shown that training this way can improve learners' problem solving abilities.
Read moreHow to Use Memory Palaces to Learn Chinese: Handling Characters & Homonyms
I've been focusing on spoken Chinese, but I've gotten some questions about character memorization. Here's how I'd approach characters with the help of memory palaces.
Read moreWhy I Never Erase Old Memory Palaces
You might consider making an active effort to erase "ghost images"--images on loci you want to reuse. I never actively clean palaces, whether for memory sports or learning projects. Here's why.
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