When we experience something, there’s a variety of different factors which determine how well we’ll remember it—and how we’ll feel about it later on. Science has tasked itself with exploring the things which make our memory tick. Here are ten ways you can manipulate this fundamental part of your mind:

Scientists have found that memories associated with sound can be reinforced by playing those sounds softly to people while they sleep. In one study, participants played a Guitar Hero-like game. They learned two tunes, then had a nap. While they were in deep sleep, one of the tunes played softly in their ears. And when the participants awoke, the tune that they’d heard while sleeping was the one they were better at playing from memory.

In a similar study by the same researchers, participants were asked to remember random locations of images on a screen, each of which was associated with a sound. When one particular sound was played to them during sleep, they were more likely to remember the original location of the matching object.

The scientists involved believe that we use our sleep to process and consolidate our memories. By associating a memory with a sound, we encourage our brain to absorb this particular memory while we’re asleep, rather than losing it among the countless other minor events from the day.

The jury’s out on what practical use this might have—but it at least suggests that we may be able to influence what we remember, with the help of a carefully chosen sound track.

As we get older, we tend to become more forgetful. Scientists have found that a distraction related to what you want to remember can be extremely helpful for older people. They conducted an experiment in which they asked two groups of people—one of them aged seventeen to twenty-seven, and the other aged sixty to seventy-eight—to study and recall a list of words. They sprung a surprise second test on each group after an unrelated picture exercise.

During the dummy picture exercise, some people in each group were exposed to background reminders of some of the words from the first test. There was a thirty percent memory improvement in those who had been prey to these —but remarkably, only among the older group. There was no difference at all in the younger group. This suggests that keeping ourselves surrounded by reminders—even if we don’t take them in consciously—can help with recall in old age.

Research by psychologist Gerd Thomas Waldhauser has shown that humans can train themselves to deliberately forget information. Using EEG scans, he has shown that the same part of the brain we would use to restrain a motor impulse—such as to stop ourselves from catching an object—is also activated when people suppress a memory. His studies show that we can learn how to control this natural suppression—allowing us, theoretically, to forget whatever we want to forget.

Waldhauser is keen to point out, however, that only neutral memories have so far been forgotten in this way. But he speculates that—were the technique to be developed further—it may be possible to forget even our worst memories. This would be immensely helpful to trauma victims, and those with chronic mental health issues such as depression.

As if we needed another reason to eat healthy food, science has found one. It turns out that a diet high in fructose or saturated fat can hamper our ability to learn and retain information. A poor diet can reduce the levels of a chemical known as DHA in your brain; and it just so happens that DHA is very important in forming memories.

High levels of saturated fat have also been linked to brain inflammation, which can cause memory loss. Increasing your intake of Omega 3 seems to be one of the best ways to counteract that, since it replenishes DHA—but reducing the amount of fatty foods in your diet will benefit the rest of your organs as well.

It might not be necessary to cut out all sweets just yet, however; some research has suggested that chocolate may be good for your brain, and your ability to remember things.

Learning a second language, especially as a child, has been shown to have benefits which last a lifetime. Speaking two or more languages can delay the onset of dementia by an average of four years.

Scientists have also discovered that “working memory”—the kind of memory that acts like RAM in a computer—functions more successfully in children who have learned a second language. Studies have shown that bilingual children performed better in working memory tasks than their monolingual counterparts—and the more complex these tasks were, the better the bilingual students would perform in relation to their peers.

Being bilingual does more than just enhance and protect our memory; it also helps us with focusing, and shutting out distractions.

“Washing your hands of guilt” is a popular phrase—but science has shown that the act of washing can actually have a deep impact on how we catalogue our memories. For a start, general cleanliness can impact how we feel about other people—and not necessarily because they’re dirty themselves. We’re more likely to harshly judge someone else’s moral misdeeds if we’re in a smelly room, for example.

And in relation to our own memories, washing ourselves really can help us feel less guilty about whatever evil deeds we’ve committed. It’s been found that gamblers who wash after a bad streak are likely to start making higher bets, as if they’ve washed away their bad luck.

If you make a difficult decision, wiping your hands afterwards can make you feel less doubt about it, since you’ve effectively wiped away your worries. But it goes both ways: if we wash after thinking about a positive experience, our happy memories can seem less satisfying.

Writing something down is an intuitive way to help you remember it. Scientists from Ohio State University, however, found that the way you treat the piece of paper afterwards can have an enormous impact on memory retention. They found that if people wrote down their thoughts, and then scrunched up the paper and threw it away, they were less likely to use those thoughts when making a decision. If, on the other hand, they folded the paper neatly and put it into a pocket to protect it, the thoughts would stay with them and influence them later on. Keeping thoughts on a desk instead of throwing them away had a similar impact.

As with washing, it seems our brains are influenced by metaphors in the physical world when it comes to controlling our memories.

Scientists have found that inflicting pain on ourselves can lessen the guilt we feel about a bad deed we remember having committed. In one experiment, researchers asked people to write about a time they had rejected or excluded someone. They divided them into two groups; the members of group one were asked to plunge their arms elbow-deep into ice-cold water, while the members of group two submerged their arms in luke-warm water. And when the participants rated the morality of their past actions, those who had experienced the pain of the cold water gave themselves a more forgiving score.

A third group of people were asked to write about an everyday interaction, with no guilt involved, and then to plunge their hand into the cold water. Interestingly, the people who had written about doing something bad actually kept their hands in the water longer, and reported more pain, than the control group. The scientists speculate that they subjected themselves to extra pain, as they felt the need for penance.

When you study, you’re more likely to remember information when it is presented in an unusual or difficult-to-read font. Scientists from Princeton University and Indiana University have conducted two different experiments to test the effect of fonts on learning. In one experiment, they gave participants some information to read for ninety seconds, either in Arial or Comic Sans. It was found that those who absorbed the information via the more difficult font had better recall fifteen minutes later.

To see if this result could have a real-world impact, the researchers designed another experiment. This time, they tampered with the fonts of learning materials used by high school students. Students who were given a difficult-to-read font performed better in tests than those who were given a simple font. So when you write your blog in comic sans, you are not only devoid of aesthetic taste, but also prevent your readers from remembering whatever it is you’re saying.

People suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are often debilitated by horrific memories. Scientists have been working on a number of drugs that could be used to lessen, or even erase, memories. These drugs work because when we recall memories, we’re not just playing a tape—we’re actually recreating the memory in a different part of our brain. Some drugs can block the biochemistry involved in this process, and thereby cause the awful memories to fade, or even disappear.

Many people take issue with use of such drugs, however, arguing that artificially erasing our memories can have a fundamental impact on who we are. Proponents counter this argument by saying that millions of people debilitated by memories of terrible experiences could regain their lives—and their true selves—with the help these drugs can provide.

Alan is an aspiring writer trying to kick-start his career with an awesome beard and an addiction to coffee. You can hear his bad jokes by reading them aloud to yourself from Twitter where he is @SkepticalNumber, or you can email him at [email protected].

For centuries, scientists have grappled with the storage vaults of the mind. Better technology and knowledge of the brain brought some clarity, but they also made the strangeness of memory more evident.

From survival mechanisms that mess with mathematics to false recollections and anti-memories, researchers are not to be outdone by nature’s weirdness. Scientists have succeeded in teaching sleeping patients, transplanting experiences, and working with prosthetic memory.

10 False First Memory

A person’s oldest memory represents the first awareness of consciousness. For this reason, it may be disturbing to know that most first memories are false. When researchers worked with a group of volunteers who kindly shared their awakening moments, most in the group refused to believe that their memories were fabricated.

However, the 2018 study has science to back it up. Around 40 percent of the 6,600 participants claimed to remember as far back as ages 9–12 months. This falls into the preverbal stage of human development when a baby cannot retain memories. Scientific literature suggests that memories only stick after age two.^[1]

Why are people convinced that their first memory is not fictional?

The answer is complex, ranging from nostalgia to an ingrained identity investment in the stories people tell themselves. Research points to the real thing—the so-called first memory could be many things. It could be imaginary, fragments of an early event (but not the earliest memory), or gleaned from family snaps and stories.

9 Internet-Sized Memory Bank

In 2016, researchers searched a rat’s brain for the memory capacity of the human brain. The two species share a similarity in brain shape and synapse functions. Scientists took a year to draw every cell they found inside a slice of the rodent’s hippocampus. Incredibly, they extracted a huge volume from the tissue sample. (The tiny piece could fit 20 times on the width of a human hair.)

From this, they added up all the neurons with complete structures. In turn, the 287 brain cells were studied for size and their synapse communication network. After noticing how they touched nearly identical sites to transmit signals, it dawned that a single neuron could use 26 separate ways to code its information.^[2]

The accuracy allowed the team to translate it into computer-speak. Incredibly, the human brain can store one petabyte. That about equals all the data on the Internet. This brainy cache runs on the power equivalent of a 20-watt bulb. If a computer had to support the same memory bank, it would need a nuclear power station.

8 Hypnopedia Is Real

Thanks to hypnopedia, the ability to learn while asleep, some products have a unique market. However, as appealing as it sounds to learn martial arts or a new language merely by listening to tapes while sleeping, hypnopedia has its limits. It was already determined in the 1950s that humans cannot memorize facts unless awake. Modern research supported those findings but also made some interesting discoveries.

In 2014, Israeli scientists semi-cured nicotine addicts. They grossed out sleeping volunteers with cigarette smoke mixed with bad odors. In fact, none smoked for two weeks.

Later, a 2017 study proved that the sleeping brain can make brand-new memories. Learning Spanish on the snooze is impossible, but remembering complex patterns within white noise is automatic.

When the volunteers woke up, they successfully identified patterns but only when audio played during their REM cycles. The group failed to learn anything during non-REM, a deeper sleep. This provided the first evidence that sleep stages play a role in memory formation.^[3]

7 The Epigenetic Mystery

A field called epigenetics suggests that children inherit their father’s life experiences. Whatever Dad ate or was exposed to in his environment could affect the biology of several generations down the line. The existence of paternal “life memories” received support in several animal and human studies.

In 2018, researchers from Santa Cruz cracked a portion of the mystery. The object of their affection was a male roundworm. More exactly, the critter’s sperm. It revealed the presence of something nobody thought was there—histone packaging. These proteins hold DNA in the chromosomes, which was where researchers found epigenetic information.

Finding epigenetic markers in sperm is a first but not enough to explain the concept of this unusual inheritance. At least, scientists now understand that it is transferred within the histone packaging. Additionally, these proteins were inside important chromosomes for development. So much so that when baby worms did not get normal epigenetic markers, they were born sterile.^[4]

6 Master Memory Trick

Need to remember something? Draw it.

A recent study showed that doodling is the new Jedi mind trick. Canadian researchers, especially those fighting Alzheimer’s, gave it serious consideration. They gathered 48 volunteers to tweak a finding about how drawing sharpens recall in young adults. This time, they included more mature individuals. Half the group was in their early twenties, the rest around 80.

They were given words and a choice: They could write each word down, letter for letter, scribble a list of its attributes, or draw a related image. After a break, the volunteers had to recall as many words as possible. The younger members performed better, although both age groups showed an encouraging similarity.

Those who doodled remembered the most words. Drawing could beat traditional memory aids, such as rewriting or studying text. Researchers believe that the technique’s potency comes from the brain being able to absorb the same information from different angles—visual, verbal, spatial, meaning, and the physical act of sketching.^[5]

5 Math Traumatizes The Mind

Math trauma is a thing. Most people know the feeling. You stare at an equation only to be rewarded with a debilitating mental shutdown. People who struggle with numbers are often branded as incapable. Unless you perform calculations with speed and accuracy, you risk being outed as a math idiot.

The truth is more heartening—most people are actually good at mathematics. Even those who sweat a small swimming pool during exams (and fail).

The problem? Fear.

Timed tests, pushy teachers, and classmates who zip through fractions do not help those who dread falling behind or making a mistake. Fear is a primitive thing. It shuts down memory because pausing to think about that approaching cave lion is life-threatening. It just wants you to scramble up the nearest tree.^[6]

Fear does not know the difference between long-gone predators and math problems. When a person panics over algebra, the fear dials down memory, which makes calculations nearly impossible.

4 Anti-Memories

An enduring mystery surrounds the storage of memories. If all this information remained crystal clear, nobody would be able to recall new stuff like where they parked the car.

In 2016, a study found evidence of anti-memories. This process helps the brain stock up on fresh memories without a problem. It all comes down to a balance between two types of brain cells—neurons that get very excited and neurons that calm them down.

During the birth of a memory, the excitatory cells fire electrical connections among each other. They cannot stay giddy. Researchers believe that such overactive neurons contribute to epilepsy, schizophrenia, and autism.

To restore the balance, the calming neurons create what scientists call anti-memories. These neurons also fire connections but with the exact opposite pattern of the original memory.^[7]

Tests showed the presence of this balancing mechanism in volunteers when “forgotten” memories were brought back by suppressing the calming neurons. Those memories were never erased, just silenced so as not to interfere with others.

3 Prosthetic Memory

Putting electrodes in a healthy human brain comes with tough red tape. In 2018, scientists got the chance to work with patients already fitted with implants. Suffering from epilepsy, 15 individuals received care at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The surgically implanted electrodes were part of the therapy, but the patients were happy to let the scientists piggyback on their treatment.

The idea was to test a future implant designed to learn and replicate a person’s brain activity to boost short-term memory. Patients enjoyed a computer game in which recall was a factor. Scientists used the pre-implanted electrodes to record brain activity, especially during correct answers.

Soon, they were able to compile personalized profiles on every volunteer. When each person’s activity map was later used to help stimulate their brain, short-term recall jumped by 35 percent. This was a hugely successful step in realizing a “prosthetic memory” device that was tailor-made to the individual.^[8]

2 Memory-Swapping Snails

In 2018, snails exchanged memories. They achieved this odd feat thanks to a team of California scientists. Interested to see whether genetic memory existed, researchers looked to sea snails called Aplysia californica.

During the study, they zapped one of the critters with an electrical current. The snail quickly tucked its fleshy flaps away. Repeated shocks taught the creatures to keep themselves retracted for longer.

RNA (a genetic molecule that acts like a messenger) was taken from this trained snail. When transplanted in another, the second snail remembered the donor’s experience. After getting shocked for the first time, the memory-borrowing animal curled up for longer as if expecting another zap. Snails that received RNA from untrained donors retracted their flaps briefly, believing the shock to be a one-time event.^[9]

This proved that memory was embedded in the genetic code, although the exact process used by the donor material to warn another snail remains mysterious.

1 Alzheimer’s Breakthrough

No cure exists for Alzheimer’s disease, which is currently ruining the lives of 50 million people. In 2015, Australian scientists found a way to remove the cause.

Alzheimer’s occurs when plaques build up and block functions within the brain. The result is a cognitive decline without end. Meanwhile, back in Australia, a group of mice suffered from the same problem. They were given the breakthrough treatment that could change the way this disease is approached.

Around 75 percent of the mice showed a full recovery of their mental faculties, including memory. The new technology is noninvasive and does not damage brain tissue. Called focused therapeutic ultrasound, it churns superfast sound waves into the brain. This gently expands the blood-brain barrier, which contains waste removal cells.^[10]

Those cells spring into action and remove the lesions that cause Alzheimer’s worst symptoms. This discovery could lead to an effective, drug-free therapy for patients.

As researcher Donna Bridge once said, “When someone tells me they are sure they remember exactly the way something happened, I just laugh.” Our memories are in a constant state of flux, whether changed by accident or manipulated on purpose. You may not realize it, but by the time you finish reading this list, your memory will be altered.

10The Way You Lie Impacts Your Memory

Your ability to remember your lies may depend on how you lie. Researchers at Louisiana State University studied two types of lies—false descriptions and false denials—to see how we record them in memory and later retrieve them. False descriptions are detailed lies we make up to report an event that didn’t happen. False denials are usually brief lies in which we declare that something isn’t true.

It turns out that false descriptions are much easier to remember. They’re more accessible and last longer because they take more effort to construct. If the listener doesn’t appear to believe your lie, then you have to work even harder to make that lie believable. Most of the study participants could remember their false descriptions after 48 hours.

On the other hand, false denials are quick and relatively effortless. You don’t have to make up details, so your brain doesn’t work as hard. Most of the study participants couldn’t remember their false denials after 48 hours.

The researchers believe that their findings are important for criminal interrogations, but they point out that innocent suspects have a hard time remembering truthful denials, too.

9Cleaning Your Memory May Help You Win Sports Bets

You may not win every time, but according to researchers at University College London and the University of Montreal, you can probably be trained to predict the winner of a sports event almost as well as a statistical computer program.

You see, our brains usually make decisions based on a limited number of memories. But those memories may be misleading if the retrieved events didn’t produce the most likely outcomes. In other words, we’re using bad data chosen randomly to make a prediction. Garbage in, garbage out.

In the study, two groups were asked to predict the winners of some baseball games. The “actual” group was told the actual outcomes of the games. But the “ideal” group was always told that the highest-ranking team won—even when it wasn’t true. This “cleaned” the memories of the ideal group by giving them good statistical evidence to use for decision making.

When the two groups predicted the outcome of future games, the ideal group was much better at choosing the winner. Of course, in a lab setting, the ideal group never saw actual outcomes. But that was just a way to make sure that this method would train someone to make a better prediction. And it did work in this test.

In the real world, you’d simply have study the ideal or most likely outcome data. With practice, you should be trained to make a better prediction. The researchers believe that this type of training could be used effectively by weather forecasters, financial analysts, and doctors.

For the average person, this method may be used to make sports predictions, just like in the study. You rank the teams in order based on their number of wins. Then, before making your prediction for a future game, compile a list of “winners” of past games that are equal to the highest ranking team in each match up. If it helps, you could wait a day or two before studying the “ideal” list and making your prediction. The goal is to train yourself to make better predictions, so it may take some practice to get better at it, although there’s no guarantee, of course.

8Justifying Atrocities Changes Memories Of War

According to a study from Princeton University, the memories of an entire people may be altered to justify atrocities committed by their side in a war. This includes overtly inhumane actions, like beatings and waterboarding. The researchers believe that people are motivated to remember information in a way that absolves them—or their side—from moral responsibility for their actions.

In this study, 72 European-Americans read four stories about soldiers committing wartime atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each story contained justifications for a soldier’s actions. Two stories were about American soldiers; two were about Afghan soldiers. The study participants then watched a video retelling two of the four stories, but without justifications for the atrocities.

When tested, the participants were more likely to recall atrocities for both American and Afghan soldiers from the videos only. But more often, they remembered the rationalizations for the American soldiers only.

Even though the videos didn’t include justifications for atrocities, the participants selectively retrieved those memories for their side from the stories they had read. The researchers believe that it’s important to understand how politicians and journalists may influence public behavior, including how people vote, by justifying wartime atrocities.

7Educated Black Men May Be Remembered As Whiter

As published in SAGE Open, an experiment gave college students quick subliminal exposure to either the word “ignorant” or the word “educated.” Then they saw a photo of a black man’s face. Later, these students were shown seven photographs of that same face: the original, plus three photos with lighter skin tones and three with darker skin tones. From the seven photos, the students were asked to choose the match to the original photo.

Of the two groups, the students who had been subliminally exposed to the word “educated” were much more likely to remember the black man as lighter in skin tone than he actually was.

This phenomenon is known as “skin tone memory bias.” It suggests that when expected stereotypes are shown to be wrong, a person’s memory compensates to protect his or her prejudice. So an intellectually successful black man may be remembered as whiter in skin tone than he really is. Instead of shattering a stereotype, this black man may be looked upon as an exception to the norm. It’s a way that memories twist information to protect cultural beliefs about race and intelligence even when those beliefs are clearly untrue.

6Painkillers May Prevent Marijuana-Related Memory Problems

Marijuana’s value in treating medical conditions, from cancer pain to epilepsy, may be more than offset by its side effects, which are said to include learning and memory problems.

But researchers from Louisiana State University may have solved some of these problems. They discovered that the main active ingredient in marijuana, Delta-9-THC, increases levels of an enzyme called COX-2 in the hippocampus of mice. The hippocampus is the part of the brain involved in memory and learning. The researchers found that drugs or genetic techniques that lowered the levels of COX-2 in mice prevented memory problems from Delta-9-THC. Their results suggest that ibuprofen, an over-the-counter pain medicine that inhibits COX-2, may prevent the memory and learning problems associated with marijuana use.

These researchers also believe that Delta-9-THC and a COX-2 inhibitor (to prevent side effects) may be effective in treating Alzheimer’s disease. A more recent study from Stanford University Medical Center found that blocking endocannabinoids, which are the human brain’s “internal marijuana” chemicals, is linked to the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. But the Stanford researchers do warn that smoking marijuana won’t work to prevent Alzheimer’s.

5Walking Through Doorways Causes Memory Lapses

It doesn’t matter if you’re going in or out, the simple act of passing through a doorway can make you forget something, according to a study from the University of Notre Dame. Called an “event boundary,” this simple act separates what happens in one room from what happens in another. That makes it difficult to remember what was decided or done in a different room because it’s filed away separately in your mind.

In both virtual and real-world settings, college students performed tasks such as choosing an item on one table and exchanging that item for another item on a different table. The tasks were performed three different ways: all in one room, moving through a doorway into a different room, and moving through a series of doorways leading back to the original room.

In each case, the students forgot more after they walked through a doorway, even if they ended up in the original room. This suggests that it isn’t the environment that affects memory as much as the act of passing through a doorway.

4Women Remember Men With Low-Pitched Voices

According to researchers from the University of Aberdeen, a man who wants a woman to remember him and what he says should speak in a low-pitched voice. Women strongly prefer that kind of voice and remember objects better when they’re introduced to them by a man with a deep voice. The woman might then be more likely to rate the man as a potential mate.

But whether a person’s face will be remembered depends on how distinctive the facial features are. Psychologists at the University of Jena found that we’re more likely to remember unattractive faces than attractive faces if those attractive faces lack especially noticeable features, such as big eyes.

These results are surprising because, in general, we have more trouble remembering things we hear than things we see or touch. A study from the University of Iowa found that the brain processes sound differently than sight and touch. Those researchers believe that repeating sounds mentally may help you remember them. Or, if you’re a man speaking to a woman, you can always help her out by lowering the pitch of your voice.

3Love At First Sight May Be A Memory Trick

Each time you retrieve a memory, it’s rewritten with current information to fit the reality of your present world. That’s why researchers from Northwestern University think that “love at first sight” is probably nothing more than a dirty memory trick. They believe that you’re projecting your current love for your partner back to the first time you met.

To test this, the researchers had people recall the location of objects on a computer screen. When the background was changed, the participants always chose the wrong location. In their next attempt, they again picked the same wrong location they had chosen the first time the background was changed. Their memories had adapted to the new information, even though it was wrong.

Many variations of this experiment have shown that memory becomes less accurate each time you retrieve it. In fact, it may eventually become completely false, which is why witness testimony in criminal trials is unreliable.

A different group of studies at Iowa State University showed that you can deliberately manipulate someone’s memory by introducing new information when that person recalls an event. But you only have a six-hour window after every time the memory is retrieved. Otherwise, that memory probably can’t be altered until the next time it’s retrieved.

2Even People With Exceptional Recall May Form False Memories

Have you ever wished you could remember everything you’ve ever done? Some people can—it’s called highly superior autobiographic memory (HSAM), and people with HSAM can remember specific details of their daily activities—and the emotions they felt at the time—as far back as childhood. But people with HSAM are also vulnerable to memory distortions, they just don’t realize it.

One of these rare individuals, actress Marilu Henner, can remember the exact day she snagged her role on the TV show Taxi and where she was when she found out: a Grease premiere party on Sunday, June 4, 1978. In a 2012 interview with CBS News, Henner declared that her baptism is her earliest memory. “My godmother was a nun, and so she’d talk about my baptism all the time,” Henner said.

But that’s how a false memory may begin. When Henner’s godmother talked about the baptism, she may have inadvertently introduced false information as her own memory of the event changed over time. In turn, that may have altered Henner’s memory.

According to University of California researchers, HSAM individuals appear to have almost perfect autobiographical recall if there’s no misinformation to influence them. But otherwise, they’re just as vulnerable to false memories as the rest of us.

1Memories May Be Manipulated To Erase Fear

A long-term memory is formed with the help of a consolidation process. When you remember that event, the memory becomes unstable until it’s reconsolidated—between the time when you retrieve the memory and when you tuck it away again, it can be influenced by your surroundings. Scientists hope to use that process to erase emotional memories from the brain.

At Uppsala University, researchers created fear memories in test subjects by giving them an electric shock while they looked at a neutral picture. One group reconsolidated the memory; the other didn’t. The researchers stopped the second group from reconsolidating the memory by disrupting the process with repeated viewings of the picture. The group that didn’t reconsolidate lost their fear of the picture.

Northwestern University researchers then tried to manipulate fear memories during sleep. Their subjects received mild electric shocks as they viewed two faces. While being shocked, they also smelled a different odorant, such as lemon or mint, to combine the face and odorant into a fear memory.

The participants were then presented with one of the odorants, but not the shock, while they slept. When they were awake, they were shown both faces again. They reacted with less fear to the face linked to the odorant they had smelled while asleep. The researchers believe these methods may calm, if not erase, fear memories in people with phobias, panic attacks, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

How much memory do you have on your phone? An iPhone can have anywhere from a “bare bones” 64 GB to as much as a terabyte. Do you have an external hard drive for your gaming console? If so, it’s probably got at least a terabyte or two, right? And to think, if you bought a computer in 1995 it probably had around 12 MB of RAM and a hard drive of between 500 MB and a whole gigabyte. Memory has come a long way, and it offers a lot.

Dropbox currently offers you a terabyte of storage and translates that into practical terms. One terabyte is good for about 250 full movies. Or as much as 6.5 million pages of text. So with that in mind, let’s look at some memory figures. 

10. The Human Mind May Be Able to Store Petabytes of Data

Computer memory is most easily likened to our own memories, that’s why we use the same word. Your brain can hold information and so can a computer hard drive. It’s only natural to want to compare the two.

While a computer hard drive is pretty compact, it’s not like your brain is a vast expanse of material, either. But it has to be able to hold everything you can ever know. Everything you’ve experienced is in there, all the people you’ve met, things you’ve learned, recipes you’ve mastered, stupid movie quotes, random song lyrics, it’s all in there. So how much memory does a brain hold?

No one can say with accuracy exactly how much data your brain holds because, of course, your brain doesn’t work exactly like a computer. But it’s close enough that we can have some fun speculating, especially if you’re a computational neuroscientist and this is how you literally consider brain function.

Guesses for how much data a human brain can store range from a paltry one terabyte to a staggering 2.5 petabytes. We haven’t touched on petabytes yet and they are what come after terabytes. If a terabyte is 250 movies, and a petabyte is 1,000 terabytes, and a petabyte can hold 250,000 movies. Of course, you need to multiply that by 2.5 so it’s 625,000 full movies worth of storage. Or 16,250,000,000 pages of text. Decide for yourself if your brain can manage that. 

A few years after those initial estimates, researchers tried to narrow the range down and suggested a human brain could handle about one petabyte of information. To give that some non-movie context, that was about the size of all the information available on the internet in 2016 when the data was presented. 

9. You’d Need Unbelievable Space to Store a Yottabyte

A petabyte sounds big as hell if it’s all the internet or the equivalent of a lifetime of knowledge all crammed in the meatball inside your skull but it’s not the end of the line by any means. Numbers don’t end and the metric system dares not stop at peta, oh no. Have you ever heard of a yottabyte?

Yottabytes are well beyond petabytes. After petabyte comes exabyte, and then zettabyte, and then yottabytes. It’s the largest size that has been acknowledged so far by the International System of Units and represents one quadrillion gigabytes. 

Data has to exist somewhere and if there was a yottabyte worth of data in the world, which there isn’t, you’d have to put it on hard drives. Those hard drives, to accommodate that information, would cover a space of both Delaware and Rhode Island. You’d need a full million data centers to handle it all. 

8. 278,000 Petabytes of Traffic Flowed Through the Internet Per Month in 2021

Any time you’re online streaming content, reading social media posts, or doing whatever it is you do, have you ever wondered how many other people are doing the same thing? Or, more specifically, have you ever wondered how much information is flowing through those internet tubes all the time? The short answer is that it’s a lot.

Global internet traffic, which is all the internet activity in the world, in a given month, was estimated to be about 278,108 petabytes per month in 2021. In 2016 it was only 96,054. Elsewhere, it was predicted in 2022 that global traffic would surpass a more modest 150.7 exabytes per month in 2023, or 150,700 petabytes. 

7. It Would Take 500,000 Terabytes of Data to Map a Mouse’s Brain

We touched on how much info your brain might be able to store in it, but what if we wanted to map your brain? That’s a little more complex a question to answer than you might think. Mapping your brain means understanding all the neurons, all the synapses, all those hundreds of billions of connections that are needed to make it work the way it works. To map all of that would take a hell of a lot of time and data. 

Neuroscientists would love to map a human brain but it’s a tall order. It’s been estimated that, aside from the complexity of just pulling such a thing off, storing the information mapped would require about 1.3 billion terabytes of storage space. 

To at least broach the idea of mapping a human brain, researchers have looked at a smaller scale. Mouse brains are not as complex as humans though make no mistake they are still incredibly complicated. But mapping a mouse brain would take a lot less, at least.

Researchers are starting their task with a section of mouse brain, a tiny 10-square-millimeter segment. They expect mapping that small bit will take 10,000 terabytes of data. They’d need 50 times more, or 500,000 terabytes, for the full mouse brain. 

If the plan works as expected, all the data will show exactly how the brain works, and how all of those neurons function together to create a living, working brain.

6. In 1980, a 1 GB Hard Drive Weighed Over 500 Pounds

In your lifetime you have probably noticed how technology gets smaller as it gets more efficient. A desktop computer in the 80s barely had a fraction of the computer power that the phone you keep in your pocket holds. Memory condenses as technology improves and we can get a lot in a small space, something that keeps getting better and better with each passing year. Many people alive today have no idea what it was like forty years ago.

In 1980, IBM created a one GB hard drive. Today, a storage drive that only holds one gigabyte of data is all but useless to most people. You can store a good amount of text there, or some sound files, but you can’t fit a movie in a space that small and they haven’t made smartphones with so little memory in years. Amazon will sell you 50 one GB flash drives for just over $75, though. 

That one GB drive, when it debuted, cost $40,000. It weighed 550 pounds and was the size of a typical refrigerator. One of those 50 you can buy on Amazon will fit on your keychain. And, for the cost of the one from the 80s, you can buy over 26,600 of them. 

5. Data on Star Trek Has Less Storage Capacity Than Modern Supercomputers

When it comes to computers vs brains, artificial intelligence has to fit into the mix somewhere. And not the fake AI we have now which is just glorified text modeling, real AI. A computer that is alive and can think. So fiction, basically. Like Commander Data from Star Trek.

On the show, Data is essentially a computer in the form of a man that is capable of independent thought and understanding. He is self aware and, early in the show’s run, an episode establishes that he is alive, sentient, and not property. 

While establishing Data’s bona fides, his specs are also listed. The show was actually careful to not address a lot of specific technology about Data, especially later on, because the writers knew that what they thought was futuristic would quickly become outdated. But they still took the time to let us know Data’s storage capacity is 800 quadrillion bits. That sounds mildly impressive, but that breaks down to around 100,000 terabytes or 100 petabytes. 

100 petabytes is still remarkable, and it’s better than whatever device you’re looking at this on, but it’s not super futuristic anymore like it was back when that episode aired in 1989. The supercomputer called Aurora, which exists right here in the present, has a capacity of 220 petabytes. It’s already surpassed Data, it just hasn’t achieved sentience yet. That we know of. 

4. The Fastest Internet Ever Recorded Was More Than 7 Million Times Faster Than Average

Memory is important for any computer but so is speed. Who cares if you can store 1,000 movies if you have dial-up internet? Hey, remember dial-up? Speed is key to transmitting large amounts of data. In the US, the average internet speed is 219 Mbps download and 24 Mbps upload. 25 is considered fast, at least by the FCC, and basic is between three and 8. 

You may think 25 is not fast at all and you’re right, it’s not. It’s not even close. The fastest internet ever recorded was 319. And that wasn’t Mbps or even a basically unheard-of Gbps which you can only get with some good quality fiber service. That was Tbps—319 terabits per second. 

Japanese researchers broke the speed record in 2021 with a cutting-edge four-core optical cable. It’s so fast that, if you had it at home, you could download 80,000 movies in one second.

3. Frontier is the Most Powerful Computer Ever Built

We’ve covered a lot about memory, storage capacity, and even mentioned one supercomputer. But what is the best of all the supercomputers and what can it do? That would be Frontier, the current (but possibly replaced by the time you stumble on this list) most powerful supercomputer in history. It will always have a place in history as being the first exascale computer ever built. That means it can perform over one quintillion operations per second.

How does it do so much? It weighs nearly 270 tons, uses over 40,000 processors, and consumes more power than 15,000 houses.

2. Synthetic DNA Could Have 215 Petabytes of Storage Per Gram

As our ability to create more efficient storage increases, so too does the innovation in how it’s made. In recent years, the idea of using synthetic DNA as data storage has become more prevalent, in a theoretical sense. DNA holds all the information that makes up living things, after all, and it does so in microscopic packages. Lots of info, tiny space. It’s what computer dreams are made of.

If we could make synthetic DNA storage, it’s been estimated we could store as much as 215 petabytes of information in just a single gram of the stuff. 

As cool as it sounds, there are a couple of major drawbacks. One is that it takes a lot of time to read and write information to DNA storage. As in hours. No one wants to wait hours to save a file. But worse than that is cost. MIT once estimated that storing a single petabyte of data to DNA storage would cost about $1 trillion. 

1. Everything Ever Spoken Would Fill 5 Exabytes

We use outlandish examples of what data or memory represents to try to make it understandable. No one knows what a terabyte is when you just say terabyte. It’s a concept. But if you say it represents 250 movies, that makes it easier to relate to. Because you’re playing with ideas and concepts that represent big, monumental things, you can have some fun with it. You can get bigger.

How much memory would you need to record everything you have ever said in your life? It’s got to be a lot, right? But that’s still not big enough. What if we wanted to document everything anyone has ever said? Every word spoken in every language by every person who ever lived in the history of our species. How much would that be?  Best guess is 5 exabytes.

About 117 billion people have lived throughout history. At least one writer calculated that the average person, in their life, will speak 860.3 million words. Do the math on that and it’s a lot of words.

Forty percent of us will experience some form of memory loss by the time we turn 65. For many people, it’s just something that comes with old age, but there’s more to it than that. Lifestyle choices, medications, chemicals, and more can play havoc with our minds and our ability to create or access memories. There are probably far more things linked to memory loss than you ever realized.

10. Mountain Dew Has Been Linked to Memory Loss

Food additives are a touchy subject all over the world. There is no end of misinformation about what might be dangerous in what might not be. Much of it is fueled by a lack of understanding, strange conspiracies, laziness, and outright lies. Consider the case of MSG, which was demonized for years based on faulty research. The same thing, to some degree, has happened to Mountain Dew.

The famous soft drink has been banned in Europe and Japan because it contains brominated vegetable oil. Some reports claim that brominated vegetable oil is a flame retardant, a carcinogen, and a dozen other horrible things. 

In soda, brominated vegetable oil is an emulsifier that has been used since the 30s. It just holds Mountain Dew together so that the citrus won’t separate. But it has been recognized as potentially harmful in large amounts, and both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola claimed to be removing it back in 2014, which they didn’t do at the time but have done in the years since.

Though it’s not really a flame retardant any more than table salt is bleach because of the chloride in its name, it has been linked to memory loss in people drinking more than two liters of soda daily. 

9. Extensive Use of Benadryl is Linked to Dementia

If you suffer from chronic allergies and take Benadryl to manage it regularly, you might want to rethink your strategy. Extensive use of Benadryl has been linked to early dementia and other memory loss issues. Drugs like Benadryl block the action of a chemical called acetylcholine, which transmits messages through your nervous system. In your brain, it’s also linked to learning and memory. 

Though the link is not a proven one, just an observed one, these drugs have been shown to cause confusion and increase fall risks among older adults.

Specifically, diphenhydramine seems to put patients at risk for dementia. This is the antihistamine in Benedryl in most, but not all, countries where it is available. Taking these drugs for three years or more increases dementia risk by 54%.

8. Taking Photos Impaires Your Ability To Remember What You Photographed

It’s been estimated that 1.81 trillion photos are taken yearly. Anyone who’s been on social media in the last decade has seen just how popular selfies are. And with 15 billion cell phones and mobile devices worldwide, that’s nearly two for every living human. Almost all of us have access to a high-quality camera all the time. But that’s not necessarily a good thing.

Photos make our memories worse. Taking multiple pictures of the same thing doesn’t change this, either. Our memory of what we photograph is impaired the moment we take a picture. The irony of people taking photos to remember people, places, and events is worth noting. 

One theory for why this happens is that our brain essentially hands off the job of remembering the moment to the photograph. You understand what the photo will be, so your mind doesn’t need the memory; it has the picture. 

7. Sometimes Sex Can Cause Short-Term Amnesia

This one’s going to get a little personal, so buckle up. Sex has been linked to short-term amnesia but only in certain cases. For the effect to happen, you have to have good sex. As in the mind-blowing sort. Almost literally, as it happens. 

Known as transient global amnesia, it most often affects people in their 50s and 60s. Once it sets it, it can remove an entire 24 hours from your memory. Any strenuous physical activity could cause it, but sex seems to be a common one. 

The effect is short-term, lasting just a few hours. Though it only happens once for some patients, others have reported multiple instances. The man in one couple had had it happen five times in a span of nearly 20 years. 

6. Shift Work Leads to Major Health Issues Including Memory Loss

Someone once said if work were fun, they wouldn’t call it work. Most people would agree that work isn’t fun, so it’s not usually an issue. Worse than that, a lot of work can be detrimental to your health. There’s even evidence that shift work can lead to memory loss. That means you can hate your job and not even remember why. 

Shift work leads to lower levels of focus, alertness, impulse control, sleep disorders, cardiovascular disease, mood disorders, substance abuse, and much more. Sample sizes for determining this were not small, either. Eighteen studies of over 18,000 participants concluded shift workers were much worse with cognitive function and working memory. 

Half of the participants in the study were from the healthcare field, while the other half were made up of a mix of professions ranging from IT to law enforcement. Across the board, shift workers performed more poorly than those who stuck to traditional schedules. This is especially unsettling news when you factor in how many of them are healthcare workers, including doctors and nurses, who may try to treat you one day while their brain is messed up from doing shift work. 

5. First-Person Shooters Lead to Hippocampus Damage and Memory Loss

What are the most frustrating things about medical news is when it’s contradictory. For instance, have you ever heard that playing video games can help cognitive function and memory in children? There have been a lot of stories about it over the years. But this is about the opposite effect, isn’t it? It sure is, so let’s focus on the researchers who say first-person shooters can damage your hippocampus and cause memory loss. 

Gamers who play FPS games more than 6 hours per week were tracked over four years. The results showed a decrease in the part of the brain where short-term memories are stored.

FPS gamers come in two types. Those who navigate the game with spatial memory strategies and those called response learners who manage to navigate using a part of the brain called the caudate nucleus. Most chronic gamers are this type, and after 90 hours of play, scans of their brains showed significant loss to the hippocampus. 

Before you hang up your Call of Duty dog tags, it’s worth noting that even the author of the study says more research is needed before anyone can confirm there’s a long-term danger to worry about.

4. Some Algae Blooms Cause Brain Damage and Memory Loss

In most towns that have beach access, if algae blooms show up in the water then a sign will be put out warning you not to go swimming. Most people know that an algae bloom can be dangerous, but probably not the extent to which these things cause harm. There are also multiple toxins that you need to watch out for.

One toxin called domoic acid forms in algae blooms and infects anything that may eat it. These toxins can then work their way up the food chain. A number of sea lions were affected in 2015, leading to brain damage and memory loss. 

Another toxin, Pfiesteria piscicida, gained infamy in the 1980s when fishermen exposed to it began exhibiting signs of cognitive dysfunction, and then the scientists studying it suffered the same fate. 

The microbe has not been studied well, nor has its effect on humans. Some people report confusion or nausea. One of the scientists studying it lost the feeling in his legs and had to crawl out of his lab to get help. When fish are infected with it, the result is death. Large lesions form on their bodies, and it looks like they’ve been burned by acid. 

3. A Study Linked SpongeBob to Poor Brain Function in Children

Over the years, people have found a way to demonize almost anything under the guise of protecting children. You can go all the way back to antiquity and read about how Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth. Elvis Presley did the same thing with his gyrating hips, and heavy metal music, violent video games, and sugar in soda are all in the same boat. They have all been accused of being bad for children in one way or another. But how many of those can be accused of damaging children’s brains on a fundamental level?

In 2011 a study concluded that SpongeBob SquarePants was hurting children’s brains and harming higher cognition. According to the study, 4-year-olds who sat down to watch 9 minutes of SpongeBob showed “less self-control, a reduced ability to delay gratification, and poorer working memory skills” than kids who did something else.

One of the conclusions drawn here was that kids who watch SpongeBob are overwhelmed by having to keep up with the fast pace, frantic cartoon. Obviously, the fact that these were four-year-olds did factor in, and no long-term conclusions were drawn suggesting they would have chronic memory issues. That said, if you ask a four-year-old to remember a phone number right after watching Spongebob, you’ll probably not be happy with the results. 

2. A Bad Sex Life Can Lead to Memory Loss in Later Life

Sex has been shown to provide multiple health benefits. From lower blood pressure to an improved immune system, pain relief, and depression relief, a healthy sex life boosts your well-being. You can add protecting your memory later in life to the list, also.

Sexually active patients between 50 and 89 score higher on memory tests than those who are not engaging in sexual activity. In another study that spanned 12 years, over 800 men were tracked, and those who experienced a lack of sexual satisfaction or erectile dysfunction also had higher instances of memory decline. The study was not concerned with how often a person had sex or how many partners they had, just their overall level of satisfaction. And if you are satisfied, you’ll probably suffer less memory decline in later years. 

1. Social Isolation Has Been Linked to Memory Decline

Being alone is not considered good for your health. One reason it’s good to keep in touch with others and maintain a social relationship is for the sake of your memory. Social isolation has been linked to memory loss, and it’s been determined that memory loss precedes social isolation, not the other way around. If you consider yourself a lone wolf, you might want to look into getting some friends to add to your wolfpack.

During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, doctors saw the effects of social isolation firsthand. People who normally engaged with family and friends had to cope with being more alone, and the effects were profound. Studies during the pandemic were small, but associations were drawn between isolation and issues with memory. 60% of patients in one study who already had Alzheimer’s or mild memory impairment experienced worse issues.

It’s believed lack of socialization can cause cognitive decline and poorer resilience in your brain simply because your brain is getting so little stimulation. 

They say the human brain has a storage capacity that is in the range of 2.5 million gigabytes. That said, our memory can be rather selective. Fresh things are easily accessible. Over time, those memories, especially less significant ones, fade away. For instance, you can probably remember any of the conversations you had yesterday fairly well, even if not word for word. Now try to remember a conversation you had 10 years ago on this day. For most people, that’s an impossible task. If something was significant to you in an emotional way, it will probably be gone forever. But there are some things you can do if you want to improve your memory, and some of them are quite unexpected. Make sure to bookmark this one in case you forget about it.

10. Apple Juice Stimulates Neurotransmitters

They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but no one specified if you needed to eat the thing. Some research suggests you can juice it if you want and still get some remarkable benefits. In specific, apple juice has been shown in animal studies to help increase production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This is a key component in brain function and, in particular, memory. Patients who suffer from Alzheimer’s have shown that, when acetylcholine levels are increased, it lowers the rate of mental decline. 

The working theory based on the observations is that, if a person regularly drinks apple juice, they’ll be able to maintain proper functioning of their brain and memory, as well as potentially delay Alzheimer’s. Apples also contain antioxidants which are believed to help memory and cognition as well. 

A 2006 study involving a small group of patients aged 72 to 93 who had Alzheimer’s showed that drinking 4 oz of apple juice three times a week could reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by as much as 75%.

9. Doodling Can Boost Memory By as Much as 30%

Good news if you’re one of those people who can’t resist doodling on paper when you have a pen and an idle moment to spare. The simple act of doodling can apparently help focus your mind and improve memory and even understand new concepts and ideas better. 

To test the potential usefulness of a doodle, participants in one experiment were forced to sit and be bored. They were given a boring test then moved to another room with nothing in it to hold their attention. They had to listen to a pre-recorded, monotone phone message about people being invited to a party and write down the names of people who were coming while ignoring those who were not coming.

One group had to only focus on the long, boring message. The other was allowed to use a pencil to fill in little holes and boxes on the paper, a very basic kind of doodling. The doodlers were better able to remember the necessary names and, in a surprise memory test after the fact, their results were 30% better than the non-doodlers. 

8. Weight Loss, Including Surgical Weight Loss, Can Improve Memory

Weight issues are something of a modern plague among humans. In 2021, about 45% of people polled across 30 countries said they were actively trying to lose weight. There are a lot of reasons people may want to do so ranging from wanting to look better, to feel better, and to help deal with serious medical issues like heart disease or diabetes which can be exacerbated by weight problems. And if you’re in the same boat as so many others, here’s another reason to consider shedding a few pounds. Losing weight has been shown to help improve memory.

Kent State University conducted a study of 150 overweight people. It’s known that being overweight is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s so the study wanted to see if reversing the condition would have any effects on memory. Of the study participants, some underwent gastric bypass surgery while others did not. Within 12 weeks, those who had undergone the surgery actually showed significant improvement.

Researchers at Harvard have also researched into the links between the kinds of bad cholesterol from saturated fats and trans fats. They’ve concluded it’s not just your heart but your brain that suffers when bad cholesterol builds up. Diets high in fat and cholesterol seem to contribute to the creation of beta-amyloid plaques, which are found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. 

Women in the study who ate diets high in saturated fats and butter scored worse on memory tests than those who ate very little. Plaque from these diets seems to build up in brain tissue and deprive your brain of oxygen, thus causing poor performance on things like memory tests. 

7. Laughing Releases Hormones That Improve Short Term Memory

There’s an old saying that laughter is the best medicine which has probably been of little to no help to most people suffering from fatal illnesses. That said, there is evidence that laughter does have some benefits to your mental health, including improving your short-term memory.

Humor, and in particular laughter, has been shown to reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. In one small study, participants had to sit still and do nothing for 20 minutes, or watch a self-selected comedy video. After 20 minutes, a test was administered to both groups to assess short-term memory including delayed recall, learning ability and visual recognition. Cortisol levels in saliva were measured throughout.

Members in the human group showed improved results in all three areas. Salivary cortisol was considerably less, as well. The conclusion was that laughter, and humor, have a noticeable effect, at least in the short term, on memory and recall.

6. Taking Naps Can Boost Cognitive Function

If you ever find yourself feeling a little draggy in the afternoon and think maybe a quick nap will get you back on track, science has your back. There’s evidence that nap time isn’t just a nice way to get refreshed, it can also improve your memory and other cognitive functions. All it takes is 30 to 90 minutes per day, or even less in some cases.

A 2009 study showed that people who memorized a list of words and then took a nap, even just a six-minute nap, were better at recalling the words later than those who didn’t nap. Those who take longer 30 to 90 minute naps don’t just have better word recall, they’re also better at figure drawing. 

One thing worth remembering is that longer naps actually become detrimental to your cognitive function rather than beneficial. At some point you’ll start experiencing the opposite results if you nap for too long, so keep them brief and to the point. 

5. Riding a Motorcycle Improves Cognition

Many of the grandmothers of the world will assure you that there’s no good reason to ride a motorcycle, and it’s terribly dangerous and irresponsible. But if you are a fan of the open road and the wind in your hair (under your helmet), then good news. Riding a motorcycle actually seems to have a beneficial effect on various aspects of cognition. 

Research into men who had stopped riding motorcycles for over a decade. Half the group started riding again every day while the other half kept driving cars or bicycles. After two months, the motorcycle group showed higher marks in cognitive function and their results on simple memory tests increased by 50% over their pre-riding results. Those who weren’t riding were actually a little worse after the two months.

The speculation is that the heightened alertness required for riding a motorcycle engages more of your brain and thus has an improved effect overall. 

4. Chewing Gum

It used to be an insult back in the day to tell someone they’d have trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time. You don’t hear that so often anymore and maybe that’s a good thing because apparently chewing gum is actually doing you some good. Chewing gum has been linked with information retention and improved memory.

In one study, students cramming for a test were split into groups where one chewed gum during their study session and the other did not. Those who chewed gum performed better and also reported feeling more alert for the exam. This may be due in part to the act of chewing gum increasing overall blood flow as, mild though it may be, it’s still physical activity. It increases blood flow to the brain and can make you feel more alert. That alertness from gum chewing has been shown in more than one study. It’s also been shown to reduce stress which can help with focus. The exact reasons are still speculative.

Another test on adults split participants into three groups. One chewed gum, one mimicked chewing gum and one did nothing. They were given memory and attention tests and the gum chewers scored 24% higher on immediate word recall and 36% higher on delayed word recall. Whatever the scientific reason, the results seem to keep indicating that gum will help improve your memory.

3. Pink Noise During Sleep Helps Improve Waking Memory

Many people like to have some white noise playing in the background when they sleep. A machine that plays nature sounds, or just a fan running. But some research suggests you want to do away with the white noise and get yourself some pink noise.

Pink noise, like white noise, is still relatively random. However, it has equal energy at every octave which means it includes high frequency and low frequency sounds that makes it more natural and soothing than white noise. Listening to pink noise can help improve your sleep and your waking memory as well.

In a test to determine if participants would have better recall of a memory test they took before sleep. Pink noise, which essentially sounds like rushing water, was played at regular intervals during the night on one night and not on another. After a night of pink noise enhanced sleep, participants performed three times better on memory tests than on nights without it. 

2. Sex Can Improve Memory

It’s always good when something you like turns out to be good for you, so raise a glass to the research that suggests having sex can actually improve your memory, at least if you’re old enough. 

Research has shown that sexual activity in adults aged 50 to 89 has noticeable benefits for their memory and cognitive abilities. Interestingly enough, there was actually an observed difference between how this affects both men and women as well. Men and women of the right age who were sexually active were tested on both word recall and number sequencing. Men showed increases in both areas while women seemed to receive no benefit to number sequencing. 

In animal studies, rats that were allowed to have sex every day for two weeks showed more neuron growth than those that had only had sex once in that time. 

A later study of women aged 18-29 showed that those who had more regular sexual intercourse had improved their ability to recall abstract words. However, there was no improvement in other areas such as the ability to recall faces.

1. Controlling Fire May Have Improved Memory in Our Ancient Ancestors

Think of how cool it must have been when one of our ancient ancestors first realized they could make fire. Not just by accident but by performing the same task again and again to ensure they could always have fire when they wanted it. No doubt that guy was super popular until everyone else figured it out.

Fire was mastered even before homo sapiens were strutting around, and homo erectus was likely using it not just to cook but to scare away predators and make inhospitable locations more tolerable so they could expand their territory. 

Cooking food, both meat and vegetables, would allow for changes such as smaller jaw size, smaller gut, and other digestive differences between us and our distant ancestors. Also, the nutrition received altered us as well which improved social and intellectual abilities. 

Fire offered artificial light so that our day didn’t have to end with the sun. Instead of sleeping for 12 or more hours a day, our ancestors could stay awake in their caves and spend more time doing literally anything. Thus began a progression of cognitive growth including problem solving skills and long-term memory. It’s also believed fire would have allowed for more consistent REM sleep because these ancient ancestors wouldn’t have to fear predators nearly as much with fire as a protector. In REM sleep, the brain is able to process memories, develop, build, and retain skills and essentially learn from what we’ve done. All of that can potentially be linked to fire. Arguably, fire allowed us to have memory period.