Okay, it’s 2010 –you can remember that much – but can you remember the names of the four people you just met at lunch today? If you’re the average Joe, the answer is probably not.
Texas A&M University neuroscience professor and memory expert Bill Klemm says that with a few mental tricks, you can recall those new faces you’ve met and maybe even throw in a few hard-to-recall state capitals for good measure. He says that it’s possible to start the new year off with a better memory.
Klemm, who has authored numerous articles about memory and a book titled “Thank You Brain For All You Remember (And What You Forgot Was My Fault),” says school kids learn the 3Rs, but the real trick to a good memory involves the four Rs: Register, Relate, Rehearse and Recall.
“When you ‘register,’ you are trying to log in the information in the first place,” he explains. “For example, if you meet a bunch of people at one time, you should slow down the introductions so you actually get the names down. And don’t try to take in too many at once – your brain can only deal easily with four or five names at a time.”
Klemm says it is important to relate – that is, to create a mental image association for each item or name you want to remember. “For example, when meeting several people, you might use prominent physical feature to make a mental picture that reflects their name,” he says. “If you meet someone named Bill, and he seems to have a big nose to you, you can relate it to a bird bill, or maybe Steve’s big muscles could remind you of a stevedore.”
It’s important to rehearse – to repeat the item or name in your memory,” Klemm says, “and to do it right then. Temporary memory is like writing on a blackboard – it’s easily erased and replaced with new information. So if you meet someone named Bill, you might say, ‘Bill, I heard you like to play tennis. Did you ever hear about that famous tennis player, Bill Tilden?’ You’re rehearsing the name, physical feature and mental image in your mind, and it helps you remember this person’s name.”
The last step in the memory process, he adds, is to recall, or self-test 
yourself after the initial learning. “You need to force yourself to recall,” he notes, “and with names, you can join in on the conversation and use the person’s name again and again.
“We often get a mental block that creates an ‘it’s-on-the-tip-of-my-tongue’ problem. When that happens, recall the details you do remember, then relax. Stress always aggravates a mental block. If you give yourself a few minutes, what you’re trying to recall will usually come back to you.”
Klemm, who is 75, has a doctor of veterinary medicine degree and a doctorate in neuroscience – two good reasons to believe he has a pretty good memory himself – practices what he preaches. While others his age have long since retired, he still teaches, has written 13 books and is working on another one, publishes several academic articles every year and keeps active.
He believes memory can be improved, but it needs a daily workout and motivation to do so.
“After 45 years as a college professor, I’ve concluded that the single most important thing about success as a student is not a high IQ but how much a student remembers from the instruction,” he says.
“Typically, poor students are poor students because they don’t know how to memorize efficiently. Memory is a skill that can be learned.”
Klemm says there are four major obstacles to memory: information overload, multi-tasking, stress and lack of sleep.
“Information overload and multi-tasking make it hard to pay attention and to concentrate,” he explains. “Multi-tasking creates enormous interference for converting short-term memory into long-term memory.
“Stress and lack of sleep can prevent us from remembering things we should. One of the most important things memory experts have learned in the last few years is that a healthy lifestyle is critical to good memory skills, and that means eating well and exercising, especially some type of aerobic exercise.”
For additional memory jogging, Klemm publishes a “Memory Medic” blog and advice column.
Contact: Bill Klemm at (979) 845-4201 or Keith Randall, News and Information Services, at (979) 845-4644.
Tags: "Thank You Brain For All You Remember (And What You Forgot Was My Fault)", Bill Klemm, memory