Where did I put the keys? Tips to improve memory

Life Kit

NPR

Health & Fitness, Self-improvement, Kids & Family, Education, Business

4.3 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2024

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Do you ever feel like your memory lets you down when you need it most? If you forget your keys every time you leave the house, struggle to remember new names or just need a boost before a big test, you might be in need of some memory training. Trivia and memory experts share their best tips for recalling more and warding off everyday forgetfulness.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Big News stories don't always break on your schedule, but with the NPR app,
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0:21.0	You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.
0:26.0	Andy Taggle here in for Mary El Segara. Do you ever feel like your memory lets you down,
0:28.0	leaves you hang in seemingly when you need it most?
0:32.0	Like, okay, you're in the middle of the party recounting for friends
0:35.3	that wild thing that happened to you last week but then poof the name of
0:40.2	that celebrity who grabbed your coffee by mistake is completely out of reach.
0:45.0	Come on, memory.
0:47.0	You know, she's in the show with a mystery and there's that other guy with a big hair.
0:51.6	You know her, I swear. Or what about this one? You ever walk into a room to get
0:56.4	something and then immediately forget why you're there? Like Brain, we had a plan a mere 10 seconds ago.
1:03.0	You can still recite every lyric of my favorite song from middle school.
1:06.8	How could you have already lost the file of what we were just doing?
1:10.2	The most common misconception is that memory is supposed to be a complete and faithful record of the past such that we can replay the entire past at any time we want to. And in fact memory is selective,
1:26.6	it can be biased, it can be warped and reconstructed in many different ways.
1:33.2	Our memories by design are powerful and valuable,
1:37.3	even those of memory researchers like Charin Ranginoth.
1:41.0	I'm the director of the Dynamic Memory Lab at UC Davis and I'm a professor in the
1:45.8	department of psychology and the center for neuroscience. And you're also the author.
1:50.9	Oh, sorry of that.
	...

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