Any tips/guide to increase memory retention power?

[The Day Dreamer]

I don't think simply memorizing stuff is the way to go if you're going to take the GRE. You're likely to be better off doing loads and loads of practice questions. And when you're reviewing material, write it down in your own words. Make flash cards and use them whenever you have some downtime on the go.

For reading and writing things, simply reading books can be a big help too.

I can remember almost everything. Events, things happened in the past, concepts of everything. But the the thing is some definitions need exact wording as given, which I have difficult in remember otherwise I can write it in my own words.

 

[William Gaatjes]

It works for me to actually understand what is going on what i am reading about. Then i no longer need to put effort in it to remember, i just know and let the associative memory do the works.

Also, plenty of sleep, a healthy diet with enough minerals and vitamins, no weed ( or any other drugs) and no alcohol will do you good.

If you want the path of the dark side, some people who do not have ADD or ADHD have been using Ritalin or Adderall. But it is addictive, can cause serious side effects such as heart attacks and you will suffer later in the mental department...

 

[John Connor]

Memory is a very associative thing. When I was reading books on being a firefighter I read about the examine. Well, the author of this book said to remember things with an association. Think of the thing you want to remember and associate it with something that you know. I like to do this with dates in history. I know for example that Jack The Ripper was doing his killings in the year 1888. I took my first plane ride exactly 100 years after that year in 1988. I believe in was in east London and in a town called White chapel? Did you know they figured out who he was? First name was Aaron and last name was Polish. That I can't remember.

I know the plague was in the mid 1300's. Da Vinci was in the mid 1500's. Pirates were in the 16 and 1700's. 1800's were the industrial revolution and many inventions. 1917 I think was the end of WWI. 40's were WWII which started in '38 I think , first town being bombed by Germany was in Poland. There is a lot of useless crap I associate to things.

Smell and sound can bring back memories because you associate it with something. For me, country music smells like cow shit. LMAO!

I learned about something called Avid notes. You write little notes, ask a set of questions. Writing it out can help memorize the subject.

I did this in Jr. High! Man was it was awesome! It was required. http://www.alvinisd.net/Page/6196

 

[Auric]

Rosemary aromatherapy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/art.../could-aromatherapy-actually-affect-my-memory

 

[kranky]

How is it that people who claim they can't memorize things can sing the lyrics to 100 songs without even trying?

 

[disappoint]

How is it that people who claim they can't memorize things can sing the lyrics to 100 songs without even trying?

Repetition. They listen to the same songs over and over again, sometimes in an altered state. The songs themselves are often repetitive as well.

 

[destrekor]

How is it that people who claim they can't memorize things can sing the lyrics to 100 songs without even trying?

Now, do you describe simply being able to sing along? Or, an ability to recite the words, or any quote for that matter, without any cues?

Because I can do the former all day long. Take away the cues: bam, I can't quote or recite anything for shit.

 

[OverVolt]

Stop using the internet. Dat concentration power.

I was so bored in line at the DMV I read hamlet in 5 minutes. It felt like 2 hours.

Really though, time goes by slower when you are bored. If you stop watching the clock and put yourself in a boring room with nothing but your study materials it will feel like 2 hours passed and it was actually only 20 minutes and you covered 3 chapters.

Thats how it is with me anyway.

ADHD meds are indeed the dark side. How good are the notes you take on the first chapter of material the next day after an exam when you are crashing off adderal? Thought so. Oh geez you are going to have to cram again.

 

[rudder]

Garlic. Not the garlic pills but fresh garlic. You will be able to remember all the girls who turned you down cause of bad breath.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19053859

 

[purbeast0]

this thread reminds me how much i hated some aspects of school and how much i do not miss it.

 

[slightlyhuman]

try some alpha brain. i take it daily and do think it helps with remembering things and numbers.

clinical trials came back positive.

 

[The Green Bean]

Revision

 

[OverVolt]

try some alpha brain. i take it daily and do think it helps with remembering things and numbers.

clinical trials came back positive.

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/alpha-brain-whats-wrong-with-the-supplement-industry/

There. That will get rid of the placebo effect.

 

[destrekor]

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/alpha-brain-whats-wrong-with-the-supplement-industry/

There. That will get rid of the placebo effect.

Well, there is actually a lot of support for the different things in combination. BUT, the big but here, products like Alpha Brain rip you off by charging a high price for levels of all those products that are, for the average person, far too low to achieve any positive results.

So, Alpha Brain itself may be a placebo for most people. That article's only claim is that the claim of benefit attributed to Alpha GPC is not as well supported as is suggested.

However, Alpha GPC can be beneficial, if you take other drugs that either deplete acetylcholine, increase acetylcholine production, target acetylcholinesterase, etc etc etc. If you don't take anything that impacts the choline cycle, then adding Alpha GPC won't do anything that matters.

Again, Alpha Brain is a waste of money. There are better ways, though with far more pills, to get the same ingredients at doses tailored to individual effectiveness.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Phosphatidyl-serine mostly.

Forms of choline won't hurt. E.g. citicholine, alpha-gpc
B-vitamins, liquid magnesium/calcium
Also gulp some Daily Greens® (iron, zinc, folate, manganese)

Protein in the stomach.

That should fortify you nutritionally for mental performance.
Oh and don't forget to sleep.

 

[madoka]

Memory palace? Apparently, that's a real thing and not just something I heard of from TV.

http://www.ted.com/talks/joshua_foer_feats_of_memory_anyone_can_do