"Method of Loci"

BACKGROUND: Loss of cognitive and executive functions is a problem that affects people of all ages. That is why it is important to perform exercises for memory training and prevent early cognitive deterioration. The aim of this work was to compare the cognitive performance of the participants after an intervention by using two mnemonic techniques to exercise memory functions (paired-associate learning and method of loci). METHODS: A longitudinal study was conducted with 21 healthy participants aged 18 to 55 years over a 2-month period...

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess the effect of cognitive training on brain activation as a function of the learning phase and level of education. Forty older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) received 6 1-hour memory training sessions with the method of loci. Brain imaging (N = 29) was measured during word list encoding and retrieval before training (PRE), after 3 training sessions (POST3), and after 6 training sessions (POST6). Participants showed increased activation of the left inferior pre-frontal gyrus from PRE to POST6 during encoding and reduced bilateral frontostriatal activation from PRE to POST3 during retrieval, regardless of education...

The aim of this study was to investigate if training with the memory technique Method of Loci (MoL) is feasible for children and adolescents with ADHD. Twelve children (aged 9-17 years) with ADHD participated. Training with MoL was done using a mobile application, memorizing a sequence of 20-80 pictures, intended to be carried out five times per week for 4 weeks. Feasibility was assessed with pre- and post-intervention ratings, and with interviews after the training. Qualitative data were analyzed with content analysis...

For most, an improvement in memory would always be desirable, whether from the point of view of an aging individual with declining memory, or from the perspective of someone seeking to memorize large amounts of information in the shortest period of time. One way for people to improve upon their memory performance is by using the Method of Loci (MoL), a famously complex, ancient memorization technique for non-spatial information recall. With the use of virtual reality technology, this technique can finally be easily taught to individuals for use in their daily lives...

There is rich structure in the order in which studied material is recalled in a free recall task (Howard & Kahana, 2002a). Extensive effort has been directed at understanding the processes and representations that give rise to this structure; however, it remains unclear why certain types of recall organization might be favored in the first place. We provide a rational analysis of the free recall task, deriving the optimal policy for recalling items under the internal representations and processes described by the context maintenance and retrieval (CMR) model of memory search (Polyn et al...

Memory champions remember vast amounts of information in order and at first encounter by associating each study item to an anchor within a scaffold - a pre-learned, structured memory. The scaffold provides direct-access retrieval cues. Dominated by the familiar-route scaffold (Method of Loci), researchers have little insight into what characteristics of scaffolds make them effective, nor whether individual differences might play a role. We compared participant-generated mnemonic scaffolds: (a) familiar routes (Loci), (b) autobiographical stories (Story), (c) parts of the human body (Body), and (d) routine activities (Routine Activity)...

BACKGROUND: Dementia is a growing problem with 50 million patients worldwide expecting to triple by 2050. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer's Disease, characterized by a long process of deterioration for the patient and negative impact on the close environment ('caregiver burden'). Dementia is not only memory-loss, there is also communication-loss. More than 70% of the dementia patients are still living at home, taken care for by a family member. Dementia thus affects three times as many persons involved than there are patients...

The hippocampus plays an important role in representing spatial locations and sequences and in transforming representations. How these representational structures and operations support memory for the temporal order of random items is still poorly understood. We addressed this question by leveraging the method of loci, a powerful mnemonic strategy for temporal order memory that particularly recruits hippocampus-dependent computations of spatial locations and associations. Applying representational similarity analysis to functional magnetic resonance imaging activation patterns revealed that hippocampal subfields contained representations of multiple features of sequence structure, including spatial locations, location distance, and sequence boundaries, as well as episodic-like temporal context...

Enhancing cognitive memory through virtual reality represents an issue, that has never been investigated in organizational settings. Here, we compared a virtual memoryscape (treatment) - an immersive virtual environment used by subjects as a shared memory tool based on spatial navigation - with respect to the traditional individual-specific mnemonic tool based on the "method of loci" (control). A memory task characterized by high ecological validity was administered to 82 subjects employed by large banking group...

Recently, researchers have identified word animacy as a strong predictor of recall. In contrast, the method of loci is an ancient mnemonic technique which takes advantage of highly structured encoding and recall processes alongside a strong imagery component to create easily remembered "memory palaces." The present experiments examine the combined effectiveness of these techniques: Experiment 1 (N = 154) demonstrates that the method of loci and word animacy have additive effects, while Experiment 2 (N = 200) demonstrates that the additive effect of animacy is likely related to both the animate nature of words themselves and animate imagery associated with them...

In this proof-of-concept study, we assessed the potential for immersive virtual reality (VR) to measure transfer following strategic memory training, and whether efficacy and transfer are increased when training is complemented by practice in an immersive virtual environment. Forty older adults with subjective memory complaints were trained with the method of loci. They were randomized to either a condition where they practiced the strategy in VR ( n = 20) or a control condition where they were familiarized with VR using a non-memory task ( n = 20)...

Mnemonic techniques, such as the method of loci, can powerfully boost memory. We compared memory athletes ranked among the world's top 50 in memory sports to mnemonics-naïve controls. In a second study, participants completed a 6-week memory training, working memory training, or no intervention. Behaviorally, memory training enhanced durable, longer-lasting memories. Functional magnetic resonance imaging during encoding and recognition revealed task-based activation decreases in lateral prefrontal, as well as in parahippocampal and retrosplenial cortices in both memory athletes and participants after memory training, partly associated with better performance after 4 months...

We investigated the feasibility of a short intervention using the Method of Loci (MoL), a well-known visuospatial mnemonic, to improve episodic memory recall performance in schizophrenia. The MoL training protocol comprised encoding and recall of two lists of items (words and images), a training session and practice with MoL. Then, participants had the opportunity to put into practice the newly learned MoL and were instructed to encode and recall two new lists of items using. This approach was first validated with healthy individuals ( N = 71)...

Working memory (WM) training is a prevalent intervention for multiple cognitive deficits, however, the transfer effects to other cognitive tasks from gains in WM induced by different training techniques still remains controversial. Therefore, the current study recruited three groups of young adults to investigate the memory training transference, with N-back group (NBG) (n = 50) training on dual n-back task, Memory Palace group (MPG) (n = 50) on method of loci, and a blank control group (BCG) (n = 48) receiving no training...

OBJECTIVES: Episodic memory is age-sensitive but can be strengthened by targeted training interventions. The method of loci (MoL) is a classic mnemonic which if successfully implemented greatly improves memory performance. We developed and investigated the effects of a MoL training program implemented in a smart phone application (app) with the aim of studying usage of the application, training effect and its modifiability by age, predictors for MoL proficiency, transfer effects to a face-name memory task, and perceived benefit in everyday memory...

Objective : To study whether memory control beliefs predict response to memory training, or change as a result of participating in memory training. Methods : Eighty community based participants with subjective memory complaints Community-based study at UCLA were randomized to one of three conditions: Memory Training , the program consisted of weekly 120-minute classes featuring instruction in three specific strategies: Method of Loci; Chunking Technique; and Face-Name Association, Health Education or Wait-List over seven weeks...

Memory decline can be a devastating disease and increases in aging Western populations. Memory enhancement technologies hold promise for this and other conditions. Approaches include stem cell transplantation, which improved memory in several animal studies as well as vaccination against Alzheimer´s disease (AD) by β-amyloid antibodies. For a positive clinical effect, the vaccine should probably be administered over a long period of time and before amyloid pathologies manifest in the brain. Different drugs, such as erythropoietin or antiplatelet therapy, improve memory in neuropsychiatric diseases or AD or at least in animal studies...

The method of loci is arguably the most famous mnemonic strategy and is highly effective for memorising lists of non-spatial information in order. As described and instructed, this strategy apparently relies on a spatial/navigational metaphor. The user imagines moving through an environment, placing (study) and reporting (recall) list items along the way. However, whether the method relies critically on this spatial/navigation metaphor is unknown. An alternative hypothesis is that the navigation component is superfluous to memory success, and the method of loci is better viewed as a special case of a larger class of imagery-based peg strategies...

Observed influences of system response delay in spoken human-machine dialogues are rather ambiguous and mainly focus on perceived system quality. Studies that systematically inspect effects on cognitive performance are still lacking, and effects of individual characteristics are also often neglected. Building on benefits of cognitive training for decelerating cognitive decline, this Wizard-of-Oz study addresses both issues by testing 62 elderly participants in a dialogue-based memory training with a virtual agent...

Participants of the annual World Memory Championships regularly demonstrate extraordinary memory feats, such as memorising the order of 52 playing cards in 20 s or 1000 binary digits in 5 min. On a cognitive level, memory athletes use well-known mnemonic strategies, such as the method of loci. However, whether these feats are enabled solely through the use of mnemonic strategies or whether they benefit additionally from optimised neural circuits is still not fully clarified. Investigating 23 leading memory athletes, we found volumes of their right hippocampus and caudate nucleus were stronger correlated with each other compared to matched controls; both these volumes positively correlated with their position in the memory sports world ranking...