"Method of Loci"

The method of loci is a highly effective mnemonic that recruits existing salient memory for spatial locations and uses the information as a scaffold for remembering a list of items (Yates, 1966). One possible account for the effectiveness of the spatial method of loci comes from the perspective that it utilizes evolutionarily preserved mechanisms for spatial navigation within the hippocampus (Maguire et al. in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97(8), 4398-4403, 2000; O'Keefe & Nadel, 1978; Rodriguez et al...

The art of memory (ars memoriae) used since classical times includes using a well-known scene to associate each view or part of the scene with a different item in a speech. This memory technique is also known as the "method of loci." The new theory is proposed that this type of memory is implemented in the CA3 region of the hippocampus where there are spatial view cells in primates that allow a particular view to be associated with a particular object in an event or episodic memory. Given that the CA3 cells with their extensive recurrent collateral system connecting different CA3 cells, and associative synaptic modifiability, form an autoassociation or attractor network, the spatial view cells with their approximately Gaussian view fields become linked in a continuous attractor network...

The method of loci is one, if not the most, efficient mnemonic encoding strategy. This spatial mnemonic combines the core cognitive processes commonly linked to medial temporal lobe (MTL) activity: spatial and associative memory processes. During such processes, fMRI studies consistently demonstrate MTL activity, while electrophysiological studies have emphasized the important role of theta oscillations (3-8 Hz) in the MTL. However, it is still unknown whether increases or decreases in theta power co-occur with increased BOLD signal in the MTL during memory encoding...

When imagining being stranded in the grasslands of a foreign land without any basic survival material, participants have a magnificent memory for words rated according to their usefulness in this particular situation. Numerous studies could demonstrate that survival processing boosts memory performance more than other memory enhancing techniques. The method of loci is an old mnemonic strategy used to enhance serial recall. This method encompasses navigating mentally through a familiar environment and placing the to-be-remembered items in specific locations...

BACKGROUND: The disruption of retrieval strategies hypothesis (Basden, Basden, Bryner, & Thomas, 1997) has been identified as the main reason for the occurrence of the collaborative inhibition effect. This study aims to test this hypothesis applying the same retrieval strategy to all participants. METHOD: To accomplish this, we compared nominal and collaborative (pairs) performance in a serial recall task in two conditions: use of own strategy vs. use of the method of loci, in a classic experimental paradigm of collaborative memory...

Superior memorizers often employ the method of loci (MoL) to memorize large amounts of information. The MoL, known since ancient times, relies on a complex process where information to be memorized is bound to landmarks along mental routes in a previously memorized environment. However, functional magnetic resonance imaging data on groups of trained superior memorizer are rare. Based on the memorizing strategy reported by superior memorizers, we developed a scheme of the processes successively employed during memorizing and recalling digits and relate these to brain activation that is specific for the encoding and recall period...

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by a dysfunctional processing of autobiographical memories. We review the following core domains of deficit: systematic biases favoring materials of negative emotional valence; diminished access and response to positive memories; a recollection of overgeneral memories in detriment of specific autobiographical memories; and the role of ruminative processes and avoidance when dealing with autobiographical memories. Furthermore, we review evidence from functional neuroimaging studies of neural circuits activated by the recollection of autobiographical memories in both healthy and depressive individuals...

Humans use many strategies for navigation. Strategies utilizing cognitive salience of landmark have not been tested for application. In this study, we compared two strategies that humans use while navigating in an unfamiliar homogenous environment to remember the route. First strategy, called route learning, involved remembering sequence of turns, while second strategy used a commonly known memory technique method of loci with slight modification. In route learning, participants did not rely on any landmark (no-landmark condition), while in method of loci they visualized personally significant landmarks (imagined condition)...

BACKGROUND: Preoperative conditions may play a significant role in postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) development in elderly patients. We aimed to investigate whether preoperative cognitive training could lower the incidence of POCD one week after surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 141 ASA I-III elderly patients who underwent gastrointestinal surgery were enrolled into the study. Patients were randomized into either the Intervention group (69 analyzed) or the Control group (72 analyzed)...

Mnemonics are useful memory tools in medical school and during clinical work. They serve to learn, consolidate or recall information. Different types of mnemonics exist. The most commonly used are acronyms or alphabetical types (e.g. RICE in case of soft tissue injury or ABC in acute situations), though other types such as visual mnemonics or the method of loci are possibly more effective. Memory techniques work because they apply other routes to remembering than traditional learning. They often link information to well-known knowledge and sometimes they appeal to humour or feelings...

Proactive interferencebuilds up with exposure to multiple lists of similar items with a resulting reduction in recall. This study examined the effectiveness of using a proactive strategy of the method of loci to reduce proactive interference in a list recall paradigm of categorically similar words. While all participants reported using some form of strategy to recall list words, this study demonstrated that young adults were able to proactively use the method of loci after 25 min of instruction to reduce proactive interference as compared with other personal spontaneous strategies...

Depression is characterized by distinct profiles of disturbance in ways autobiographical memories are represented, recalled, and maintained. We review four core domains of difficulty: systematic biases in favor of negative material; impoverished access and responses to positive memories; reduced access to the specific details of the personal past; and dysfunctional processes of rumination and avoidance around personal autobiographical material. These difficulties drive the onset and maintenance of depression; consequently, interventions targeted at these maladaptive processes have clinical potential...

Cognitive psychology has demonstrated that the way knowledge is structured in memory determines the ability to retain, recall, and use it to solve problems. The method of loci (MOL) is a mnemonic device that relies on spatial relationships between “loci” (e.g., locations on a familiar route or rooms in a familiar building) to arrange and recollect memorial content. In the present study, we hypothesized that the use of MOL leads to better understanding of the topic among students, which can be observed through better student performance on assessments...

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: The method of loci (MoL) is a complex visuospatial mnemonic strategy. Previous research suggests that older adults could potentially benefit from using the MoL, but that it is too attentionally demanding for them to use in practice. The authors evaluated the hypotheses that training can increase the use of MoL, and that MoL use is associated with better memory. METHODS: The authors analyzed skip patterns on response forms for the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) in the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE; N = 1401) trial using 5 years of longitudinal follow-up...

Certain method of loci (MoL) prerequisites--familiar, coherently ordered locations--should appear during dreaming if the latter is, in fact, elaborative memory encoding as hypothesized by Llewellyn. A review of the literature suggests that dreamed locations are neither familiar nor coherently ordered and thus unsuitable for facilitating memory in this sense. This conclusion converges with other evidence that episodic memory is dependent upon non-rapid eye movement (NREM), rather than REM, sleep.

During dreaming, as well as during wakefulness, elaborative encoding, indexing and ancient art of memory (AAOM) techniques, such as the method of loci, may coincide with emotion regulation. These techniques shed light on the link between dreaming and emotional catharsis, post-traumatic stress disorder, supermemorization during sleep as opposed to wakefulness, and the developmental role of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in children.

The Method of Loci (MOL) is an ancient mnemonic strategy used to enhance serial recall. Traditionally, the MOL is carried out by imagining navigating a familiar environment and "placing" the to-be-remembered items in specific locations. For retrieval, the mnemonist re-imagines walking through the environment, "looking" for those items in order. Here we test a novel MOL method, where participants use a briefly studied virtual environment as the basis for the MOL and applied the strategy to 10 lists of 11 unrelated words...

Cognitive deficits are frequent after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) in the elderly population. In fact, memory and attention deficits can persist several months after the surgery. Recent studies with healthy older adults have shown that memory and attention can be improved through cognitive training programs. The present study examined whether memory training (method of loci and story generation) and attentional training (dual-task computerized training) could improve cognitive functions in patients aged 65 years and older who underwent CABG surgery...

This literature paper investigated the efficacy of 14 cognitive intervention programs administered to healthy elderly participants. PsycINFO and PubMed databases were searched using the following terms: cognitive training, cognitive stimulation, elderly, and aging. The majority of participants (13/14 studies) were recruited in community. Nine out of 14 studies targeted memory as the principal cognitive function to train or stimulate. Face-name associations, mental imagery, paired associations, and the method of loci were the main techniques taught to participants...

The brain's ability to alter its functional and structural architecture in response to experience and learning has been extensively studied. Mental stimulation might serve as a reserve mechanism in brain aging, but macrostructural brain changes in response to cognitive training have been demonstrated in young participants only. We examined the short-term effects of an intensive memory training program on cognition and brain structure in middle-aged and elderly healthy volunteers. The memory trainers completed an 8-week training regimen aimed at improving verbal source memory utilizing the Method of Loci (MoL), while control participants did not receive any intervention...