Doodle your way to better memory

by Daniele Selby

Doodle and photograph by itselea

How often do you daydream in class? Or when your mother lectures you, or when your friend tells you minute by minute what happened in the their day. Chances are you remember very little of what was said in those encounters. The same goes for studying while watching the television – sometimes it makes it harder to remember what you read. Generally, multitasking while trying to acquire new knowledge has a negative effect. Multitasking while learning can interfere with the recollection of the knowledge later (Schaffhausen, 2006). Yet interestingly, a new study has found some evidence that a specific kind of multitasking, doodling to be exact, can help memory recall.

At Plymouth University researchers performed memory tests on 40 volunteers. During these tests the subjects were asked to listen to a phone call and recall the names and places mentioned during the call afterwards. The call lasted two and minutes. Half of the volunteers were asked to doodle by coloring in shapes on a piece of paper, during the phone call. The subjects were not required to do so neatly, or with any amount of detail and attention. The other half were allowed to do as they pleased during the call. All the subjects were warned that the content of the phone call would be rather un-stimulating, and none were told this was a test of memory. Following the phone call the subjects were asked to explicitly name eight places and eight names mentioned during the call. On average, those who doodled recalled 7.5 of the required pieces of data while those who did not doodle only recalled 5.8.

It is believed that those who doodled were better able to recall the contents of the phone call because they stayed engaged during the call, rather than daydreaming or allowing their minds to wander. While doodling is a form of multitasking and might sound distracting, the level of attention and engagement which takes place while doodling – not drawing – is significantly less than that which takes place when day dreaming. People are more detached from their doodles than they are involved in their daydreams.

When testing memory and/or attention, second tasks are often used to block a particular mental process. If that process is essential to the performance of the main cognitive task at hand, then the performance of the task will be affected. The performance of the task is likely to be impaired if the second task interferes with the mental process. But this does not seem to be the case with doodling. Perhaps the reason we are inclined to doodle in the first place is that it helps us recall things we learn. There is no certain conclusion yet as to why doodling seems to help recall, but maybe this is evidence enough for all of us students to start scribbling.

References

Maron, D. F. (2009, February 26) Doodle Zone. Newsweek. Retrieved March 3, 2010, from http://www.newsweek.com/id/186738

Schaffhausen, J.  (2006, July 25) Multitasking May Harm Memory. ABC News. Retrieved March 4, 2010 from, http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2230735

Wiley-Blackwell (2009, March 5). Do Doodle: Doodling Can Help Memory Recall. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 4, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/02/090226210039.htm

Using magnets to read minds

By Jamee Bateau

the powerful magnet of your charms by jamelah

Mind-readers exist! No, I’m no referring to street-corner psychics with crystal balls and elaborate antique shops, but to today’s scientists and how they can now get a glimpse at what people are thinking. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), scientists can now tell which items are being thought of in a person’s visual short-term memory (VSTM) based only on patterns of activity in the brain.

Visual short-term memory is a memory system that stores visual information for a few seconds so that it can assist long-term cognitive tasks. Some usually think of VSTM as the visual storage component of the broader working memory system / short-term memory system. Compared with iconic memory, VSTM representations are longer-lasting, more durable, and more conceptual. Items in VSTM can survive eye movements, eye blinks, and other visual disturbances, and they may play an important role in preserving links across these disturbances. Unfortunately, VSTM has a highly limited storage capacity and mainly produces rapid schematic representations. On the other hand, Long-Term Memory (LTM) has a nearly infinite storage capacity and produces richly detailed representations over a reasonably long time period.

VSTM studies are generally categorized into four classes of tasks. In one class of tasks, subjects are asked to create a mental image. In a second class, scientists use a recall procedure.  A third class of VSTM tasks uses a sequential comparison procedure. Finally, a fourth class of VSTM tasks, used most often in monkeys, requires the observer to withhold a response after seeing a target. But today, scientists are taking VSTM studies to the next level, not by testing how much or how long information can be held in VSTM, but by reading the patterns of blood flow in the brain to determine what the person is thinking of.

There have been two recent studies, one led by neuroscientist Frank Tong of Vanderbilt University and the other by psychologists from the University of Oregon and the University of California, San Diego.

What sports do for your brain

By Matt Pearce

Photo by Ken Wooldridge

When you think about it, exercising and playing sports requires the stimulation of many different areas of the brain.  The medulla, which is located at the base of the brain stem, controls ones heartbeat and breathing.  The cerebellum, also known as the “little brain,” is attached to the rear of the brainstem and is crucial in coordinating movement and balance.  Additionally, the hypothalamus is necessary for maintenance activities such as homeostasis and body temperature (Myers, 2006).  But what does exercising and playing sports do for the brain in return?

Exercising and playing sports have both long term and short terms effects on brain function.  Immediately following physical activity, the verbal memory of athletes is worse than when the athletes are resting. However, physical activity has a minimal impact on visual memory, motor processing speed and reaction times.  In a recent study, 102 male and female athletes were gathered in order to engage in a test that analyzed the affects of exercise and physical activity on brain function.  The control group rested for fifteen minutes and the exercise group underwent strenuous exercise for fifteen minutes.  Immediately following the fifteen minutes, both groups took an Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test.  The test results showed that the verbal memory scores of the exercise group were much less than the control group.  Perhaps this phenomenon occurs because the areas of the brain associated with vision and the senses, homeostasis, movement, and balance are all activated while the parts of the brain associated with memory are not activated.  This causes somewhat of a delay in the efficiency of ones short-term memory.

While brain function may be slightly diminished immediately following physical activity, overall brain function seems to increase with the presence of regular physical activity.  Charles Hillman of the University of Illinois conducted a test that collected data on 241 individuals from the ages of 15-71.  Each individual reported how physically active he or she was and also completed a series of task performance capabilities tests.  The results showed that the more physically active individuals exhibited enhanced reaction times, improved task performance, and greater response accuracy (University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign).  The constant activation and use of the brain for reactions and movement enhances and improves this specific region of the brain.  Although physical activity has been proven to slightly hinder memory functions, it enhances reaction times, task performance, and response accuracy while have little to no long-term effect on memory.

References

Covassin, T.,  Weiss L., Powell, J. and   Womack, C. (2007), Effects of a maximal exercise test on neurocognitive function [abstract]. British Journal of Sports Medicine 41, 370-374. Retrieved November 13, 2008 from http://bjsm.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/41/6/370.

Myers, D. G. (2006) Psychology (8th ed. in Modules). New York: Worth.

[No author] (2007). Does exercise affect brain function? Peak Performance [Web site]. Retreived October 10, 2008 from http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/does-exercise-affect-brain-function-35945.

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign (2006, December 20). “Exercise Appears To Improve Brain Function Among Younger People.” ScienceDaily. Retrieved  October 14  2008 from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2006/12/061219122200.htm.

Reliving your memories (at the cellular level)

Katie Holdefehr

hippocampus

We’ve all been there: in the middle of a midterm, staring down blankly at question #17. You know you know the answer, but for some reason, it just is not coming to you. Memory fails you. Well, rest assured that the next time a situation like this occurs, there may be just a single cell to blame. A recent study conducted by scientists at UCLA and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel found that individual brain cells are responsible for free recall, or the retrieval of a memory without any prompting or clues. In the study, the subjects watched video clips of familiar landmarks and people, like the characters from the “Simpsons,” and were later asked to recall and discuss any of the clips. As the researchers monitored the brain activity in the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for memory, they found that the same single brain cells lit up when watching a clip as when the subject recalled that specific clip later.
A study of rodents found that a similar phenomenon happened in these animals as well. As the rodent passed certain spots in a maze, special cells in the hippocampus involved with location became active, and the rat’s next turn could be predicted. The results of these studies show that the same brain cells which were initially activated during the creation of a memory are the same cells that become active during recall of the memory. However, it should be noted that this may not always be the case, since the circuitry of memories can be reworked. Although one brain cell was found to fire most rapidly, the recall of the memory requires the workings of large memory circuits.
What is most interesting about these findings is that they suggest a deep connection between remembering and reliving an experience. When we think back to an event from out past, it may trigger the same neurons that were activated at the time of the event. Now if only we could just tell our neurons to relive that instant in class that might shed some light on that tricky question #17…

References:

University of California – Los Angeles (2008, September 16). How Memories Are Made, And Recalled. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 7, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/09/080908101651.htm

Carey, Benedict (2008, September 4). “For the Brain, Remembering is Reliving.” The New Yok Times. Retrieved October 4,  2008, from  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/science/05brain.html.

Brave new tastes

By Dorie Obertello

No one will deny that America, as a country, is overweight. Some states have obesity rates that surpass 1 in every 4. There are countless theories as to why this is the case. Is it socioeconomic? Cultural? Medical?

A study by Don Katz from Brandeis University about taste got me thinking not about why American is fat, but how we could fix it. It does not seem that Katz has looked at the weight loss angle of his research, but I see a very possible link.

A popular remedy to excess weight, other than diet and exercise (which for some is too gradual or ineffective) is surgery. This seems a bit extreme because while it is effective, it is also incredibly dangerous. There must be a better way to return quickly and permanently to normal weight.

Katz is studying the links between tastes and emotions. He has postulated that every taste, without exception, invokes a tangible response, usually in the form of brain activity. However, many tastes also evoke emotions, often mirror images of feelings about the setting and/or experience of past consumption.

He has found that if a taste is associated with a negative experience and negative emotions, the taste itself will become disliked. This is called taste aversion. It holds true for a number of animals, from humans to mice (Katz is currently using mice).

So, what if doctors and scientists could program obese patients to loath unhealthy foods? The idea is not extraordinary. All that would be necessary is a bad experience to accompany the taste. If French fires and fried chicken seem vile due to a particularly nasty past stomachache, there is little risk an overweight individual will want to eat them.

Taking the idea a step further, perhaps children could be taught preemptively to dislike certain fattening or non-nutritious foods in an effort to stem the growing “epidemic,” as some call it. Of course, this preventative measure is not right for everyone. However, for those at risk, a picky palette is better than a lifetime of health trouble.

Blueberries, tea, chocolate, memory and skepticism

If you read newspaper and internet stories about foods and health, you have no doubt come across articles touting the memory boosting properties of certain foods, like blueberries. Even on this site, a number of posts have touted the memory-boosting properties of certain foods:

• A substance, epicatechin , found in chocolate, has been shown to improve spatial memory. Specifically, it boosted the ability of rats to remember the location of a platform in a murky pool of water. This worked better when the rats were getting regular exercise.
• Another chemical, theanine, found in tea, has been found to boost attention skills, when used in conjunction with caffeine (also found in tea). Human participants were better at picking out a target on a computer screen when their pre-game water had been spiked with the caffeine/theanine combination.

But should you really be scarfing down blueberries, tea and chocolate when you study? Well, maybe, because they all taste good, though the chocolate might make you gain weight, and the tea might keep you awake. But we don’t really know if they will be of any use in the kind of memory involved in studying for school. We don’t know that because we have not seen the research. It is tempting, but foolish, to assume that our brains will respond in much the same way as rat brains, or that success on laboratory tasks will translate to success in real-world tasks. In fact our brains are different in some important ways from rats’ brains (a bigger ratio of cortex to brain, for example) and not all memories are the same (semantic memory, the stuff you know, involves different parts of the brain than procedural memories, what you know how to do).

So where is the real-world, human subjects research? It is quite possible it is sitting in a file-drawer somewhere. It is notoriously difficult to publish studies which show no effect. Perhaps some reputable scientist has actually done research on the effects of chocolate or tea on memory for texts, for example, and found no effect. It would not be easy to get that research into a journal, let alone on to WebMD or USA Today.

Or perhaps the research just hasn’t been done. For reasons I have difficulty fathoming, many scientists, including journal editors, may be more interested in carefully controlled studies using extracts of chocolate on rats doing laboratory memory tasks. It just sounds so much more scientific than the relatively simple experiment of testing tea or chocolate on actual people studying.

Meanwhile, I see no harm in boosting your consumption of blueberries, or replacing other fattening foods with chocolate, or replacing coffee with tea. And who knows, you may someday find yourself swimming in murky water and be glad you did.

Whoa! There’s a glitch in the Matrix!

by  Kenia Rodriguez

The feeling of having experienced a particular moment in your life, the feeling of “wait, this has happened before” even though the experience is actually new to you is regarded as déjà vu. French for “already seen,” déjà vu is a phenomenon that about 60% of the American population has experienced. Yet, despite its ubiquity in popular culture, very little is actually understood of déjà vu. Scientists conducting research in the past few decades have discovered a myriad of possible explanations for the occurrence.

Boosting your memory with yummy foods

Have you ever wished that you could be thrown repeatedly into a swimming pool filled with murky water, and reliably find your way to a submerged platform? Probably not. But that is a common way to test the memory of  mice. Mice who remember the location of the platform find it more quickly, and of course mice with better memories remember the location better. But what makes for a good memory in a mouse? Surprisingly, one of the answers is a group of foods that contains the antioxidant chemical epicatechin. A recent study in the Journal of Neuroscience found that mice who ate more of this chemical found the submerged platform more quickly than a control group of rats who did not get an epicatechin supplement.

So where can you get epicatechin? In some very tasty foods, actually. Blueberries, grapes, tea, and cocoa top the list. Personally, I like the prospect of eating more dark chocolate and drinking more tea. But the study suggests there is one more step I should take, to get maximum benefit to my memory: Exercise. Rats that ran a treadmill for two hours a day, and also go the epicatechin supplement had the best performance in the underwater maze. I hate treadmills, but if raking leaves or walking my dogs can work as a substitute, I’m already there.

Of course, there may be a few nit-pickers out there who will point out that mice are not exactly the same as people, and that finding a submerged maze may not involve the same memory systems as remembering material for a psychology quiz. Pick all you want, but you are not going to stop me from making a batch of blueberry muffins, and telling myself that they are good for me.

More astounding feats of memory

by Sean Boley

When I read the post about mnemonics my extremely average memory cued the story of Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant. According to wikipedia, an autistic savant is someone who has both autism and savant syndrome. These individuals tend to show incredible mental capabilities, but are hindered by the sort of developmental or mental handicap that are common among autistic people. Tammet’s autism does not hinder his mental aptitude; rather he can memorize the first 22,514 digits of pi and tell you exactly how he does it. For this reason, many people refer to him as a ‘Rosetta Stone’ of savantism.

Besides incredible feats of memorization, Tammet can do virtually any arithmetic problem in his head. Additionally, he know seven languages, one of which he learned in a single week (Icelandic). His ability to store incredibly large amounts of information in a very brief amount of time has mystified scores of scientists. So, what is the secret to his extraordinary mental capability?