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Five Tricks for Remembering Names

Rita J. King posted on LinkedIn with these tips on how to remember names.

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Hack the Hippocampus: Memory Principles for Ads

Rita J. King posted on LinkedIn about Memory Layer's principles of memory as they apply to the memorability of advertisements. 

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Memory Layer selects most memorable ads of the 2013 Super Bowl

After a detailed review of 2013’s Super Bowl ads, Memory Layer applied their memory principles to pick the top ads. The Memory Layer winners take these principles into account to dramatically improve the odds that viewers will retain an ad’s message. Our first honorable mention goes to Hyundai’s “Stuck” commercial by Innocean. The core turbo feature was very nicely woven into the narrative of the entire ad, illustrating why this feature is helpful by having the car passing other highway nuisances. It also engages the audience, as we have all been on the highway stuck behind another vehicle. The Hyundai ad hooks into these emotional memories for enhanced recall.  A second honorable mention goes to Tide’s “Miracle Stain” by Saatchi & Saatchi. This ad took a simple stain and made it priceless. The importance and value of the stain builds until it is erased by an application of Tide. The product is vital to the climax of the narrative so when you remember the ad, you remember Tide. Our top award goes to the Mercedes-Benz “Soul” ad by Merkley + Partners. In order for an advertisement to be truly experienced it must engage the audience. The more the viewers imagine, the more of the brain is used and in turn the more memorable the message becomes. The ad for their all-new CLA car succeeded brilliantly by encouraging viewers to dream along with the protagonist as he envisions a future of the benefits associated with the car: riches, love, fame and adventure, offered to him in a deal with the devil. In the end he sees, through the window, a billboard with the car’s reasonable price on it. Since he realizes that the glories promised by the car are within his reach and budget, he doesn’t need the tempting deal with the devil to own it.

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This video from Scientific American shows the parts of the brain active in both remembering and forgetting.

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Scientists trigger an entire memory in a mouse by stimulating just a few neurons with light. They used a process called optogenetics that provides control over a small subset of neurons on a millisecond time scale.

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Oliver Sacks calls them "Brainworms" - those songs or jingles that you just can't get out of your head.

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Trying to remember where you parked the car? This TED video shows exactly how your brain does it with an investigation down to the level of individual neurons.

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Put it in the category of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. "Photographic Memory" just doesn't exist.

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Can you recall the vast majority of events in your life? You may have “hyperthymesia" like actress Marilu Henner.

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Can't remember numbers? That's because our brains evolved to remember the location of food/water, tribe member faces, and dangerous animals. If it doesn't have survival value, your hippocampus will generally disregard the information.

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Adjusted for total brain size, the hippocampus (our memory gateway) is larger in females than males.

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Picking up milk after work? One simple way to help you remember is to imagine a crazy scene happening in your car related to milk. For example, you might imagine opening your car door and seeing (and smelling!) gallons of sour milk pour out, or picture a cow in the driver's seat with hooves on the wheel. When you get into your car after work your brain will trigger the memory to stop for milk. Or visualize a cow falling from a billboard that appears just before the grocery store on your way home. When you pass by the billboard your brain will likely remember the milk.

[memorylayer]

Here is a handy mnemonic device to remember the heads on Mount Rushmore - "We Just Like Rushmore". The first letter of each of those words starts the last name of the four presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt. Never miss that Trivial Pursuit question again!

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A Canadian research center has published the strongest evidence yet that a smartphone training program, theory-driven and specifically designed for individuals with memory impairment, can result in “robust” improvements in day-to-day functioning, and boost independence and confidence levels.

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Think memory improvement techniques are too difficult to master? Watch this adorable six year old girl using the Roman Room Method to remember all of the Presidents of the United States. She associates each name with a unique location in her apartment and then recalls the names by walking and looking at each of those locations.

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Women and Memory

When it comes to memory, men and women are not always the same. One study showed that while women are better at remembering pleasant images, men are better at remember repulsive images.

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Smells trigger strong memories, probably so that our ancestors could avoid poisonous plants, rotten food, and tribe member who posed a threat to us.

Titan Arum - "Corpse Flower"