A Clever Trick Aids Memory

To improve recall of words and faces, try associating them with locations

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Mentally “placing” surreal images along a familiar route can aid memory. For example, visualizing an astronaut at a specific spot might help you remember the name “Armstrong.”

One of the tragedies of aging is the slow but steady decline in memory. Phone numbers slipping your mind? Forgetting crucial items on your grocery list? Opening the door but can't remember why? Over half of adults aged 64 years or older report memory complaints. For many of us, senile moments are the result of normal changes in brain structure and function, instead of a sign of dementia, and will inevitably haunt us all.

Fortunately, scientists are devising interventions to help keep the elderly mind sharp. One popular approach—borrowed from the training of memory experts—is to teach the elderly mnemonics, or little tricks that help to encode and recall new information using rhythm, imagery or spatial navigation.

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