Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life

Acquiring a memory:
Sometimes this is called coding a 
memory. This occurs, for instance, as you learn the basics of 
riding a bike.
2.
Storing a memory:
At this stage you fi le the memory away 
for later use as you work at learning to ride.
3.
Retrieving a memory:
At this point you recall the memory 
the next time you hop onto the bike.
Now that we understand the difference between implicit and 
explicit memory, let ’ s look at explicit memory in greater detail. 
Because it is of paramount importance, I have devoted the entire 
following section to it.
Associations and Mnemonic Tricks 
Cultivating memory skills and cultivating neuroplasticity go hand in 
hand. This is because forming memories requires neuroplasticity. 
Each new memory represents a neuroplastic change in your brain. 
c04.indd 79
c04.indd 79
1/29/10 10:11:07 AM
1/29/10 10:11:07 AM

---

80 Rew i r e
Yo u r
B r a i n
Essentially, these memories are the result of forming and strength-
ening synaptic connections. 
One of the interesting facets of long - term memory is that once 
you begin to describe an event from earlier in your life, you may 
be surprised by how much you remember. As you begin to describe 
the event, you ’ re reminded of other circumstances that surround the 
event. You unleash a whole chain of associations and rekindle a 
much wider spectrum of memories. This is because memory involves 
establishing synaptic connections among large groups of neurons. 
These connections represent associations with images, ideas, and 
feelings that you had when you coded the memories as well as every 
time you recall those memories. The synaptic connections and asso-
ciations are two aspects of the same process. 
Since memory represents associations, you can cultivate your 
memory skills by using mnemonic devices, which enhance memory 
through association construction. Mnemonic devices that grab your 
attention and make remembering fun are the most effective. If 
your mnemonic device is stale and boring, you ’ ll want to forget it. 
Let it stand out by making it silly, funny, absurd, or even titillating. 
Memory aids such as mnemonic devices provide you with ways 
to trick yourself into remembering. Many mnemonic devices have 
been used throughout history, and I recommend the following four, 
which are particularly useful and easy to learn: 
1.
Pegs
2.
Loci
3.
Story links
4.
Link
Pegs do just what the name says: they peg a word to another 
word that is easier to remember. They are hooks that you can use 
to capture the word you are trying to remember. When you think of 
the peg word, you ’ ll think of the word you want to remember. For 
instance, in “ One, two, buckle my shoe; three, four, open the door, ”
two
is attached to
shoe 
and 
four 
is attached to
 door
. 
Pegging can also involve associating a letter or a number with a 
word that you want to remember. The acronym FEED is a peg. You 
c04.indd 80
c04.indd 80
1/29/10 10:11:07 AM
1/29/10 10:11:07 AM

---

C u l t i va t i n g
M e m o r y
81
could, instead, associate each letter of the alphabet with a number. 
You can remember a string of numbers by remembering their cor-
responding letters arranged as a word. 
Twenty - six hundred years ago, Mnemosyne, the Greek goddess 
of memory, was said to know everything: the past, the present, and 
the future. Storytellers called bards learned how to remember long 
poems and epic tales by relying on Mnemosyne. Actually, however, 
they used the mnemonic technique called loci. 
Loci
(LO - sigh) is the plural of
locus
, which is Latin for “ place ” or 
“ location. ” Sometimes the loci system is referred to as the topical 
system.
Topo
means “ location ” in Greek. 
When you ’ re using loci, you ’ re coding your memories with spe-
cifi c locations. If you want to be able to remember the contents of a 
speech you have to give, you can associate each point with a specifi c 
location in the room. Then when you ’ re giving the talk, you can look 
at each location and be reminded of what you want to say. 
The Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero once told how the 
loci method was used by the poet Simonides while he chanted a 
lyrical poem at a large banquet in honor of the host, Scopos. When 
Simonides included a passage with praise for the gods Castor and 
Pollux, Scopos became angry and refused to pay Simonides the full 
fee, telling him that he could obtain the balance from the gods. 
During the argument Simonides was summoned by a messenger 
who said that two young men were waiting outside and wanted to 
talk to him immediately. When Simonides went outside to meet the 
men, they were nowhere to be seen. In the meantime the building 
caught on fi re and collapsed, killing all the occupants inside. 
As the cleanup and rescue effort got under way, no one was able 
to identify the bodies of the victims — except Simonides. He identi-
fi ed each person by where he or she had been sitting at the time he 
was summoned outside. 
The loci system has two main steps: 
1.
Commit to memory several locations of a place in the order 
that you want to remember them. The place can be your liv-
ing room or a room in which you must give a presentation.
c04.indd 81
c04.indd 81
1/29/10 10:11:08 AM
1/29/10 10:11:08 AM

---

82 Rew i r e
Yo u r
B r a i n
2.
Associate something you want to remember with each location.
By taking these two simple steps, you can recall what you ’ re try-
ing to remember by looking at the location, walking by it, or simply 
picturing it in your mind. 
Let ’ s say that you want to memorize a presentation. While 
you are rehearsing your lines, walk around the room and make 
a specifi c association to each object in the room or each part of 
the room. At the lectern, remember the fi rst part of your speech. 
Then go to the laptop, the projector, the fi rst row, the back row, 
and so on, remembering a different part of your presentation at 
each location. 
As you practice, walk around the room and time your presenta-
tion to match each location with each part. Next, stand in one spot 
and look at each location as you go through the presentation again, 
matching each part with each location. Finally, leave the room 
physically but reenter it mentally, going through your presentation 
and making the same matches. 
By the time you actually begin speaking, you ’ ll be able to glance 
at areas in the room and make the presentation by using each loca-
tion as a cue. 
The third mnemonic technique is story links. Throughout history 
people have gathered around storytellers, read novels, and enjoyed 
movies. Stories are an essential part of the fabric of our culture. You 
use stories as a way to learn, teach, and pass the time. You can also 
link stories to information you want to remember. 
By teaching yourself a story, you can link it to information you 
hope to remember later. Then when you tell yourself the story, 
you ’ ll be reminded of the information you wanted to remember. You 
develop a story that reminds you of a list of words or a group of con-
cepts that you have to remember. The story should weave together 
the items in the order that you want to remember them. Those 
items connect with one another as the story unfolds. 
The fourth mnemonic system is called link. It requires a little 
more time to construct. To use this technique you develop a list 
or group of words or concepts that you need to remember. One 
c04.indd 82
c04.indd 82
1/29/10 10:11:08 AM
1/29/10 10:11:08 AM

---

C u l t i va t i n g
M e m o r y
83