TITLE

Always Forgetting Important Things? Here’s How to Fix That

DESCRIPTION

This is a very fascinating article that examines a cognitive science experiment in memory and forgetting.  “Most people, when tasked with remembering something important, jot down a note. But a 2018 study published in the journal Experimental Aging Research says there may be a better way to keep memories fresh: draw a picture.

Drawing works your brain in ways that writing alone does not, forcing it to process visual information, translate the meaning of a word into an image and carry out a physical act all at once, says study co-author Melissa Meade, a doctoral candidate in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Waterloo in Canada. “It’s bringing online a lot of different brain regions that you wouldn’t bring online if you were just writing information out,” Meade explains. “We think this multifaceted approach of using the drawing technique benefits memory and the brain.”  The article presents an experiment in which people had to write a list of words and also make drawings of a list of words and then tested for remembering each list.  The researchers found that the list was remembered much better for the drawn than the written list.   Further the researchers hypothesize how this would be a helpful strategy for individuals experiencing cognitive decline.

SOURCE

Time, December 11, 2018, by Jamie Ducharme

LINK TO RESOURCE

https://time.com/5474432/drawing-helps-boost-memory/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-share-article&utm-term=health

(Tiny URL)  https://tinyurl.com/7c5vhys4

CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

•Briefly, describe the experiments that is discussed in the  article?

•What would be a good strategy for remembering a shopping list?

•How could this research help patients suffering from cognitive decline and/or dementia?