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How to make memory sharp?


Rajnish Kaushik

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This is something I feel like I struggle with constantly. When I was taking Anatomy and Physiology, I was very let down with how I would forget the simplest things, or missed the slightest detail during exams, practicals, etc. So one way I managed to overcome some of this frustration was by "strengthening" my memory by picking up medical journals and reading through them.

 

Some of the books I found were very interesting, yet since I lacked the knowledge of certain ideas, I found myself unable to retain the information. So what I would do is read the chapter over until I can remember it was about, regardless of whether the information made sense to me or not. I kept an "open mind".

 

This may not sound like the best advice, but it helped me learn the name and location of every artery and vein, within 3 hours, the same day my final exam was taking place. I passed with 100. I wish I had done this during the summer. :/

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  • 2 years later...

This is something I feel like I struggle with constantly. When I was taking Anatomy and Physiology, I was very let down with how I would forget the simplest things, or missed the slightest detail during exams, practicals, etc. So one way I managed to overcome some of this frustration was by "strengthening" my memory by picking up medical journals and reading through them.

 

Some of the books I found were very interesting, yet since I lacked the knowledge of certain ideas, I found myself unable to retain the information. So what I would do is read the chapter over until I can remember it was about, regardless of whether the information made sense to me or not. I kept an "open mind".

 

This may not sound like the best advice, but it helped me learn the name and location of every artery and vein, within 3 hours, the same day my final exam was taking place. I passed with 100. I wish I had done this during the summer. :/

 

 

It harder to learn human anatomy if you cannot pronounce the words. If you talking human anatomy class and pharmacy knowing the pronouncing of the words.

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Sleep is essential to memory consolidation, according to recent research.

 

I read this and similar papers on the sleep processes association with memory consolidation. I agree with none of them because their experimental outcomes are based on flawed assumptions. The flawed assumption is that the sleep process somehow consolidates and improves our cognitive function because we seem to think better, learn and remember more after normal sleep than when we don't get enough or the process is continually interrupted. In reality, sleep does improve our mental acuity because of metabolic factors unrelated to some assumed consolidation process.

 

The research in the link you provided focuses on the slow-wave stages of sleep, which involve those stages of the sleep process that do not include brain activity suggestive of dreaming. Among their conclusions, this paper's researchers said that slow-wave sleep is likely the stage in which memory consolidation occurs but that memory enhancement is "selective inasmuch as it does not enhance every memory" which, in my opinion, is a significant indication of their flawed conclusions. In my opinion, there should be no such selectivity in memory enhancement if that is the evolved nature of slow-wave sleep. All memory types should experience either the same enhancement or degradation whether or not a sleeper experiences a complete slow-wave cycle.

 

What the researchers may not have known or considered is that slow-wave, as the least active stages of normal brain function, primarily allows for more efficient removal of extracellular waste and toxins from the brain (see, Glymphatic system). In truth, our memory and mental acuity improves after sleep because our brain functions better with the removal of waste and toxins its metabolic processes generate.

Edited by DrmDoc
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  • 3 months later...

This is something I feel like I struggle with constantly. When I was taking Anatomy and Physiology, I was very let down with how I would forget the simplest things, or missed the slightest detail during exams, practicals, etc. So one way I managed to overcome some of this frustration was by "strengthening" my memory by picking up medical journals and reading through them.

 

Some of the books I found were very interesting, yet since I lacked the knowledge of certain ideas, I found myself unable to retain the information. So what I would do is read the chapter over until I can remember it was about, regardless of whether the information made sense to me or not. I kept an "open mind".

 

This may not sound like the best advice, but it helped me learn the name and location of every artery and vein, within 3 hours, the same day my final exam was taking place. I passed with 100. I wish I had done this during the summer. :/

 

 

I do agree with what you said Zaetus. That has helped me a lot in retaining information in my college courses. I used to feel so bad about myself for not being able to retain some information but I realized that it's kinda normal especially when there's plenty of new material to learn. This was something I learned about my research class that I just recently took. I initially freaked out about how poorly I was doing so I emailed my professor about how I could do better and learn all of these new concepts.This was exactly one of the things she advised me and it worked. I ended up doing much better in that course and feeling better about my learning ability. Yeah, going over the material more than once definitely helps, at least for me, and hopefully for others as well. Also, I'm still currently searching for other helpful methods in learning so any other advice would definitely help!

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