Actionable strategies for memory

After shopping at the mall, you're unsure whether you've parked your car on Level 1 or 2. You run into an acquaintance on the street and though you're sure you've met before, her name eludes you. When you make a presentation at the office and a colleague asks for last month's sales figures, you hem and haw, berating yourself for not prepping better.

Everyone is prone to lapses in memory and would benefit from tips to strengthen our recall. And that's exactly what Why We Forget & How to Remember Better does. In this highly readable compendium, authors Andrew Budson and Elizabeth Kensinger do an amazing job of synthesising an enormous body of research. They provide an easy-to-digest summary of different memory systems and the types of information they process. More importantly, they provide actionable strategies for strengthening all types of memory.

Further, they also look at the different stages of forming a memory and provide tips on how to make each step more robust from paying attention to forming associations to recalling information in varied contexts. The authors also examine other aspects of a person's lifestyle that impact the quality of our memories, focusing on the trinity of health and wellbeing: exercise, nutrition and sleep. The book also explains how various substances, from medicinal to recreational drugs, can influence the nature and strength of our memories.

Why do old people seem forgetful? How do we differentiate between ordinary lapses of memory due to old age and Alzheimer's disease?  If we think forgetting is a bad thing, what about a mind that clings to traumatic memories? Do diabetes, depression and strokes tamper with our memory traces? The authors tackle all these questions with the deftness of practised scholars.

The last section of the book unpacks the stunning feats of professional mnemonists who can recall up to tens of thousands of digits of pi. The authors share some advanced memory techniques that students or laypeople can use when we have to memorise reams of information. Sections are also devoted to everyday memory issues that people contend with like remembering lists or people's names. Of course, these strategies, while easy to understand, require a lot of effort and imagination to implement. Then again, as the authors repeatedly emphasise, the more effort we invest in forming or recalling memories, the more resilient they grow.

All in all, if there's one source that explains the science of memory while offering practical tips, this is the book you should read and, hopefully, remember.

Reviewed by Aruna Sankaranarayanan, who is the author of Zero Limits: Things Every 20-Something Should Know