"Power Shift" -How to Boost Your Memory

A recent study suggests that merely glancing from left to right (the traditional “shifty look” of spies and sneaks) can boost memory power and help people differentiate between real and imagined memories. Moving the eyes up and down had no such effect. The trick may work because the specific left/right eye movement engages both the left and right hemispheres of the brain at the same time. As little as 30 seconds of the activity could be enough to help you remember where you left your wallet, or the number sequence needed to deactivate that bomb.

Dr Andrew Parker, of Manchester Metropolitan University, explains “Often, we may be confused over whether a memory is for something real or something we only imagined or thought about.

"For example ‘Did I really lock the door or did I only imagine locking the door?’ Bilateral eye movements may help us to determine accurately the source of our memory.

“This could be important in situations where we feel uncertain, unclear or maybe even just confused about what we may have done or said.

“Our work shows that true memory can be improved and false memory reduced. One reason for this is that bilateral eye movements may improve our ability to monitor the source of our memories.”

“Some research indicates that certain types of memory – for example what one did yesterday, or memory for a word in an experiment – are dependent upon interactions between the cerebral hemispheres.”

This research was published in the science journal Brain and Cognition, and is further evidence that eyes and memory are likely somehow connected.

Posted by Rebecca Sat;.

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Link:

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/6230

Comments

[waterfuel]

It sounds pretty interesting. I thought moving eyes improve eye sight but didn't know it would work for improving memories... Nice article!

[JimmyL]

It's quite odd how the littlest things can have such an amazing amount of impact. The human mind never ceases to amaze me!

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[ace]

A good reason to start watching tennis. ;)

[Narena]

eeerrm..., isn't moving our eyes left to right what we do when we read?

[Jess Anonymouis]

Very useful post.
It will help me a lot in my daily work.

Thank you very much !

[InJapan]

Isn't this one of the bases for why EMDR has been used?

[John L. Brown]

This is a interesting technique, yet I must ask, if one learns to be truly mindful, which is usually a learned habit, would such techniques, as outlined in the article, be necessary, or better. In other words, if we can fully focus, in the first place, and integrate new information into our existing body of knowledge, such techniques, "shifting eyes", would not be necessary. The habit of mindfulness is deliberate and purposeful, and results in genuine recall and understanding. May I suggest the book, "The Power of Mindful Learning", by the author Ellen J. Langer. In short, actual learning is far superior to techniques that enhance recall. Thank you.

[Daniel]

I LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SHORT TERM MEMORY STM HOW TO IMPROVE YR MEMORY
DANIEL