Mind games

WHY, when you smell freshly cut grass, are you suddenly transported back to childhood, playing in the garden on hazy summer nights?

Then there are those agonising moments in exams or work meetings, when facts you once learned completely vanish. Everyone knows what these nostalgic and frustrating moments feel like, and everyone knows they’re related to our memory, but how do our memories actually work?

“Memory is very sensory,” explains Steve Tromans, a neuro-linguistic programming practitioner.

The part of the brain responsible for storing memories responds instinctively to smell, sight, noise and even touch, so if we sniff, see or hear something we might have experienced at an earlier time, we automatically link the two and remember that former experience.

This link between memory and emotional state is also the reason we remember certain things in our lives, and not others. “Memory’s very dependent on your emotional state,” explains Tromans.

“If you were experiencing heightened emotions at a certain point, you’ll remember that instead of a time you were very calm or distracted.”

But what if you can’t remember a name or date? “Stress scrambles memory,” Tromans explain s. “If you relax, things will come back to you.”

Cognitive neuroscientist Dr Lynda Shaw suggests some simple tips to help bolster your memory.

1. Do more than one thing at once

As we get older, our brains becomes less efficient at multi-tasking. Try combining activities like jogging while listening to an audiobook, or cooking while listening to the radio.

2. Don’t just look, see

Next time you leave a room, try to remember the exact location of certain items in it. This trains your brain to focus on your surroundings.

3. Get a map

Sat-navs are unavoidable nowadays, but relying on something else to guide you means you’re losing a key brain skill. Using a map exercises the part of the brain responsible for understanding spatial relationships.

4. Use your non-dominant hand

If you’re right-handed, use your left hand (and vice versa) for everyday tasks like brushing your teeth. This stimulates interaction between the two hemispheres of the brain, creating new neural pathways.

5. Try ’neurobics’

Getting dressed with your eyes shut or listening to music while smelling flowers means you combine your senses in a different way and make your brain work harder.