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  • Neil: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute

  • English, I'm Neil. This is

  • the programme where in just

  • six minutes we discuss an interesting

  • topic and teach some

  • related English vocabulary.

  • And joining me to do this is Rob.

  • Rob: Hello... err sorry Neil, how long did

  • you say this programme is?

  • Neil: Six minutes ... it's 6 Minute English, Rob.

  • Rob: Right. OK. Sorry, what's

  • your name again?

  • Neil: Neil! My name is Neil, Rob. What's

  • happened to your memory?!

  • Rob: Sorry, Neil - too many things on my

  • mind, it's affecting my short-term

  • memory, but what

  • I can remember is that in this programme

  • we're talking about improving

  • our memory.

  • Neil: We are and I think you might find it

  • quite useful! Storing information

  • is an important

  • function of our brains and scientists

  • are always looking at ways to

  • improve it but also to stop it

  • deteriorating - or becoming worse.

  • Rob: Yes, and we all know that memories -

  • that's the noun for things

  • we remember from the

  • past - are nice to have but also important

  • for remembering who people are,

  • where things are kept

  • and how things look.

  • Neil: Soon we'll be discussing a new idea

  • for improving your memory but not before

  • I've set today's quiz question.

  • There are many ways we can improve

  • our memory but one way

  • is through the type of food we eat.

  • According to the BBC Food website,

  • which type of food

  • supports good memory function? Is it...

  • a) eggs, b) spinach, or c) bananas?

  • Rob: Well, as a kid I was always told that

  • spinach was good for me - Popeye ate it

  • to make him strong - so I'll say b) spinach.

  • Neil: Well, I'll have the answer later on.

  • Now, let's talk more about

  • improving our memory.

  • Memory is the ability to encode, store and

  • recall information but a number of factors

  • can affect people's memory processes

  • including health, anxiety, mood,

  • stress and tiredness.

  • Rob: That's why, for example, if you're

  • taking an exam it's important

  • to get a good night's sleep

  • and to keep healthy. But Neil, when

  • you're revising for an exam, what helps

  • you to remember facts?

  • Neil: I tend to write things down again and

  • again and again and again.

  • Rob: Well, that's one way. But people have

  • different styles to help them remember.

  • According to the BBC's iWonder guide,

  • there are three different styles - visual,

  • auditory and kinaesthetic,

  • that's learning by 'doing' and practicing

  • something over and over again.

  • That sounds like me.

  • Neil: But recently, a new study has

  • come up with a method that could

  • possibly be the best way to improve your

  • memory and that's by drawing.

  • Daryl O'Connor, who's Professor

  • of Psychology at the University of Leeds,

  • has been speaking about it on

  • the BBC Radio 4 programme, All

  • In The Mind. See if you

  • can work out why...

  • Daryl O'Connor: The authors certainly

  • argue that one of the things that

  • happens by drawing

  • these particular objects, that it leads to

  • this increased contextual representation

  • of the object in one's mind...

  • It makes a lot of intuitive sense...

  • the idea that if you have encoded

  • something in a greater level of detail,

  • you're more likely to remember it...

  • It's much stronger than just remembering

  • writing down the words.

  • Neil: OK, so let's try to explain that.

  • Drawing something leads to increased

  • contextual representation of the object.

  • When something is contextual,

  • it is in the situation where

  • it usually exists.

  • Rob: So as you draw something you are

  • creating a picture in your mind

  • about what it is, how you use it and

  • where it is used. I wonder if

  • this means artists have good memories...

  • Neil: Maybe. Daryl O'Connor says that

  • when you draw you are encoding

  • something in a greater

  • level of detail, more than you would by

  • just writing things down.

  • Encoding is changing

  • information into a form that can

  • be stored and later recalled.

  • Rob: That's because as you draw,

  • you're thinking about different aspects of

  • the object. He says it makes

  • intuitive sense - intuitive means it is

  • 'based on feelings rather than

  • facts or proof' - so, you just feel

  • it is the best thing to do.

  • Neil: Of course this is just one more way

  • to improve your memory. I've also

  • heard that doing

  • crossword puzzles and Sudoku

  • can help, especially when you're older.

  • Rob: Yes, as we get older we can often

  • have more difficulty retrieving information

  • from our memory - and people with

  • Alzheimer's find it very difficult

  • to encode information - so any way

  • to keep our memory working is a good

  • thing. Basically we need brain training!

  • Neil: Brain training and eating the right

  • food, Rob! You might remember that

  • earlier I asked you, according to

  • the BBC Food website, which type of food

  • supports good memory function?

  • Is it... a) eggs, b) spinach, or c) bananas?

  • And Rob, you said...

  • Rob: I do remember and I said b) spinach.

  • Neil: And that is sort of the wrong answer.

  • In fact they were all correct - they are all

  • examples of food that can help support

  • good memory. Apparently, foods rich in

  • B vitamins are important as they

  • provide protection for the brain as we age

  • and support good memory function.

  • I think it's time to change my diet!

  • Now on to the vocabulary

  • we looked at in this programme.

  • Rob: So today we've been talking about

  • our memory - we use our memory

  • to remember things

  • and 'memories' is the noun for things

  • we remember from the past.

  • Neil: Then we discussed a learning style

  • known as 'kinaesthetic', that is learning

  • by 'doing' and

  • practising something over and over again.

  • Rob: We heard from Professor

  • Daryl O'Connor, who talked about

  • contextual representation - when

  • something is 'contextual',

  • you see it in the situation

  • where it usually exists.

  • Neil: Next we talked about 'encoding'.

  • That is changing information

  • into a form that can

  • be stored and later recalled.

  • Rob: And we mentioned 'intuitive sense' -

  • having an intuitive sense means

  • doing something 'based

  • on feelings rather than facts or proof' - so,

  • you just feel it is the best thing to do.

  • Neil: And finally we mentioned

  • Alzheimer's - a disease affecting

  • the brain that makes it

  • difficult to remember things and

  • it gets worse as you get older.