Introduction

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.?Neil?and?Rob?discuss?ways?of?improving?your?memory?and?teach?you?new?vocabulary?-?that?they?hope?you'll?remember?later!

This week's 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?support?good?memory?function??Is?it…

a) eggs

b) spinach

c) bananas

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Transcript

Note:?This?is?not?a?word?for?word?transcript

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?has?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 word 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??

RobWell, 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, Professor of Psychology at the University of Leeds

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.?

NeilOK, 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?encodingsomething 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 have 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.?

RobWe 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.?Thatis 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.?

Rob

Well there are lots of new words to remember there – but that's all for this programme.?

Neil

Don't forget to visit us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube and our website bbclearningenglish.com. Bye for now.?

Rob

Goodbye!?

Vocabulary

memories

things we remember from the past?

kinaesthetic

learning by 'doing' and practicing something over and over again?

contextual

seeing something in the situation where it usually exists?

encoding

changing information into a form that can be stored and later recalled?

intuitive sense

doing something based on feelings rather than facts or proof?

Alzheimer’s (disease)

a disease affecting your brain that makes it difficult to remember things and gets worse as you get older