Creating a Mind Palace
Published on Nov 18, 2015
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
It is the Mind that makes the Man
-Ovid
Loci is the plural of Locus, Latin for places or locations.
The method originated in ancient Greece and Rome and was favored by orators who had to memorize large amounts of information to be recited.
The method originated in ancient Greece and Rome and was favored by orators who had to memorize large amounts of information to be recited.
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Untitled Slide
The parts of the brain that contribute most significantly to this technique include the medial parietal cortex (complex reference frames), retrosplenial cortex (episodic memory, navigation, planning), and the right posterior hippocampus.
How it Works
- Subjects are exposed to new information
- Subject Visualizes the space to be used
Four steps for implementation: The subject is exposed to new information, and for best results the information should be subject generated; the subject visualizes the mental landscape to which the information will be tied; the information is encoded onto the mental landscape; the information is available for recall at a later point in time by retracing the mental landscape.
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Benefits of the Method
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Method of Loci is useable across the lifespan, aiding in memory retention and brain health in older individuals
Verhaeghen and Marcoen found that earlier exposure predicated more effective use, but Gross, Brandt, Bandeen-Roche, and Carlson found that even in the later part of life, individuals trained to use MoL showed better retention of information even years after the initial training.
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Method of Loci has been shown to reduce the impact of proactive interference
Proactive Interference is the impact that previously learned information has on the incoding of new information. When new information is very similar to previous information, the new information may be learned incorrectly, with older knowledge overlaying parts of newer information. Bass and Oswald found that the effect of prior learning (PI) was markedly reduced by the use of MoL style memory practices.
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Use of the Method of Loci has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of depression
The use of MoL to construct an accessible repository of positive imagery improved the disposition of individuals suffering from depression to a greater extent that individuals who were trained to use chucking and rehearsal to remember positive events. Beyond that, only the MoL group showed any carryover treatment effect. It is posited that the reason for the beneficial outcomes of the MoL is that the method is grounded in richly elaborated, concretely positive images. Because depression tends to retard individual’s abilities to retrieve positive autobiographical memory, training in the MoL may help overcome this and as such aid in mitigating the effects of depression.
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Method of Loci usage may aid in the regulation of emotions and emotional responses
The MoL processes concrete episodic memory and dreams process the emotional responses tied to them (Desseilles and Duclos, 2014). This idea can be partially supported by the research completed by neurobiologists. Kondo, Suzuki, Migikura, Abe, Takahashii, Ijima and Fujii (2005), reported that during the use of MoL, areas of the brain activate in patterns that closely mimic those activated during REM sleep. If this is the case, it may be that the areas are building sympathetic links between the physical and emotional memories in similar but distinct ways
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Drawbacks of the Method
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The Method of Loci requires an intensive training period before it can be implemented
The concept is easy: use physical locations to tie information. The implementation is harder. The method requires a fair bit of attention to detail, making the skill mentally intensive in the initial stages. This may lead to "burnout" in some users who fail to see early success in implementation.
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The modalities best suited to the use of Loci training are limited
Method of Loci is most effective with information that is subject generated and verbal. Research has shown that the method is only moderately effective with retaining and recalling information that is less concrete.
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Method of Loci does not aid in accessing recently learned information
Some researchers also argue that MoL is only of limited value for information that is not properly encoded, as the brain lacks the ability to process the information rapidly enough to make immediate recall of information possible. MoL may make the information available later on, but the processing of information from short term to long term does not generally allow for access immediately
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