As I've so often suspected, keeping too much information in your head at one time is a good way to discourage further learning. A recent study from Stanford University helps confirm my suspicion. Using MRI scans, scientists found that those who best remembered specifically selected word pairs from a larger list of words had the hardest time recalling any other words on the list. The scientists concluded that the more effectively you filter out relevant from irrelevant data, and "suppress" less important information in order to "make room for" the more important stuff, the better your long-term recall of the "important" stuff will be. As a result, skill at selective memory suppression results in less cognitive overload and, therefore, better retention of essentials and overall faster thinking capability.
In a similar study, mice engineered to prevent neurons in the hippocampus from forming long-term memories fared much better on working-memory exercises than their unaltered counterparts. Scientists claimed that this meant that thinking speed (which operates with short-term, or working, memory) is improved by impairing the formation of long-term memories. The scientists also suggested that the opposite holds true-that long term memory is improved when short term memory is (temporarily) impaired.
So what does this mean for those of us struggling to shove more and more information into our brains? It means not only that being selective about what you try to retain will not only help you remember the important stuff better, but it will actually help you learn more of that important stuff faster. And it ties in nicely with one of our fundamental Head First principles-concentrating on what's important and focusing on learning it well, so that brain space isn't wasted and there's more left to fill.
And if nothing else, it's at least encouragement for those of us who can never remember where we left our keys....Share:
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