Ace
Short answer: the memory palace, also called the method of loci, means picturing a place you know well, like your home, and placing vivid images of the things you want to remember at specific spots along a route through it. To recall them, you walk the route in your mind. It works very well for ordered lists and isolated facts, but it doesn't build understanding, so combine it with practice questions.
What is the memory palace technique?
The method of loci dates back to ancient Greece and Rome, where orators used it to remember long speeches. You take a place you know extremely well and a fixed route through it: front door, hallway, kitchen table, sofa. Then you "place" each item you want to remember at one of those spots as a vivid, unusual image. Later, you mentally walk the same route and find each item waiting where you left it.
Why does the memory palace work?
Human memory is especially good at places and vivid images. The memory palace borrows that strength for information that's otherwise hard to hold, like lists. Early experiments found that people using the method recalled far more items, and in the right order, than people who just tried to memorise them (Bower, 1970).
Research on world memory champions found that they weren't born with unusual brains or intelligence; most relied on spatial strategies like the method of loci (Maguire et al., 2003). And in a training study, people with no special memory skills who practised the method for six weeks greatly improved their ability to remember word lists, with lasting effects months later (Dresler et al., 2017).
How do you build a memory palace?
- Choose a place you know well. Your home, your route to university, your school. You need to picture it effortlessly.
- Fix a route and spots along it. Pick 10 or so distinct spots in a set order: the door, the coat hook, the mirror, the kitchen table. Always walk them in the same order.
- Turn each item into a vivid image. Make it strange, funny, moving or exaggerated. To remember that mitochondria produce energy, picture a giant glowing battery plugged into your front door.
- Place one image per spot. Spend a few seconds really seeing each one there.
- Walk the route to recall. Go through it in your head, then check against your notes. Repeat over the next few days so it sticks.
When is the memory palace worth using for studying?
- Great for: ordered lists (the steps of a process, the stages of mitosis), lists of terms, and facts you simply have to know, like cranial nerves or dates.
- Less useful for: understanding how ideas connect, solving problems or writing essays. A memory palace stores items; it doesn't explain them.
- Best combined with: testing yourself. Retrieval practice strengthens memory and also checks your understanding (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006).
To check what you've stored, Ace can turn your own lecture slides into practice questions, including putting the steps of a process in order, with every answer showing the line from your notes it came from. For anatomy-heavy subjects, see how to memorise anatomy.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to build a memory palace?
A simple palace with 10 spots takes a few minutes to set up. Placing items is quick with practice; most of the time goes into making vivid images.
Can I reuse the same memory palace?
Yes, but old images can interfere with new ones. Many people keep several palaces, one per subject or exam, or wait until old images fade.
Does the memory palace work for everyone?
Most people can learn it with practice, as training studies show. It takes some effort at first, and it suits lists and facts more than understanding.
Sources
- Bower, G. H. (1970). Analysis of a mnemonic device. American Scientist, 58(5), 496–510.
- Maguire, E. A., Valentine, E. R., Wilding, J. M., & Kapur, N. (2003). Routes to remembering: The brains behind superior memory. Nature Neuroscience, 6(1), 90–95.
- Dresler, M., Shirer, W. R., Konrad, B. N., Müller, N. C. J., Wagner, I. C., Fernández, G., Czisch, M., & Greicius, M. D. (2017). Mnemonic training reshapes brain networks to support superior memory. Neuron, 93(5), 1227–1235.
- Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255.
