7 SURPRISING WAYS TO BOOST YOUR MEMORY

FEELING FORGETFUL? YOUR POSTURE AND THE FACT THAT YOU INSIST ON WALKING THROUGH DOORWAYS COULD BE TO BLAME.

Memory is a tricky thing. Why is it hard to recall what you had for lunch yesterday, yet singing the theme song from Gilligan’s Island presents no problem? The reason some things stick and others are forgotten has to do with the brain’s method of assigning importance to information and properly encoding it. But things can get in the way.

While getting more rest is one way to retain information, here are seven more surprising things you can do to boost your memory:

Researchers believe memories that have a shorter "shelf life" are purged when presented with new thoughts. Walking through a doorway serves as a catalyst for compartmentalizing a thought and ridding the brain of it when you’re no longer in the same environment. This explains why you will often remember what it was when you return to the room where you had the thought.

Stressful situations cause the hormone cortisol to be released, negatively impacting your memory, while laughing increases endorphins, reducing stress, researchers found. Endorphins also lower your blood pressure and boost your mood—a combination that results in better memory.

In an experiment with two groups—gum chewers and non-gum chewers—participants who didn’t chew gum performed slightly better at the beginning of the task but had declined by the end. "This suggests that chewing gum helps us focus on tasks that require continuous monitoring over a longer amount of time," said Kate Morgan, author of the study.