Memorization
How are you at memorization? Can you rattle off any poems? Verses? Quotes?
Upon reflection, I do not think I was ever good at memorization. Certainly the things I do remember now are verses or quotes I learned a long time ago. Anything recent seems to be retained in a sieve- in one ear and out the other.
And so, I found it interesting to hear a news report on the benefit of poetry on our neurological health. Turns out memorizing is not just for tests or for cocktail party anecdotes. It keeps the neurons firing and helps develop areas of one’s brain (even for old codgers).
Part of poetry is that is engages both the control and the default network of our brains. The control area is when we are thinking hard and deeply about a topic, while the default is more of our mind-wandering, thinking about nothing specific or demanding. Apparently, we are not so much either/or in our thinking but more of an “and” in that we use all aspects in a network, intertwined approach.
According to Keith Holyoak writing for MIT press, “suppose you wanted to exercise the parts of your brain that underlie language and thought. And emotion. And music. And that generate internal reward signals. And you wanted to trigger all of these brain regions simultaneously. What would you do?”
He recommends that one picks up a book on poetry and starts reading. Especially reading out loud since much of poetry has a rhythm and pace. Not surprising that hearing it spoken out loud connects with us- we come from an oral tradition of stories. The words that we use generally contain metaphor. It produces in us the ability to be flexible and ponder multiple meanings. That helps us with navigating unpredictable events and in making choices in our lives.
But memorizing what we read and hear is also good for our brains. According to the Cleveland Clinic, Small children reciting nursery rhymes are honing their developing memories and gaining an introduction to language patterns. At the other end of the age spectrum, “Older adults who work their brains through memorization are stimulating neural plasticity, which alters the brain’s neural pathways in response to new experiences,” says Marwan Sabbagh, MD, Director of Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. “These functional brain changes occur whenever we acquire new knowledge or learn a new skill, and they appear to be important in warding off cognitive decline.”
It appears that it is easier to memorize words when there is a rhythm, pace and rhyme- think of how easy it is to remember words of a song or a limerick.
What about you? Have you had to memorize anything lately? How is your recall? Anything you wish you had memorized at your fingertips? Do you have a favorite memorized saying?
What if for the rest of the summer, we challenge ourselves to memorize something: a poem, a Bible verse, a speech? What would you memorize?
Ideas:
Ogden Nash-poems
Shel Silverstein-poems
William Shakespeare-sonnets
Bible- Proverbs, Psalms
Presidential speeches- Gettysburg Address, Theodore Roosevelt’s The Man in the Arena
Lines from a favorite author
Quotes on various subjects (ex. perseverance, encouragement, inspirational) by various authors
Words to a favorite song or hymn.
Memorize with the little people in your life- nursery rhyme or Bible verse
Challenge those in your household to memorize a poem. Tack the verse to your fridge as a reminder.