The reigning World Memory Champion, Alex Mullen, can memorize the order of a deck of cards in 17 seconds. Now, he’s sharing his memory secrets with the world.
In a recent study, Alex Mullen shared the secret behind his astonishing memory power.
Described as a “memory athlete”, Alex Mullen has a proven ability to remember hundreds of or even thousands of words, numbers, and images. Mullen’s memory – and the memory of other memory athletes – was recently examined in a study called, “Mnemonic Training Reshapes Brain Networks to Support Superior Memory”.
That study was published in the latest issue of Neuron.
In the study, researchers recruited 23 of the world’s highest-ranked memory athletes, then compared their brains to those who had never practiced memory techniques. Then, they put the newbies through a memory training program and watched how their brains changed.
The goal was to use the same memory training techniques as top athletes to see if anyone can shape their brain to improve their memory.
Researchers found that the more the newbies practiced the techniques, the more their brain scans started to resemble the scans of the memory athletes’ – and it only took six weeks of training.
“These really incredible memory feats … are not some form of inborn talent. It's really just training,” said Martin Dresler, a neuroscientist at Radboud University in the Netherlands and the lead author of the study in a statement to CNN.
Mullen is humble about his ability. He describes himself as a newcomer to the memory training scene, and claims he still forgets his keys on a daily basis. Prior to training, he says his memory “wasn’t that great”. After training, things changed.
“You can do things that you probably don’t think you’re capable of.”
No Structural Differences Between Athletes And Newbies
You might be thinking: I can’t be a memory champion because my brain just isn’t wired that way. However, researchers were able to show that the brains of memory athletes looked no different from the brains of newbies.
“It surprised me that we did not find structural differences in the brain”, said Boris Nikolai Konrad, a researcher in the lab that performed the study, who’s also ranked 24th worldwide by the World Memory Sports Council.
However, There Were Some Differences
The structure of trained and non-trained brains was the same, but there were some differences. For example, the memory centers of the brains were communicating strongly with the visual and spatial centers.
Researchers believe this is linked to the way athletes train.
What’s The Secret Behind Memory Athletes?
Now, let’s get to the important stuff: how do memory athletes train their brains? What tips and tricks do they use?
Most memory athletes train by picturing familiar places and filling them with imaginary objects. As an example, researchers say you can imagine a cow eating moss to represent the city of Moscow.
Imagine that cow in the doorway of your home, and you can make memories stick.
Researchers believe this technique works because it capitalizes on a human function known as visual learning and navigation. Among memory athletes, it’s called the “memory palace’.
Talking to brain athletes, you’ll find that they use all sorts of different memory palaces. One competitor uses an image of Einstein moon walking, for example, while another converts a deck of cards into characters like Gandalf from Lord of the Rings.
You Can See Results In One Afternoon
Ultimately, the human brain is very flexible, and it’s willing to be sculpted. The memory athletes mentioned above claim they work on brain training techniques for about 30 minutes a day.
Researchers also claim that you can see results in just one afternoon – it doesn’t take weeks of training. If you want to go from average Joe to world champion memory athlete, then all you need is a little bit (or a lot) of brain training.
