一觸即發(fā)——記憶的多米諾效應(yīng)

即使是記憶天才，也要有一定的訣竅才能練就超凡記憶的。我們腦中的神經(jīng)跟天才腦中的有哪些異曲同工之處，什么是多米諾骨牌效應(yīng)?定位記憶法?

It’s one thing to fill your brain with facts. It’s quite another thing， though， to remember them. So how do we do it? Well， memorizing something is rather like what happens when we set up a line of dominoes.

When we 2)commit a fact to memory we create a 3)neural pathway to it， a route of connecting brain cells to wherever that memory is stored in our brain. And to 4)retrieve those facts all we have to do is to 5)trigger the same pathway back to them. It sounds easy， and for some people at least， it really is.

This is Andy Bell. In 2002 he was crowned world memory champion. But just how good is he? Today we’ve set him a test. He’s going to try to recall the exact position of every single card in 10 whole 6)decks. That’s 520 cards that have been shuffled by us…and he’s only got 20 minutes to look at them.

Andy: Ten of diamonds.

No matter how many cards we fired at him， …

Andy: That was the king of diamonds.

…Andy remembered them perfectly.

Andy: Forty-eighth card was the ace of hearts.

In fact， Andy is able to recall all 520 cards， …

Andy: Jack of 7)clubs.

…every one correct and in the right order.

Andy: Queen of 8)spades.

So， what’s his secret?

Before he even sits down with a deck of cards， Andy uses his memory technique: he takes a walk round London visiting a series of landmarks in a particular order. No. 1 might be the Houses of 9)Parliament…and No. 2， 10)Westminster Bridge. He walks the route several times to establish it in his mind， but that’s just the first stage.

The second is putting his imagination to work.

Andy: When I memorize a deck of cards， I turn each card into a picture， and this is a colourful animal or object that I’ve learned to associate with that particular card.

The jack of clubs becomes a little bear， the nine of diamonds， a saw， and a two of spades， a pineapple. Then Andy puts the two stages together. In his mind， he imagines walking around London on his route， and when he passes the Houses of Parliament， he imagines the little bear with the saw and pineapple. Andy creates a journey in his mind with this cast of characters.

Andy: As a child I had 11)conventionally good memory， but once you learn a technique， like the location method I use， it takes everything beyond what you could possibly do naturally.

Scientists have discovered our mind is better at remembering the route between locations than it is at remembering unconnected facts and figures.

Andy: I think I have the same mental equipment as everybody else， so it’s somethinganybody can do.

When we use a simple story to memorize facts， we’re creating several pathways to where those memories are formed in the brain. It’s as if， instead of lining up one set of dominoes， we’re setting up several.

The reason we often have difficulties in retrieving a memory is because one neural pathway can easily get broken. But by having several different pathways to a memory， it means that if one doesn’t manage to reach it， another one will. That’s the advantage of the story technique; it creates lots of neural pathways in our brain， and all our brains can work in this way， …which is why everyone can use this method. By using a story to memorize facts， we all have the potential to perform 12)astonishing feats of memory.

把信息塞進(jìn)腦子是一回事，不過想要記住這些信息，又是另一回事。那么我們該怎么做呢?噢，記憶事物跟排列骨牌有著非常類似的情況。

當(dāng)我們想要牢記一件事的時候，我們會為它開辟一條神經(jīng)路徑，一條連接腦細(xì)胞和這個記憶在腦中的儲存位置的通道。為了取出這些內(nèi)容，我們只需要激發(fā)那條路徑，沿原路倒退回去就行了。聽來容易，而對某些人來說，做起來也確實很容易。

這位是安迪·貝爾，他是2002年的世界記憶冠軍。他究竟有多厲害?我們今天要測試一下他。他要嘗試記住這十副撲克牌里面每一張牌的確切位置。這里一共有520張撲克，我們事先洗過牌，他只有20分鐘可以瀏覽所有的牌。

安迪:方塊十。

不管我們用多少撲克牌發(fā)問炮轟他……

安迪:那張是方塊國王。

……安迪都記得十分準(zhǔn)確。

安迪:第48張撲克是紅心一。

事實上安迪可以記住全部520張撲克……

安迪:梅花J。

……每一張撲克與位置都說對了。

安迪:黑桃皇后。

那他究竟有什么秘訣?

在他還沒開始看第一副撲克之前，安迪就開始使出他的記憶訣竅了。他先到倫敦走一圈，以特定的順序走訪一些地標(biāo)。第一個可能是國會大樓，然后第二個是威斯敏斯特大橋，他重復(fù)這個路線好幾次，把這個順序記在腦子里，但這只是第一步。

第二步，是運用他的想象力。