麻豆传媒

We tend to think of learning as hard work, requiring a lot of conscious effort. However, much of the process goes on behind the scenes. If you could improve the unconscious processing and retrieval of memories, you could game the system. And it turns out that you can 鈥� often with very little effort.

If you are learning facts such as foreign phrases or historical dates, giving your study a boost could be as simple as taking a break. Lila Davachi at New York University has found that , improving recall later. However, for a time out to work, different brain cells need to be activated to those you used during the learning period. So, try not to think about what you have just been working on.

Better yet, sleep on it. It is well established that the brain processes memories during sleep, but it will do this more effectively if you leave the optimum time between learning and sleeping. Christoph Nissen at the University of Bern, Switzerland, found that a group of 16 and 17-year-olds performed best on tests of factual memory if they studied the material mid-afternoon, but they acquired skills involving movements faster if they practised in the evening. He suspects that the is shorter for movement-related learning than for other types of memory. Whether adults can benefit as much as teenagers from these windows isn鈥檛 clear. 鈥淭here is evidence that adolescents have a higher capacity to learn 鈥� and they sleep better,鈥� says Nissen. It is also worth noting that after about age 60, .

Bj枚rn Rasch at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, is investigating another way to boost learning during sleep. He has led a series of studies showing that adult language learners . 鈥淭he literature on targeted memory reactivation is growing rapidly,鈥� he says. 鈥淢ost findings are positive.鈥� However, it is important that the words are played during non-REM, slow wave sleep, when factual memories are consolidated. Also, the volume of the recordings should not be so loud that it disrupts sleep. Alternatively, you could try using scents to cue learning in your sleeping brain. Rasch has found a boost to memory in people who a task and then again during slow wave sleep.

As well as laying down memories, your unconscious mind is responsible for retrieving them on demand. This process seems all too fallible, as those regular tip-of-the-tongue moments attest. However, an intriguing study suggests a way to improve things. Volunteers who had to answer multiple-choice questions on a computer did significantly better if told that the correct answer would be flashed up subliminally just before each question. In fact, they weren鈥檛 given the answers at all 鈥� their . The researchers think it worked by reducing performance anxiety and priming people for success.

If you have an exam, or even a pub quiz, coming up, that鈥檚 worth bearing in mind. Unlocking the knowledge stored in your unconscious mind could be as simple as believing that you can do it.

This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淐ultivate your Unconscious鈥�