Memory palace (The Method of loci)

The Method of loci (plural of Latin locus for place or location), also called
the memory palace, is a mnemonic device introduced in ancient Roman and
Greek rhetorical treatises (in the anonymous Rhetorica ad Herennium, Cicero's De
Oratore, and Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria). In basic terms, it is a method of
memory enhancement which uses visualization to organize and recall
information. Many memory contest champions claim to use this technique to
recall faces, digits, and lists of ords. These cha pio s’ successes ha e little to do
with brain structure or intelligence, but more to do with their technique of using
regions of their brain that have to do with spatial learning.
The term is most often found in specialized works on psychology, neurobiology and
memory, though it was used in the same general way at least as early as the first half
of the nineteenth century in works on rhetoric, logic and philosophy.[2] John O'Keefe
and Lynn Nadel refer to:
The method of loci', an imaginal technique known to the ancient Greeks and Romans
and described by Yates (1966) in her book The Art of Memory as well as
by Luria (1969). In this technique the subject memorizes the layout of some building,
or the arrangement of shops on a street, or any geographical entity which is
composed of a number of discrete loci. When desiring to remember a set of items
the subject literally 'walks' through these loci and commits an item to each one by
forming an image between the item and any distinguishing feature of that locus.
Retrieval of items is achieved by 'walking' through the loci, allowing the latter to
activate the desired items. The efficacy of this technique has been well established
(Ross and Lawrence 1968, Crovitz 1969, 1971, Briggs, Hawkins and Crovitz 1970, Lea
1975), as is the minimal interference seen with its use.
The items to be remembered in this mnemonic system are mentally associated
with specific physical locations. The method relies on memorized spatial
relationships to establish, order, and recollect memorial content. It is also known
as the "Journey Method," used for storing lists of related items, or the "Roman
Room" technique, which is most effective for storing unrelated information.

Contemporary usage
Many effective memorizers today use the 'method of loci' to some degree.
Contemporary memory competition was initiated in 1991 and the first United States
championship was held in 1997. Part of the competition requires committing to
memory and recalling a sequence of digits, two-digit numbers, alphabetic letters, or
playing cards. In a simple method of doing this, contestants, using various strategies
well before competing, commit to long-term memory a unique vivid image
associated with each item. They have also committed to long-term memory a
familiar route with firmly established stop-points or loci. Then in the competition
they need only deposit the image that they have associated with each item at the
loci. To recall, they retrace the route, "stop" at each locus, and "observe" the image.
They then translate this back to the associated item.

Memory champions elaborate on this by combining images. Eight-time World

Memory Champion Dominic O'Brien uses this technique. The 2006 World Memory
Champion, Clemens Mayer from Germany, used a 300-point-long journey through
his house for his world record in "number half marathon", memorising 1040 random
digits in a half hour. Gary Shang has used the method of loci to memorise pi to over
65,536 digits.

Using this technique a person with ordinary memorisation capabilities, after

establishing the route stop-points and committing the associated images to long-
term memory, with less than an hour of practice, can remember the sequence of a
shuffled deck of cards. The world record for this is held by Simon Reinhard at 21.19
seconds.
The technique is taught as a metacognitive technique in learning to learn courses. It
is generally applied to encoding the key ideas of a subject. Two approaches are:

1. Link the key ideas of a subject and then deep-learn those key ideas in relation
to each other, and
2. Think through the key ideas of a subject in depth, re-arrange the ideas in
relation to an argument, then link the ideas to loci in good order.

The Rhetorica ad Herennium and most other sources recommend that the method of
loci should be integrated with elaborative encoding (i.e., adding visual, auditory, or
other details) to strengthen memory. However, due to the strength of spatial
memory, simply mentally placing objects in real or imagined locations without
further elaboration can be effective for simple associations.

A recent variation of the "method of loci" involves creating imaginary locations

(houses, palaces, roads, and cities) to which the same procedure is applied. It is
accepted that there is a greater cost involved in the initial setup, but thereafter the
performance is in line with the standard loci method. The purported advantage is to
create towns and cities that each represent a topic or an area of study, thus offering
an efficient filing of the information and an easy path for the regular review
necessary for long term memory storage.

Something that is likely a reference to the "method of loci" techniques survives to

this day in the common English phrases "in the first place", "in the second place",
and so forth.

Applicability of the term

The designation is not used with strict consistency. In some cases it refers broadly to
what is otherwise known as the art of memory, the origins of which are related,
according to tradition, in the story of Simonides of Ceos and the collapsing banquet
hall. For example, after relating the story of how Simonides relied on remembered
seating arrangements to call to mind the faces of recently deceased guests, Steven
M. Kosslyn remarks this insight led to the development of a technique the Greeks
called the method of loci, which is a systematic way of improving one's memory by
using imagery. Skoyles andSagan indicate that "an ancient technique of
memorization called Method of Loci, by which memories are referenced directly
onto spatial maps" originated with the story of Simonides. Referring to mnemonic
methods, Verlee Williams mentions, "One such strategy is the 'loci' method, which
was developed by Simonides, a Greek poet of the fifth and sixth centuries BC, Loftus
cites the foundation storyof Simonides (more or less taken from Frances Yates) and
describes some of the most basic aspects of the use of space in the art of memory.
She states, "This particular mnemonic technique has come to be called the "method
of loci. While place or position certainly figured prominently in ancient mnemonic
techniques, no designation equivalent to "method of loci" was used exclusively to
refer to mnemonic schemes relying upon space for organization.

In other cases the designation is generally consistent, but more specific: "The
Method of Loci is a Mnemonic Device involving the creation of a Visual Map of one's
house.

This term can be misleading: the ancient principles and techniques of the art of
memory, hastily glossed in some of the works cited above, depended equally upon
images and places. The designator "method of loci" does not convey the equal
weight placed on both elements. Training in the art or arts of memory as a whole, as
attested in classical antiquity, was far more inclusive and comprehensive in the
treatment of this subject.

Spatial mnemonics and specific brain activation

Brain scans of "superior memorizers", 90% of whom use the method of loci
technique, have shown that it involves activation of regions of the brain involved in
spatial awareness, such as the medial parietal cortex, retrosplenial cortex, and
the right posterior hippocampus.[19][20] The medial parietal cortex is most associated
with encoding and retrieving of information. Patients who have medial parietal
cortex damage have trouble linking landmarks with certain locations; many of these
patients are unable to give or follow directions and often got lost. The retrosplenial
cortex is also linked to memory and navigation. In one study on the effects of
selective granular retrosplenial cortex lesions in rats, the researcher found that
damage to the retrosplenial cortex lead to impaired spatial learning abilities. Rats
with damage to this area failed to recall which areas of the maze they had already
visited, rarely explored different arms of the maze, almost never recalled the maze in
future trials, and took longer to reach the end of the maze, as compared to rats with
a fully working retrosplenial cortex.

In a classic study in cognitive neuroscience, O'Keefe and Nadel proposed "that the
hippocampus is the core of a neural memory system providing an objective spatial
framework within which the items and events of an organism's experience are
located and interrelated."[21]

In popular culture
 In the 1981 fantasy classic Little, Big by John Crowley, advisor-mage Ariel
Hawksquill uses the method to link obscure information to aid her clients, and
notes that:

"...the greatest practitioners of the old art discovered some odd things about their
memory houses the longer they lived in them ... it was discovered, for instance, that
the symbolic figures with vivid expressions, once installed in their proper places, are
subject to subtle change as they stand waiting to be called forth... also, as the
memory house grows, it makes conjunctions and vistas that its builder can't conceive
of beforehand..."

 The technique is employed by the fictional serial killer Hannibal

Lecter in Hannibal, and Hannibal Rising, novels by American author Thomas
Harris. In several passages in these books, Lecter is described as mentally
walking through an elaborate memory palace to remember facts.[22]

 The technique is depicted in the Matthew Reilly book Scarecrow and the Army
of Thieves. The main character, Shane Schofield, uses the technique to lock
away good memories and prevent psychological torture.

 The technique is mentioned in Hilary Mantel's book Wolf Hall. The

protagonist, Thomas Cromwell, uses the technique, and makes reference
 to Cicero's story of Simonides of Ceos remembering the locations of all the
guests after he escapes being crushed by the collapsing roof.

 The technique is also the main focus of the book Moonwalking with
Einstein by Joshua Foer.

 The technique is often used by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child´s agent
Pendergast.

 Derren Brown, in his book Tricks of the Mind, showed how to use the Loci
system in conjunction with a linking and number-pegging system. He
demonstrated the technique in the BBC Four seriesTrick of the Mind.

Television

 The technique was depicted in the BBC television series Sherlock in the second
episode of the second series, "The Hounds of Baskerville", where Sherlock
Holmes uses his "mind palace" to seek and reassemble important facts and
associations in his memory which were relevant to the case. In "The Empty
Hearse," first episode of its third series, Sherlock pretends to access his mind
palace in order to defuse a bomb. The method is also seen again in episodes
two and three of series three. In episode two, 'The Sign of Three', he uses the
"mind palace" to organize an interrogation; in episode three, 'His Last Vow',
the technique is again used by Sherlock to survive being shot in the chest. In
this episode it was also used by the main antagonist, Charles Augustus
Magnussen, as a method of storing vast amounts of blackmail material.

 Holmes uses the method of loci to recall where he heard a phrase in CBS's
Sherlock Holmes adaptation Elementary, in the episode called "The Long
Fuse."

 The memory palace concept is also used in several episodes of the CBS
series The Mentalist by the titular mentalist Patrick Jane to help colleagues
and witnesses remember things such as playing card locations in a deck or
information and names of guests at a party.
  The concept was illustrated in the episode of the documentary television
series, The Day the Universe Changed titled "A Matter of Fact", in which James
Burke explains how it was used in medieval times when literacy was rare for
sophisticated scholastic and business affairs.
 The television show "Leverage", the team of thieves execute a con completely
revolving around the concept of a Roman Room ("The Reunion Job").
 Will Graham in NBC's "Hannibal" uses a 'mind palace' to escape from his
surroundings and retain some sanity in Season 2.

Film

 A version of the technique, dubbed "The Memory Warehouse" appears in the

2003 film Dreamcatcher, granted to the film's four main characters as a result
of contact with an alien that takes the form of a young boy they befriend who
calls himself "Dudditz". In the film, the Memory Warehouse is a place where
all of the characters' thoughts and memories take the form of physical files
that can be interacted with, and burned when necessary. The character Jonesy
keeps an entire section of the Memory Warehouse dedicated specifically to
his memories and theories regarding Dudditz, which he must recover and hide
after an antagonistic alien takes over his body.