The Guardian’s recent recap of how long-term memories are encoded, how they decay, and how to strengthen these memories is right on point. It’s great to read such a succinct summary of why repetition intervals are so important to best remember what you’ve learned. A great review of Ebbinghaus’s original findings and how to practice your memory now.

From the Guardian:

“During the 19th century, Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist, spent more than 15 years learning random strings of nonsense syllables, and testing himself on their recall. What he found has become one of the few certainties of neuroscience: namely, that all memories grow continuously weaker, but that the rate of “decay” lessens each time you review the information. Ebbinghaus found that the ideal time to review a memory is just before you are about to forget it.”

You can view an entire series of articles and memory games on the Guardian: Maximising your memory.