If you’re reading this guide, you’re probably wondering if it’s possible to develop a photographic memory. The honest answer is “it depends.” One thing is for sure, your memory can be improved by leaps and bounds and we’ll get into that in just a bit. To begin, when we talk about photographic memory, we’re referring to the ability to recall images after a just a few moments of seeing it. This is a type of ability is part of what’s called an eidetic memory, which is the ability to remember not only images but also sounds and objects in great detail after brief exposure. What if, everything you ever did, felt, smelt, heard, and tasted could be recalled with just a thought? Stored deep in your brain so you could relive every single experience to its fullest, a person with eidetic memory has the ability to do just this. It’s a truly powerful gift that some people have mastered though much skepticism exist around the few that “truly” have eidetic memory. WHAT IS AN EIDETIC MEMORY? Most people can have “bursts” of eidetic memory, also known as “sporadic eidetic memory.” Ever have a really traumatic or maybe incredibly pleasant event in your life that you can close your eyes, and almost reach out and touch? That ability to recall the event as if you were just there is an example of you using sporadic eidetic memory. It is unclear whether this type of memory is trainable or not as it seems to occur only in events in our lives that affected us deeply. True eidetic memory is near unachievable for most us but for those looking to improve their memory in a way useful for practical application, such as work or schooling, you might want to look into photographic memory training. This is a type of eidetic memory that is much more achievable for the average person. Photographic memory is remembering the exact details of something you have seen. HOW TO GET A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY There are three factors that contribute to having a photographic memory. Luckily, 2 out of 3 of them are in your control. Genetics – Essentially, our memory’s capacity is somewhat determined by our genetics. Some people might be born with eidetic memory, the rest of us simply have to utilize lifestyle and training elements to develop a photographic memory. Lifestyle – Includes proper supplementation, diet, exercise, meditation, and perfecting your sleep. Essentially, taking the right steps to maximize your brain health to create an environment for massive memory growth and cognitive enhancement. Training – This aspect is the only one that is absolutely required. The training involves utilizing a proven photographic memory training method to mold your brain into the ultimate memory machine. Anyone can develop a near photographic memory with the right tools. Though some people are born with a certain unique brain chemistry specialized for an advanced eidetic memory, almost anyone can improve their memory exponentially. It’s just a matter of taking effective steps towards your goals, which boil down to living a healthy lifestyle catered to maximizing your brain’s health and capacity and putting in the required effort in a professional memory training system. LIFESTYLE CHANGES TO INCREASE MEMORY Here are some simple, easy changes you can make in your life to increase your memory to its absolute maximum capacity. They are simple things really, some may cost a bit, but mostly they are pretty well agreed upon for being extremely effective for maximizing your brainpower. Not only are these all things that are readily available online, but they are a fairly cheap considering the significant changes they bring for your brain. A Healthy Diet A healthy diet is essential in your quest for eidetic memory. Your brain needs energy to work properly, so you want to give it food as fuel. Pretend your brain is a jet engine, do you really want to risk giving it low quality fuel and have it perform at less than optimal performance? The main benefits of a healthy diet on your brain and memory are providing calories to give it fuel as well as provide all the vitamins and nutrients your brain needs for maximal function. You need to eat well. vitamin and nutrient supplementation is really just to fill in the gaps your diet doesn’t manage to maximize. Food has nutrients in ratios that our bodies have evolved with and adapted to that are optimal for our function. Simple supplementation can’t beat a decent diet because of these optimal ratios for our bodies. Here’s a really good book from Amazon called The Brain Diet: The Connection Between Nutrition, Mental Health, and Intelligence that outlines a very specific diet that’s designed to maximize brain function. Exercise and Physical Activity Exercise is another essential lifestyle change you will have to make if you wish to achieve eidetic or photographic memory. Oxygen is important for the function of our brain and memory. I don’t know if you have ever tried to study after going on a run or intense workout, but you will retain the information, solve problems, and just think smarter much better because your brain is full of oxygen from your workout. The main benefit of exercise on our memory is to increase the oxygen capacity and increase blood flow in our bodies. A side effect of these is also funneling of important nutrients into your brain to maximize function. All these benefits may seem short term, however regular exercise has been shown to increase all these benefits and brain function enormously long term, especially if you keep up with your training and supplementation. Vitamins for Memory Proper vitamin supplementation is another lifestyle change that will help you achieve a photographic memory. It goes hand in hand with a good diet, for a good diet will make this less mandatory since you will be getting a large amount of nutrients just from your diet. It is still a good idea to supplement, since you are making sure you are getting enough of everything for optimal brain and memory enhancement. The main benefit of vitamin supplementation is to ensure that you don’t have any deficiencies of the basic important nutrients required for your brain to perform. I would recommend a quality vitamin with the highest quality of ingredients, along with well researched ratios. The $5 bottle of vitamins at your local grocery store will not cut it. Daily supplementation of a high quality multivitamin like Controlled Labs Orange Triad Multivitamin combined with a fish oil such as NutriGold Triple Strength Omega-3 Gold would be an excellent start. Nootropics for Enhanced Memory If you want to take your supplementation further, there are a class of supplements called nootropics (colloquially known as “smart drugs”) that have been making headlines lately, and for good reason. This class of supplements have been clinically proven to increase mental performance and we highly recommend you include them in your pursuit of a photographic memory. There are a range of options when it comes to nootropics but for the sake of simplicity, we will recommend you start with Alpha BRAIN by Onnit Labs. However, if you’re already an experienced nootropic user, please refer to our detailed eidetic memory nootropic stack for our recommendations. Meditation for Discipline, Focus, and Brain Molding Ever wonder why meditation is so important to monks, and why it is touted as being so beneficial? It turns out, meditation actually has an enormous effect on our brains and can actually change the way our brains are wired. It was believed in the past that our brains were hardwired from birth and you couldn’t train your brain to change its orientation in a significant way. However, studies has proven otherwise. For example, one study performed by the University of Wisconsin analyzed Tibetan monks brain activity and saw something higher levels of brain activity than would occurs naturally. It turns out, through the intense concentration of meditation, monks actually rewired their brains to cause largely increased activity where they wanted it. Now, for someone looking to develop eidetic or photographic memory, meditation can be extremely useful. The main benefit of meditation in regards to achieving an eidetic memory, is it increases your ability to focus and gives you great discipline. Both of these are extremely important for someone looking to master their brain and memory, and looking to push themselves to their maximum cognitive ability. Techniques of developing a Photographic Memory Our brains aren't cameras. There is no such thing as a truly photographic memory. Some people are born with a better-than-average visual memory, called an eidetic memory, but even "eidetikers," as they are called, make errors that a camera would not. But the good news is that our brains can be trained. Whether you are borderline eidetic or have a hard time describing your own front door from memory, mnemonic brain-training techniques can enhance your abilities. Dark Room Method A persistent Internet rumor says that the military has been using this technique for decades to develop photographic memory in its operatives. You'll need a piece of paper with a cutout just large enough to fit a paragraph of text, a book and a dark room to sit in with a light you can easily turn on and off. Fit the cutout in your cover sheet to the page so that it exposes the text you want to memorize, and figure out the perfect distance to hold it at so that your eyes focus. Turn off the light and let your eyes adjust to the darkness. Then, looking directly at the paragraph, turn the light on and then quickly off again. The image of the paragraph will remain before your eyes. It's said that practicing this 15 minutes a day for one month will enhance your ability to glance at an image or passage of text and memorize it instantaneously. The Loci System Our minds process visual and spatial data well, and are more likely to remember the bizarre than the mundane; the bizarre is what makes the loci system so effective. Use a mental image of a building you know well or a route you often walk. Write down a list of key spots or landmarks within this space. For each item you want to remember, think up a bizarre image and locate it at a specific landmark. If you must remember to pay the car insurance, for example, picture yourself riding a unicycle with a flat tire past the park; commemorate the food you have to buy with a vision of the ingredients doing the rumba on a bench in tuxedos. Run through the sequence in your head at least once. To recall the items, take a mental walk along your chosen route. Linking Items Like the loci system, the linking method depends on the fact that our brains are much likelier to remember the unusual. If you want to memorize a list of items, make it into an interwoven story of unlikeliness in your mind. Suppose your shopping list includes hamburger, butter, laundry detergent and toilet paper. You may not remember it as a list, but you will remember the image of an angry cow sliding around in melted butter, then needing to launder her hide and dry it off with toilet paper. For longer lists, simply link each item to the one before and after it. Remembering Names When introduced to someone new, try strategies that make it easier to remember the person's name. Use the name in conversation shortly after you've heard it. If you have an excuse to do so, either write the name down or ask for and glance at a business card, to form a visual image. Form an association to a memorable feature of their appearance, and exaggerate it in your mind to the point of ridiculousness: Big Nose Ned or Bonnie Blondie. (These can certainly be kept private.) Source 1 Source 2
