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Learn and retain new information: a wooden desk by a sunny window with an open notebook, a stack of index cards, a pencil, a glass of water and a small plant.

Focus & Memory

Learn & Retain New Information

Learning something new and still having it a week, a month or a year later is mostly about how you study, not how clever you are. This page shows the methods with the best research behind them, the role of sleep and movement, and what to make of memory supplements, brain games and learning-style tests.

General information, not medical advice. Last updated October 31, 2026. Written by the AlternativeMed editorial team. Not medically reviewed.

Start here

  • Test yourself instead of rereading: close the notes, write or say what you remember, then check what you missed.
  • Spread your study over several days instead of one long session, and come back to the material after a gap.
  • Protect your sleep after a day of learning: a good night helps new information settle.

Be careful with

  • Learning feels easier when you reread or cram, but that feeling can be misleading. Methods that feel harder, such as self-testing, tend to leave more behind.
  • Memory supplements and brain-training apps are heavily advertised, but the human research we read does not show reliable help for learning in healthy people.
  • Never stop or change a prescribed medicine because of anything you read here. Ask the person who prescribed it.

Get help when

  • Sudden confusion, a sudden change in memory, or memory that is getting worse over weeks or months needs urgent or prompt medical attention.
  • You are learning normally but forgetting things you used to know well, getting lost in familiar places, or others have noticed the change: see a doctor.
  • Trouble learning that has been lifelong, such as with reading, attention or organising, can have specific causes. A teacher, school or doctor can arrange an assessment.
  • Poor memory together with low mood, constant worry, very poor sleep, heavy alcohol use or new medicines deserves a conversation with a doctor or pharmacist.

About Learn & Retain New Information

What this goal means

To learn and retain new information is to take something in (a language, a work process, a name, an exam topic, a skill) and still be able to recall and use it later. Researchers often split this into encoding (taking it in), consolidation (the brain settling it into long-term storage, partly during sleep) and retrieval (pulling it back out).

Each stage can be helped by what you do. Retrieval, in particular, is not just a way of checking memory: a review of the testing effect found that taking a test on studied material can itself be a powerful learning event compared with simply studying it again.

1,2

Common experiences

Many people say they read something several times, felt they knew it, and then could not recall it when needed. Others learn a name or fact in the morning and have lost it by evening, or find that facts learned for a test fade within weeks.

These experiences are usually about method and timing, not about a faulty brain. A large review of distributed practice, covering 317 experiments, found that how far apart study sessions are and how long you need to remember jointly shape how much is retained.

Normal forgetfulness in day-to-day life is covered on its own page, and tasks, appointments and reminders have a separate page.

3

Contributing factors

Study method matters (massed versus spaced, rereading versus self-testing, blocked versus mixed topics). Sleep matters: a meta-analysis found that going without sleep before learning, or after learning, was linked to worse memory for new material, though the studies were small and showed signs of publication bias.

Attention matters too, because information you never properly noticed cannot be remembered. Stress, low mood, medicines, alcohol and long-term illness can all make learning harder; see the pages on focus, brain fog and medicines and memory.

4,2

Conditions that can be involved

Learning and memory difficulties can sit alongside sleep problems such as insomnia and sleep apnoea, anxiety and stress, low mood, ADHD, and some medicines. Progressive or sudden memory changes can be a sign of a medical problem and should be checked, not managed with study tricks.

We link condition pages below. This page does not diagnose anything.

Realistic expectations

Good methods improve retention, but they do not make learning effortless. The effects in the reviews we read are small to moderate on average and depend on the material, the person and the time between study and test.

Expect to forget some of what you learn even with good methods. The aim is to forget less and to relearn faster. Techniques that feel harder in the moment, like testing yourself, can produce more lasting memory than ones that feel smooth.

3,1,5

Who this applies to

Students, people learning a language or a new job, older adults picking up a new skill, and anyone who wants new knowledge to stick. Most of the studies behind the study methods are in university students and in word-list tasks, so results may be smaller in real life and in other age groups.

If you are preparing for exams, see Build Better Study Habits for planning and environment. If your goal is keeping the brain healthy over decades, see Maintain Brain Health as You Age.

3,6

Related conditions and symptoms

Memory and focus: when to get help → Mild cognitive impairment and dementia → ADHD in adults → Insomnia → Sleep apnoea → Anxiety disorders →

A manageable starting plan

An educational starting point, not a personal prescription. Adjust it to your own situation and any advice from your clinician.

Your first actions

  • Pick one thing to learn and plan three or four short sessions across the next two weeks, not one long one.
  • In each session, spend most of the time recalling from memory (flash cards, blank-page notes, practice questions), then check the answers.
  • Mark the weak points and bring them back in later sessions, leaving longer gaps each time.
  • Protect your sleep window, especially the night after an important session.

Optional additions

  • Mix problem types when practising maths, science or skills.
  • Try a memory palace for lists you must keep in order.
  • Add regular walking or other movement you enjoy.
  • Keep caffeine moderate and early in the day.

What to track

  • Dates of study sessions and the gaps between them.
  • A quick score after each self-test: what you recalled without help.
  • Hours slept before and after key sessions.
  • Any worrying changes: new forgetfulness, confusion, getting lost or trouble with familiar tasks.

When to reassess

Give the plan two to four weeks and compare your self-test scores over time. If methods are in place and learning is still very hard, or memory is getting worse, speak with a doctor rather than trying more techniques.

When to seek professional support

  • See a doctor if memory is changing, worsening or worrying you or others.
  • Ask a pharmacist before any memory supplement, especially with medicines, pregnancy or breastfeeding.
  • Use teachers, tutors or learning support at school or work.
  • Seek help straight away for sudden confusion or thoughts of harming yourself.

What helps

Ordered by how well the research supports each step. Evidence strength is shown on every card; precautions sit next to the advice.

Start here

Spaced practice: study in several shorter sessions with gaps

High certainty

Addresses: Better retention than the same time spent in one block

Why it may help: A quantitative review of 839 assessments of distributed practice, from 317 experiments in 184 articles, found that the best gap between study sessions grew as the time you needed to remember grew. In other words, spacing effects depend jointly on the gap and on how long you need to keep the information.

How to apply it: Split a topic into short sessions across days. Revisit it after a day or two, then after a week, then after longer gaps, and make the gaps larger the further away your test or real-life use is. Calendar the repeat sessions so they actually happen.

Who it may suit: Anyone learning facts, vocabulary, procedures or exam material.

Precautions: Most of the experiments used word lists and short retention intervals, so exact gaps for school or work subjects are a judgement. If you are very short of time before a test, a few spaced sessions are still better than one.

3,7

Build Better Study Habits →

Retrieval practice: test yourself instead of rereading

High certainty

Addresses: Stronger long-term recall than simply studying the material again

Why it may help: A meta-analytic review of the testing effect compared testing with restudy and found support for the idea that effortful recall drives the benefit. Recall tests (where you produce the answer) gave larger benefits than recognition tests (where you pick from options).

How to apply it: After reading, close the book and write down or say everything you can remember. Use flash cards, practice questions or explaining a topic aloud to an imaginary listener. Then check your answers and note the gaps. Return to the gaps on a later day.

Who it may suit: Almost any learner, from school age to older adults.

Precautions: Self-testing can feel uncomfortable because you will find what you do not know. That is the point. Feedback matters, so check your answers rather than leaving errors uncorrected.

1,7

Do brain training games work? →

Sleep after learning

Moderate certainty

Addresses: Helps new information to consolidate and avoids the memory loss linked to sleep deprivation

Why it may help: A review in Nature Reviews Neuroscience describes sleep as a state that optimises the consolidation of newly acquired information. A meta-analysis of studies of total sleep deprivation found that going without a night of sleep, either before or after learning, was linked to worse memory, with the effect larger when memory was tested straight after deprivation.

How to apply it: After an important learning session, aim for a normal night and avoid replacing it with extra study. Keep a regular sleep window in the days around exams or big learning tasks.

Who it may suit: Everyone, especially students before tests and people learning something new for work.

Precautions: The deprivation studies were small and showed signs of publication bias, so the size of the effect is uncertain. The sleep-consolidation work is mainly laboratory research. If you cannot sleep, see the sleep pages rather than forcing it.

2,4

Build a Healthy Sleep Schedule → Fall Asleep Faster →

Additional options

Mix related topics or problem types (interleaving)

Moderate certainty

Addresses: Better ability to tell similar things apart and apply the right method

Why it may help: A meta-analysis of 59 studies found a moderate overall interleaving effect (Hedges' g 0.42). It was strongest for paintings and other visual materials and small for maths, and it was ambiguous for texts and showed an advantage for blocking with word learning.

How to apply it: When practising maths, science problems, instrument pieces or categories (such as bird types or skin conditions for a course), mix the types in one session instead of doing all of one type, then all of the next. Keep simple vocabulary lists in blocks.

Who it may suit: Learners of problem-solving subjects, visual categories and skills.

Precautions: Interleaving feels more confusing. The review advises caution for expository texts and words.

5,7

Visual memory palaces (the method of loci)

Low certainty

Addresses: Better recall of lists and ordered items in studies

Why it may help: A meta-analysis of 13 randomised trials, mostly in university settings, found a medium effect for the loci method (g 0.65). The authors flagged a high risk of experimental bias because most studies did not report procedures to limit bias.

How to apply it: Choose a familiar route, such as rooms in your home. Picture each item to be remembered in vivid, unusual form at a fixed spot along the route, then walk the route in your head to recall.

Who it may suit: People who need to memorise ordered lists, speeches, names or terms.

Precautions: Most evidence is from short experiments; it is less clear how well it helps long-term understanding. It takes practice to set up.

6

Regular physical activity

Moderate certainty

Addresses: Small to moderate benefits for memory and thinking

Why it may help: An umbrella review of 133 systematic reviews (2,724 randomised trials, over 258,000 participants) found exercise improved general cognition (SMD 0.42), memory (SMD 0.26) and executive function (SMD 0.24), with low and moderate intensity working well. A separate meta-analysis of 54 trials in healthy people found mind-body exercise benefited memory in particular.

How to apply it: Build regular walking, cycling, swimming, dancing or a mind-body practice such as yoga or tai chi into your week at an intensity that feels comfortable.

Who it may suit: Most healthy adults and children, and older adults at a level they can manage.

Precautions: These studies mostly look at general memory and thinking, not at learning a specific subject. If you have a heart or lung condition, are pregnant, or have not exercised for a long time, check with a doctor before beginning.

8,9

Maintain Brain Health as You Age →

Still being studied

Caffeine taken after studying

Very low certainty

Addresses: Possible small boost to long-term memory consolidation, from one experiment

Why it may help: In a Johns Hopkins study, caffeine given after a study session enhanced performance 24 hours later, with an inverted U-shaped dose response, meaning more was not better. The authors concluded it enhanced consolidation of long-term memories.

How to apply it: We do not recommend a dose. If you already drink caffeine, keeping it moderate and well before bedtime protects sleep, which supports memory more reliably.

Who it may suit: Adults who already tolerate caffeine.

Precautions: This is a single small experiment on one type of memory task, not a recommendation. Caffeine can disturb sleep, raise anxiety and palpitations, and should be limited in pregnancy. Late caffeine could cancel any benefit by harming sleep.

10,4

Manage Energy Without Relying on Stimulants →

Food & nutrition

Eating and drinking for learning

We did not find trials showing that a particular meal or food improves the learning of new information in healthy people, so no food is promised here. The basics still matter: regular meals, plenty of water, and not studying on an empty stomach if that makes you faint or distracted.

Sleep affects consolidation, so what you eat and drink late in the evening matters mainly through its effect on your sleep, for example caffeine and alcohol late in the day.

  • Eat regular meals and drink water while you study.
  • Keep caffeine moderate and early in the day to protect sleep.
  • Limit alcohol around important learning periods, as it disturbs sleep.
  • Ask a doctor if you suspect low iron, B12 or thyroid problems, which can affect energy and thinking.
2,10

Omega-3 fats

A meta-analysis of 24 randomised trials found no cognitive benefit from omega-3 supplements in the general population and marginal evidence only when omega-3 status was low. A separate DHA review reported better episodic memory in older adults with mild memory complaints, and noted that studies were funded or authored with links to industry.

Food sources such as oily fish can be part of a healthy diet, but we do not promise a memory result.

11,12

Remedies & supplements

Traditional use, laboratory findings and human trials are kept apart. "Natural" does not mean safe.

Bacopa monnieri (Brahmi) standardised extract

Low certainty

Studied form and route: Standardised extract in capsules or tablets, taken for 12 weeks or longer in the studies

Intended outcome: Possible improvement in speed of attention and some cognitive tests; effect on learning itself unproven

Human evidence: A meta-analysis of nine randomised placebo-controlled trials (518 people) of at least 12 weeks found a shorter time on the Trail B test and a faster choice reaction time. The authors said bacopa had potential to improve cognition, especially speed of attention, and that a larger well-designed head-to-head trial was needed for definitive data.

Traditional use: Bacopa has a long history in Ayurvedic medicine for neurological and behavioural problems, according to the meta-analysis authors.

Laboratory findings: We read no laboratory work for this page.

Limits: Results were on attention and reaction speed tests, not on learning new material. Extracts differ between products. The reviewers asked for larger trials.

Interactions and precautions: We did not read safety or interaction data for this page. Ask a pharmacist or doctor before use, especially in pregnancy, breastfeeding, with medicines or with long-term conditions.

13

Nootropics and memory supplements compared →

Ginkgo biloba extract

Not enough evidence

Studied form and route: Standardised leaf extract in tablets or capsules

Intended outcome: No robust effect on learning or cognition in healthy people in the study we read

Human evidence: In a 12-week double-blind placebo-controlled study of ginkgo at 120 mg a day, older adults showed an improvement in longer-term memory measured by associational learning tasks, with no significant effect on any other measure. Young adults showed no significant effect, and the authors titled the paper 'no robust effect on cognitive abilities or mood in healthy young or older adults'.

Traditional use: We did not read a source for traditional use.

Laboratory findings: We read no laboratory work for this page.

Limits: One study, 12 weeks, modest sample. Other trials may differ.

Interactions and precautions: We did not read interaction data. Ask a pharmacist or doctor before use, especially if you take blood-thinning medicines, have a bleeding problem or are about to have surgery. Mild side effects were reported similar to elsewhere in that study.

14

Ginkgo →

Creatine

Low certainty

Studied form and route: Oral powder or capsules, studied mostly in short trials

Intended outcome: May help short-term memory and reasoning in some groups; other effects unclear

Human evidence: A systematic review of six randomised trials (281 people) found evidence that short-term memory and intelligence or reasoning may be improved by oral creatine. Results for long-term memory, attention and other areas were conflicting, and performance stayed unchanged in young individuals.

Traditional use: Not a traditional remedy.

Laboratory findings: The review notes creatine is an essential brain compound and that some hypothesise it helps by improving energy supply and neuroprotection.

Limits: Six small trials, conflicting results, little effect shown in the young. The authors call for larger studies.

Interactions and precautions: We did not read safety data for this page. Ask a doctor or pharmacist first, especially if you have kidney problems, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or take other medicines.

15

Creatine →

Lion's mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceus)

Very low certainty

Studied form and route: Extract or powder (1.8 g was used in the pilot study)

Intended outcome: Possible quicker performance on one attention task; no proof of better learning

Human evidence: In a pilot double-blind trial of 41 healthy adults aged 18 to 45, a single 1.8 g dose was followed by faster Stroop task performance at 60 minutes, and a trend toward lower subjective stress after 28 days that did not reach the usual threshold (p 0.051). The authors also reported null and limited negative findings and asked for larger trials.

Traditional use: We did not read a source for traditional use.

Laboratory findings: The authors describe bioactive properties but we read no laboratory studies for this page.

Limits: Small pilot, one product, young healthy adults, results mixed. It did not test learning new information.

Interactions and precautions: We did not read safety data. Ask a pharmacist, and avoid it if you have a mushroom allergy or take medicines without advice.

16

Lion's mane →

Therapies & care

Established professional care for learning and memory starts with a doctor, who can check sleep, mood, medicines, hearing, vision and blood tests, and refer for assessment of specific learning or attention difficulties. We have not read trials rating these services for learning new information, so no ratings are claimed. Never stop a prescribed medicine without talking to the person who prescribed it.

Assessment by a doctor

Not enough evidence

Professional care A doctor can ask about when learning or memory changed, sleep, mood, alcohol, medicines and other health problems, examine you and decide on tests. This is the route if memory is worsening, changed suddenly or worries you or your family.

Who it may suit: Anyone whose memory or learning has changed, worsened or comes with other symptoms.

Precautions: Sudden confusion, a severe headache, weakness or speech difficulty need urgent care.

Memory and focus: when to get help → Mild cognitive impairment and dementia → Sleep apnoea →

Learning-skills coaching or tutoring

Not enough evidence

Education support A teacher, tutor or study-skills service can teach spacing, self-testing and planning, and help organise material. We did not read trials of coaching services, so no rating is given, but the methods they teach are the ones covered above.

Who it may suit: Students and adult learners who want guided practice.

Precautions: Be wary of programmes that promise to boost memory with a single trick or that sell expensive brain-training packages.

7

Build Better Study Habits →

Assessment for ADHD or specific learning difficulties

Not enough evidence

Professional care If attention, reading, writing or organising have been hard since childhood, a professional assessment can find out why and arrange support. This is a diagnosis for a qualified clinician or educational psychologist, not something to work out from a web page.

Who it may suit: People with lifelong difficulty learning in the usual way, despite effort.

Precautions: Do not stop or start any medicine without the prescriber.

ADHD in adults →

Sleep and stress care

Not enough evidence

Professional care Poor sleep, constant worry and low mood can all make learning harder. Treating them with a doctor or therapist often helps thinking too. Pages on insomnia, anxiety and stress explain options in general terms.

Who it may suit: People whose sleep or mood is clearly disturbed.

Precautions: Low mood lasting two weeks or more, or any thoughts of harming yourself, need a doctor or crisis service now.

Insomnia → Anxiety disorders →

What to avoid

Habits, products and claims that can get in the way. Never stop a prescribed medicine without talking to the professional who prescribed it.

Risks that apply to most people

Cramming everything into one long session

High certainty

Why: The distributed practice review found that spacing study out, with a gap suited to how long you need to remember, supports retention better than massed presentation. Staying up late to cram also risks sleep loss, which the sleep-deprivation meta-analysis linked to worse memory for new material.

Who it applies to: Students before tests and anyone with a big learning task.

Try instead: Start earlier, split the material into short sessions and protect a normal night's sleep before the test.

3,4

Build Better Study Habits →

Only rereading and feeling familiar with the material

Not enough evidence

Why: Rereading and highlighting are popular with students, which is why a major review of learning techniques included them. The testing-effect meta-analysis shows that testing yourself can teach more than studying again. We did not read a rating for rereading itself, so no precise claim is made here.

Who it applies to: Anyone who studies mostly by reading notes.

Try instead: After one read-through, switch to recall: close the notes and write what you remember, then check.

7,1

Personal triggers to check

Learning straight after a poor night's sleep or an all-nighter

Moderate certainty

Why: A meta-analysis found that a full night of sleep deprivation before learning had a clear negative link with memory for new material (g 0.62), though the studies were small and showed publication bias.

Who it applies to: Night owls, shift workers, new parents and students in exam periods.

Try instead: On short-sleep days do light review, not new difficult material, and catch up on sleep before a big learning task.

4

Improve Your Sleep Quality →

Learning in a distracted state

Not enough evidence

Why: Information needs attention to be taken in. Distraction and divided attention reduce what is noticed, and a separate page covers phones, noise and the study environment.

Who it applies to: People who study with notifications on or while multitasking.

Try instead: Study in short focused blocks with the phone out of reach, and take breaks between them.

Manage Distractions → Stay Focused for Longer →

Medicines, heavy alcohol use or illness that blunt memory

Not enough evidence

Why: Some medicines, alcohol, poor sleep, low mood and illness can affect learning and memory. Our page on medicines and memory explains the common ones in general terms.

Who it applies to: Anyone whose learning has recently got harder.

Try instead: Talk to a doctor or pharmacist. Never stop a prescribed medicine yourself.

Medicines, sleep, mood and illness that affect memory →

Products that need caution

Omega-3 pills bought to improve learning in healthy people

Evidence against

Why: A meta-analysis of 24 randomised trials found no cognitive improvements in the whole sample or in typically developing people, with marginal evidence only in those who were deficient in omega-3. Another review of DHA found benefit for episodic memory in older adults with mild memory complaints, but its authors included employees of a DHA producer.

Who it applies to: Healthy students and adults buying fish oil for memory.

Try instead: Eat oily fish if you like it as part of a balanced diet, and ask a doctor if you think you may be deficient.

11,12

Fish oil →

Ginkgo sold as a memory booster for healthy people

Not enough evidence

Why: A 12-week placebo-controlled study of ginkgo (120 mg a day) in 93 healthy older adults and 104 young adults found one improvement in longer-term memory in the older group and no significant effect on any other measure. The young group showed no significant effect on any measure.

Who it applies to: Students and workers tempted by memory capsules.

Try instead: Put the money and effort into sleep, spacing and self-testing first, and ask a pharmacist before any herbal product.

14

Ginkgo → Nootropics and memory supplements compared →

Unsupported claims

"Brain-training apps make you better at learning everything"

Evidence against

Why: A comprehensive review of the studies cited by leading brain-training companies found extensive evidence of improved performance on the trained tasks, less on closely related tasks, and little evidence of improvement on distantly related tasks or everyday cognitive performance. It also found major design shortcomings in many studies.

Who it applies to: Anyone paying for apps that promise a sharper memory.

Try instead: Learn something you actually want to use, such as a language or instrument, with spaced practice and self-testing.

17

Do brain training games work? →

"You are a visual, auditory or kinaesthetic learner and must be taught that way"

Not enough evidence

Why: The learning-styles review notes that people do express preferences about how they like information presented, but says that proving style-matched teaching works needs a particular kind of experiment: learners grouped by style, randomly assigned to different methods, and tested the same way, with different styles winning under different methods. The abstract we could read ends before the authors' conclusion, so we do not quote it; check the full paper.

Who it applies to: Students and parents who were told to study only in one preferred format.

Try instead: Choose the method to suit the content (diagrams for maps, practice for skills) and add retrieval and spacing for everything.

18

Common mistakes

Never checking what you got wrong

Moderate certainty

Why: Self-testing teaches most when you find your gaps and return to them. The testing-effect review found effortful recall drives the benefit, so skipping the check leaves errors in place.

Who it applies to: Learners who test themselves but do not look at the answers.

Try instead: Mark errors, relearn them and test them again on a later day.

1

Using one trick for everything

Moderate certainty

Why: Interleaving helped with visual categories and maths but not clearly with texts or word learning, and the loci method helps with ordered lists. Matching the method to the material avoids wasted effort.

Who it applies to: People who adopt a method that worked once for a different kind of content.

Try instead: Keep spacing and retrieval as defaults and add other methods where they suit the material.

5,6

Evidence & safety

What the research shows

The best-supported ways to learn and keep information are spaced practice and self-testing, backed by large meta-analyses (839 spacing assessments in 317 experiments; a meta-analytic review of the testing effect). Interleaving gives moderate gains in some materials, the loci method helps with lists in small trials, and sleep, plus regular exercise, support memory more generally. Supplements, brain-training apps and learning-style matching are not shown by the evidence we read to improve learning in healthy people.

Limits of the evidence

  • Much research uses university students, word lists and short intervals, so real-world effects may be smaller or different.
  • The sleep-deprivation meta-analyses found small studies, very low statistical power in most, and signs of publication bias.
  • The loci-method trials mostly did not report ways to limit bias.
  • The umbrella review on exercise looked at general cognition and memory, not at learning specific subjects.
  • The caffeine finding comes from a single experiment on one memory task.
  • Supplement trials are small, short and sometimes industry-linked, and measure attention or reaction speed more than learning.
  • The abstracts we could read for the learning-styles and learning-techniques reviews end before their full conclusions, so we do not state those conclusions.
  • We read abstracts, and our summaries do not cover every detail of each paper.

Precautions and interactions

  • Ask a pharmacist before any herbal or supplement product if you take medicines or have a long-term condition.
  • Caffeine can disturb sleep, raise anxiety and palpitations, and should be limited in pregnancy.
  • Check with a doctor before starting vigorous exercise if you have heart, lung or joint problems.
  • Never stop a prescribed medicine on your own; talk to the person who prescribed it.

Life-stage considerations

  • Children and teenagers: the same methods apply, but most research we read was in university students; the exercise umbrella review found memory improvements were greater in children and adolescents than in adults. Do not give supplements or caffeine drinks without medical advice.
  • Pregnancy and breastfeeding: sleep disruption and tiredness are common and can affect memory; limit caffeine and ask your midwife or doctor before any supplement.
  • Older adults: new learning is possible and exercise and sleep help, but sudden confusion or fast-progressing memory change needs prompt medical attention; check medicines for effects on memory.
  • People with chronic conditions or on several medicines: ask a pharmacist about supplements and about medicines that can affect memory.

Warning signs

  • Sudden confusion, disorientation or a sudden change in memory or speech.
  • Memory or thinking that is clearly getting worse over weeks or months.
  • Getting lost in familiar places or struggling with tasks you used to do easily.
  • Memory problems together with low mood lasting two weeks or more, heavy alcohol use or loud, persistent snoring with daytime sleepiness.
  • Any thoughts of harming yourself: contact a doctor or local crisis service now.

Claim checks

Spacing your study out helps you remember longer than cramming.

Supported for retention in many experiments; best gap depends on how long you need to remember

3

Testing yourself is better than studying again.

Supported in a meta-analysis of testing versus restudy, with recall tests giving the larger benefit

1

Mixing topics always beats practising one topic at a time.

Partly true: depends on the material

5

Brain-training games improve learning and everyday memory.

Not supported for everyday performance

17

Omega-3 supplements improve learning in healthy people.

Not supported in the general population

11

Ginkgo improves memory in healthy people.

Not shown in the study we read

14

People learn best when taught in their own learning style.

Unproven by what we could read

18

Questions people ask

What is the best way to remember what I study?

Two methods have the strongest research support in the reviews we read: spreading study over several sessions with gaps, and testing yourself by recall instead of rereading. Add enough sleep and regular movement.

How far apart should I space my study sessions?

A large review found the best gap grows with how long you need to remember: longer-term goals need longer gaps. We cannot give one number for every subject, so space sessions across days and weeks and lengthen the gaps over time.

Why does rereading feel effective if it is not?

Familiarity feels like knowing. The testing-effect research suggests that actively recalling answers teaches more than studying again. Test yourself to find out what you really know.

Does sleep really help me remember?

Reviews describe sleep as a state that helps consolidate new information, and a meta-analysis found that total sleep deprivation before or after learning was linked to worse memory. The studies were small, so the exact size of the effect is uncertain.

Does exercise help memory?

An umbrella review of 133 systematic reviews found exercise improved memory with a small effect, including at low and moderate intensity. It looked at general memory, not at learning a specific subject.

Do memory supplements work for learning?

For healthy people, the human evidence we read is weak or absent. Omega-3 showed no benefit in the general population, ginkgo showed no robust effect, and bacopa, creatine and lion's mane have limited or small trials. Ask a pharmacist before using any.

Do brain games make me better at learning?

A comprehensive review found improvement on the trained tasks but little evidence that it carried over to other tasks or to everyday performance.

Are there visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners?

People do state preferences, but the review we read says proving that matching teaching to a style improves results needs a specific experiment. Its abstract on PubMed is cut off before the conclusion, so check the full paper rather than relying on us.

Is a memory palace worth trying?

A meta-analysis of 13 trials found a medium effect for the loci method, but with high risk of bias. It suits ordered lists and takes practice.

Does caffeine help me remember what I studied?

One experiment found caffeine taken after studying improved performance the next day, with a dose response where more was not better. It is a single study, and caffeine late in the day can harm sleep, which matters more.

When should I worry about my memory?

See a doctor for sudden confusion, memory that is clearly getting worse, getting lost in familiar places, or memory problems with low mood or heavy alcohol use. Sudden confusion needs urgent care.

References

  1. Rowland CA. The effect of testing versus restudy on retention: a meta-analytic review of the testing effect. Psychol Bull. 2014. PMID 25150680. source
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Related goals

Improve Everyday Memory → Remember Tasks & Appointments → Build Better Study Habits → Improve Your Concentration → Stay Focused for Longer → Manage Distractions → Think More Clearly → Understand & Manage Brain Fog → Maintain Brain Health as You Age → Build a Healthy Sleep Schedule → Improve Your Sleep Quality →

Ingredients, foods and supplements

Ginkgo → Lion's mane → Creatine → Fish oil →

Research, safety and claim-check resources

How attention and memory work → Do brain training games work? → Nootropics and memory supplements compared → Food and nutrition for brain health → Medicines, sleep, mood and illness that affect memory → Focus and memory research and evidence →