HE MAY NOT HAVE A GOOD SHORT TERM MEMORY BUT HE HAS A GREAT MIND:MEMORY TECHNIQUES HELP MAN WITH MEMORY LOSS

HE MAY NOT HAVE A GOOD SHORT TERM MEMORY BUT HE HAS A GREAT MIND

An Operation Robbed Him of Some Short Term Memory But He Showed He Was Plenty Smart and Now He Has Graduated College

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"A malignant brain tumor, discovered shortly after he began his freshman year at Rutgers University in 1995, robbed Andrew Engel of much of his short-term memory. His drive and intelligence, however, remained undiminished. That is why Engel, who lives in Ellicott City,Md. is not only a degree candidate but an inspiration to many who have witnessed his odyssey."

The newspapers and radio have carried the story of Andrew Engel, a young man who had an operation for a brain tumor in 1995. The operation removed the tumor but took along a chunk of his ability to remember things. Engel wanted to continue at college and refused to give in.. Engel told National Public Radio's Robert Siegel that with a team of his doctors, he found a way to study that allows new information to be stored in a healthy part of his brain that is associated with long-term memory.

Now he is graduating from the University of Maryland with a degree in Health Administration.

Here are some of the memory techniques Engel used: He employed at least five methods to help retain information long enough for it to become part of his long-term memory. He says most anyone could employ these to improve memory:

1.Reading and re-reading. While at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, he would read assignment chapters at least twice.

2.Mnemonic devices: Catchy, easy-to-remember memory aids. For example, he says that if he had a health administration class that required him to remember the 10 reasons hospitals get sued, he would make a ten-character phrase or word such as "basketball," with each character representing the first word in a sentence.

3.Taking notes, then later reading them aloud or rewriting them using as many sentences as possible.

4.Studying a topic for the entire week, then at testing time studying again.

5.Typing his handwritten notes onto a computer.

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Andrew Engel's Memory Methods