Method of Loci

What is the method of loci?

The method of loci — from the Latin "locus" for place, also called the memory palace or journey method — is one of the oldest and best-studied memory techniques. You anchor the material you want to learn at fixed locations (loci) along a familiar route, such as a walk through your home. To recall it, you mentally walk the route and "find" each item at its station.

Where does it come from?

According to tradition, the Greek poet Simonides of Ceos devised the technique in antiquity; Roman orators such as Cicero used it to deliver long speeches from memory. The core principle is more than 2,000 years old and has barely changed since.

Why does it work?

The human brain struggles to store abstract facts — vocabulary lists, names, strings of numbers — but remembers spatial environments almost effortlessly. The method of loci exploits this strong spatial memory by turning abstract material into vivid, unusual images placed at concrete locations. Nearly all memory athletes rely on it. A 2017 study by Dresler and colleagues in the journal Neuron found that just six weeks of training with the method of loci markedly improved novices' memory — and that their brain connectivity patterns shifted to resemble those of world-class memory champions. The benefit was still measurable four months after training ended.

How do you use it?

First, choose a well-known route with several distinctive stops (front door, coat rack, kitchen table, sofa). Second, turn each piece of information into an exaggerated, absurd or otherwise memorable image and "attach" it to a stop. Third, mentally walk the route several times. For new material, build additional routes. You'll find a full walkthrough in the article Memory palace and the method of loci.

The technique is especially suited to ordered lists, sequences and discrete facts; combined with spaced review, the material stays retrievable over the long term. It is less suited to understanding complex relationships, which additionally require explanatory methods such as self-explanation. Building the routes takes some time at first, but once created a route can be reused again and again for new material.