The researchers evaluated people’s ability to remember the location and time of an object (spatial and temporal memory, respectively) through a series of experiments and found both were great. The next time you forget where you put your keys, parked your car or put your glasses, don’t despair. Previous research has shown that when people are shown a large number of objects, they are very good at remembering which objects they have seen next. A recent study shows that people are also pretty good at remembering where and when they saw these objects.

In a series of experiments led by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a member of the Mass General Brigham Health System, participants were able to accurately remember the location of more than 100 objects when displayed in a 7-by-7 grid. choosing the right ones. a place or a cell adjacent to it. Results published Current Biologyshows that people have a “spatial large memory” (SMM) for locating objects and a “temporal large memory” (TMM) for determining when objects were last seen.

To run their study, Wolff and colleagues asked participants to remember several objects placed in a 7-by-7 grid. Each item was highlighted for two seconds by placing a red square around it. After participants were shown the objects, all images were removed and then the participants were tested for their ability to remember whether they had seen the object before and where they were on the grid if they did. Credits: Brigham and Women’s Hospital

“People often think they have bad memories, but our results show that we can remember where and when an object appeared with good, if not perfect, accuracy for a large number of objects,” said lead author Jeremy Wolfe. , Brigham Department of Surgery. “While our spatial and temporal memory for objects is not as impressive as some birds or squirrels who have to remember where they hide their food for the winter, our data show that we have a very large memory for objects.”

To run their study, Wolff and colleagues asked participants to remember several objects placed in a 7-by-7 grid. Each item was highlighted for two seconds by placing a red square around it. After participants were shown the objects, all images were removed and then the participants were tested for their ability to remember whether they had seen the object before and where they were on the grid if they did. Source