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Moving Your Eyes Improves Memory, Study Suggests

livescience.com — Improving your memory could be as simple as moving your eyes from side-to-side.

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  • Badtastic, on 11/10/2007, -0/+78Hmm.... So do tennis spectators have a good memory?
    • BigglesPiP, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16Only the ones on the side of the court (dis-agreers), the folks on the ends (agreers) forget ***** loads.
    • jm1234567890, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Nah, they move their whole head
    • silfo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6ping pong spectators may be better with memory since they don't move their head that often
  • BarneyF, on 11/10/2007, -0/+70That's why I roll my eyes every time my boss opens his mouth. Helps me remember what he said.
  • endlessraining, on 11/10/2007, -0/+39Isnt that what people do when they read something?
    • thcobbs, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2not really... most of what you think is your eye moving from one side to the next is actually a conglomeration of moves from head and eyes... and your eyes also never fixate on one spot as you tend to form a blind spot on anything the doesn't move.
    • UnstableMind, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Maybe it's just the fact that people who read (books, internet, newspapers, etc...) are the ones who absorb more information (by reading) that it appears they are the ones who have better memories.
  • sciencebase, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Also helps you do hard arithmetic (viz Joey, Friends, www.friendscafe.org, search for "The one where Joey wiggles his eyes side to side")
  • Steffyson, on 10/12/2007, -7/+0That's interesting I will try this out.
  • Malakym, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0That's pretty cool. But I'm a still a little skeptical. When I'm in a room with many beautiful women, my shifting eyes don't usually mean I'm trying to remember something. But still a cool idea. dugg.
  • kidcoconut, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I'm dizzy now. Kinda like drunk with bed spins.
  • Raydr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10As much time as I spend online looking at por...periodicals, I should have por...photographic memory.
  • DesiGUY, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Good that i work in a company with lots of pretty chicks... plenty of eye exercise for me.
    • dilberter, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@ "desiguy" (ooh)
      Dugg down for use of the word "chicks" and not admitting you don't really like them.
  • durru7, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Ah, so thats why she dumped me!
  • YossarianDent, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I've been doing that for years when trying to remember something. Good to know that there's a speculative, half-baked scientific principle behind it.
    • dagooh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well, not I gotta try this while playing the Brain Age word memory game, that's a pretty good way to measure if it works or not. (with actual graphs)
  • garg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I'll be sure to remember that doing that makes me very dizzy
  • johnwang, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0interesting
  • LegendX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Well this makes sense. When you strain your eye muscle you seem to remember things better. Like for example closing your eyes real tight when trying to get an idea or looking up.
  • airquotes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Dont cops use eye movement to tell if youre lying as an interogation technique.?. if you look up to one direction you may be accessing memory, and if you look up to the other direction you may be accessing creativity, used to create a lie.. perhaps your kind of jogging your brain when you look side to side.. like when i move the mouse around to wake up my comp when its being slow
  • Snarfy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Hmm. I thought I've gotten more forgetful after getting prescription glasses for the first time. You are more likely to turn your head than your eyes when wearing glasses.

  • mikos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4In fact, moving your eyes from side to side, especially following an object has been proven beneficial in treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The approach is clinically referred to as EMDR. Google it and it is a fascinating subject.
    • loquax, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I agree. PTSD and a variety of phobias is treated by using this method. If I recall correctly, they give the patient instructions to "remember" the event as they do the eye movement. I am willing to bet that eye movement helps to stimulate memory and allow the patient to process anxiety. Additionally, I am willing to bet that REM (Rapid Eye Movement) may also be involved in stimulating images and memories. Instead of being a result of dreaming REM may be the cause of dreaming.
      In some Taoist and Buddhist exercises (aka Chi Gung) eye movement is a very important component.
  • psykr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Where is the actual paper/publication?
  • thecontinental, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Great, now I'm dizzy and nauseated...and will remember it.
  • chetanthaker, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1but then if I stare at a girl's t!ts, I'd get beaten up... right ??
  • andcal, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0-wrong thread_
  • jarvelated, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Could this be a reason why REM sleep is so beneficial for processing the days memories while you are sleeping?
    • ricerfuel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Sleep is beneficial altogether, thats why its so hard to sleep the day before big exams ;)
  • Cherubim, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0In other news, studies have shown that farting ten times in a row reduces the risk of bowel cancer by 80%. It' s claimed that a healthy dose of baked beans can help to accelerate this process, researchers said.

  • Haarball, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I guess this partly explains Phil Ivey's poker skills, I guess.
  • jb1359, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Yes this does work! When I would take tests in school, I would move my eyes side-to-side to see my classmates' answers, then I could remember things a lot better.
  • adolfojp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Then it is a good thing that I switched to contact lenses.
  • merrit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'm just excited that we're going to see people wandering around in public randomly moving their eyes from side to side. It'll make going to the mall that much more fun.
  • liltbrockie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2if i move my eyes from side to side i get a headache
  • qckbeam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That's pretty interesting, actually.

    Sad thing is I'll probably forget about this remedy for forgetfulness when I need it.
  • Securis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Just don't do this if you have a hangover!!!
  • hakz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8who else started moving their eyes from side to side before even reading the artical?
  • ubuntuedgy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I work at a University. The weather is getting warmer, which means the clothes will get skimpier. I should be a genius by the end of the summer according to this article.
  • trunkster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yeah this will work during an exam... but I don't think it's because it's improving my memory.
  • ghostlywind, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1this must be why i can remember stuff so well, i can rarely stop moving my eyes.
  • BOFH2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3So sit in front of your big screen tv(really close) and watch a Jet Li movie
  • biff198, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4As I read this, I have a couple hours before I have to go take a test, so every few minutes, I stop studying and shift my eyes back and forth. I have to say... now I can remember EVERYTHING that's lying around my room!
  • blackjack75, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1 .
  • HairyFotr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Look at the shiny pocketwatch swinging back and forth, follow it with your eyes... you are getting sleepy, oh so sleepy..
  • stalepie, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Current email address:

    dickinson1982@gmail.com
  • bardo7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Duh
    it's called ayurveda (ancient Indian medical practise)
    lots of NLP is based on this stuff too
    check it out.
  • alien420, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0smoking weed improves your memory.
  • Maluka, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'm going to start The Rapid Eye Movement. Nope, not dreaming.
  • hilomike, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1B
    A
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    M
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  • thesnare, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2too bad i have a rare condition known as horizontal gaze palsy i cant move my eyes left or right only up and down
  • juliocgrajales, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2All these studies are getting too ridiculous, I hope these are not our tax dollars at work, Amazing, Breaking News:

    Moving your ***** eyes improves memory

    and Opening your mouth and using your vocal chords produces very different pitches of sound and guess what if you say something enough times out loud I bet you remember that too...

    Interesting but come on, lets have these scientists focus on more interesting things like how the brain functions, cures for deadly diseases, sorry I forgotten my point (moving my eyes from side to side)

    But http://spreeder.com/ will help you with something even better forget those pesky old memories create new ones by speed reading.
  • Wynner3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Moving my eyes improves memories? Cool, I think. I wonder if it matters what speed your eyes are moving at. My eyes twitch from side to side really quickly. They have been for about 17 years now. I have been able to control it. It creeps some people out. I'm still trying to see if I can hypnotize people with it though. If anyone wants to see them, send me an email and I will post a video on youtube. Nothing special though.
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