Record recollection

If you have ever felt unusually lucky, think of Simonides of Ceos. The ancient Greek lyric poet was called out of a luxurious feast to see two visitors. The second he left the hall, it collapsed, killing everyone inside.

Simonides had to identify the guests who had been killed, although after the impact many of the bodies were damaged beyond recognition. He decided to visualise the guests' locations at the table, which allowed him to recall accurately who had been there.

This method, called loci after the Latin word for "positions", became the first ever Art of Memory to be taught. But it is not an antiquated technique: nowadays, memory champions like Italy's Andrea Muzii still use it to learn up to 100,000 digits of Pi.

We are learning new and fascinating things about the brain every day. Scientists have recently found that our brains can store the equivalent of 2.5 petabytes of information (the equivalent of three million hours of TV).

And now, a new book by neurologist Andrew Budson and neuroscientist Elizabeth Kensinger uses this science to give us helpful tips on how to manage our memory for the best results.

Their first tip is to see memory as an "active and effortful process". They argue that memory has to be continually refreshed and rebuilt.

Budson and Kensinger also say that you should not beat yourself up if you forget certain facts or ideas. They describe the process of forgetting as like "pruning" - cutting down your memories for efficiency.

And, for hard-working students like yourselves, they have a helpful mnemonic device to memorise information: FOUR. The letters stand for Focus, Organise, Understand and Relate. You should first focus your attention on the information, then organise it neatly in your brain, then try to understand it, then relate it to things your brain is already familiar with.

Yes: These are very helpful tips from professionals who know a lot about the brain. How could they not be helpful for exam revision?

No: Everyone's brain works differently and these tips are very one-size-fits-all. If you want to get better at revising, you need to devise your own strategy that works for you.

Or... The tips are useful, but they are not enough on their own. You also need to have a comprehensive revision strategy focusing on your strengths, e.g. whether you are better at visual or audio learning.