Unorthodox memorizing

[Masticate3Xaday]

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Does anyone else do this? I really have no idea why, but I memorize things a lot of things by encoding them "mathematically" I guess you could say in order to make memorization much easier and try to recognize patterns of number. It's highly unorthodox, it's just the way my mind works. For example when trying to memorize the cranial nerves, types, origin):

1=GSE (general somatic efferent)
2=GVE (general visceral efferent)
3=SVE (special visceral efferent)
4=GSA, SSA (general somatic afferent, special somatic afferent)
5=GVA (general visceral afferent)
6=SVA (somatic visceral afferent)

So you notice for the first 1-3 they are in alphabetical order, for 4-6 they are also in alphabetical order (only exception is SSA for 4).


Now if you list cranial nerves I just list the numbers of the nerve types:

I: 6
II:4
III: 12
IV: 1
V:34
VI:1
VII:2346
VIII:4
IX:23456
X: 23456
XI: 13
XII: 1

I skip commas for numbers to make memorization easier, so I just remember the number pattern 6,4,12,1,34,1,2346,4,23456,23456,13,1.

Remember 12 numbers in that order and you have all the cranial nerves and their types. Now to remember origins I just think of a Pascal's triangle with a "star on top"

|
|
| |
| | |
| | | |

THen just label the tree. The star is telencephalon, |=Diencephalon, ||=Mesencephalon, ||| Pons, |||| Medulla oblangata. Then just label the tree in order of cranial nerves and have each line represent a nerve (in order)

So the star of the tree is CN I, | CNII, || is CN III and CNIV, etc. etc.


LOL so all I remember is the picture of the tree and the number pattern 6, 4, 12, 1, 34,1, 2346, 4, 23456, 23456, 13, 1 and I have all of the nerves, their types, and origin memorized without having to think of some chart. (I chose pascal's triangle because if you look at the way the nerves are distributed in order you get a pattern 1,1,2,3,5 a fibonacci sequence!).


Am I just nuts or does anyone else have highly unorthodox ways of remembering things?

 

[Freakfarm0]

nuts.

 

[Isoprop]

Whatever works for you Rainman.

 

[NearnstPotentia]

Does it take you very long to do this?

 

[Jack is Back]

.

 

[Masticate3Xaday]

Does it take you very long to do this?

Meh about 15 minutes to condense the entire table they want you to recognize into a few patterns if you could call it that. Then another 10 minutes to remember the number pattern and the tree.

 

[Masticate3Xaday]

This can't be fast... but whatever works.

Your strategy doesn't seem scalable. In other words, it would be a mess to use that for the amount of info on Step 1. Plus the information is stuck in sequence, you have to access the previous info to get to the middle. You can't access the middle information by itself. Again on Step 1, this would be a mess.

I try to use logic primarily, minimal background info if logic is insufficient. Mnemonics as a back up or for illogical info.

Well of course the whole goal is to be lightning fast so you almost don't have to think about it. But I'm learning it for the first time and just trying to pass the anatomy test before step 1.

 

[Valadi]

I can understand this stuff being daunting at first and lending itself to complicated memorization schemes, but the stuff is easier and less rote than it seems.

eg.
CN I - you smell. must be afferent b/c it needs to go to your brain to smell. nose isn't visceral. must be somatic afferent. Cranial nerves enter the bran predictably in descending order from cranial to caudal (hence their numbers): 1&2 are special courses(tele/dien), 3-4 = midbrain, 5-8 = pons, = 9-12 medulla.

Apply logic to the rest.

Then again, if this is just how your brain works, more power to you.

 

[CaptainSSO]

I can understand this stuff being daunting at first and lending itself to complicated memorization schemes, but the stuff is easier and less rote than it seems.

eg.
CN I - you smell. must be afferent b/c it needs to go to your brain to smell. nose isn't visceral. must be somatic afferent. Cranial nerves enter the bran predictably in descending order from cranial to caudal (hence their numbers): 1&2 are special courses(tele/dien), 3-4 = midbrain, 5-8 = pons, = 9-12 medulla.

Apply logic to the rest.

Then again, if this is just how your brain works, more power to you.

The only problem is, this stuff isn't always logical--the olfactory nerve is actually special visceral afferent (as is taste), even though like you said you wouldn't expect the nose to be visceral.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_visceral_afferent

 

[Siverhideo1985]

Haha...if I could do maths I wouldn't be in medicine. Neat way to remember things, though!

 

[CaptainSSO]

Haha...if I could do maths I wouldn't be in medicine. Neat way to remember things, though!

Yea, being a mathematician is a very lucrative career.

 

[Valadi]

The only problem is, this stuff isn't always logical--the olfactory nerve is actually special visceral afferent (as is taste), even though like you said you wouldn't expect the nose to be visceral.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_visceral_afferent

Yar, my example is foiled from being out of anatomy for 3 years.

Well, good luck!

 

[D elegans]

Jesus tapdancing christ that's nuts. Seems like just another layer of confusion for me

 

[Amemus]

Sure. Some of the most impressive memory feats I've heard of (memorizing books full of information) use similar unconventional methods. I don't have experience with this but I do find strings of numbers easy to remember so I can see it working. And I think you could be efficient with these techniques if you're skilled with them.

 

[Masticate3Xaday]

Jesus tapdancing christ that's nuts. Seems like just another layer of confusion for me

yeah maybe I explained it terribly.

-Just put all the efferents and afferent cranial nerves in alphabetical order 1st and number them 1-6 (with 4 being the exception).

GSE, GVE, SVE, GSA, SSA, GVA, SVA


then just remember the fibonacci sequence 1,1,2,3,5 (which is how the nerve origins are distributed through the brain) . Just start out at the outer brain and work your way in so telecephalon, diencephalon, mesencephalon, pons, MO.

So the 1st cranial nerve is TE, 2nd is DE, 3rd and 4th are ME, 5th 6th and 7th are Pons, and 8-12 are MO.


Thus all you have to do to remember what nerve types and where they originate from is remember 6,4,12,1,34,1,2346, 4, 23456, 23456, 13, 1 and the fibonacci sequence 1,1,2,3,5 Helped me learn them in about 20 minutes instead of beating my head trying to remember and visualize the chart.


I'm crazy.

 

[D elegans]

yeah maybe I explained it terribly.

-Just put all the efferents and afferent cranial nerves in alphabetical order 1st and number them 1-6 (with 4 being the exception).

GSE, GVE, SVE, GSA, SSA, GVA, SVA


then just remember the fibonacci sequence 1,1,2,3,5 (which is how the nerve origins are distributed through the brain) . Just start out at the outer brain and work your way in so telecephalon, diencephalon, mesencephalon, pons, MO.

So the 1st cranial nerve is TE, 2nd is DE, 3rd and 4th are ME, 5th 6th and 7th are Pons, and 8-12 are MO.


Thus all you have to do to remember what nerve types and where they originate from is remember 6,4,12,1,34,1,2346, 4, 23456, 23456, 13, 1 and the fibonacci sequence 1,1,2,3,5 Helped me learn them in about 20 minutes instead of beating my head trying to remember and visualize the chart.


I'm crazy.

My feelings toward you are a mix of jealousy and terror.

 

[Jack is Back]

There is no possible way this method could be used to learn a large amount of information.

 

[Jack is Back]

Sure. Some of the most impressive memory feats I've heard of (memorizing books full of information) use similar unconventional methods. I don't have experience with this but I do find strings of numbers easy to remember so I can see it working. And I think you could be efficient with these techniques if you're skilled with them.

Or you can just use a mnemonic which takes 3 minutes.

 

[Masticate3Xaday]

Or you can just use a mnemonic which takes 3 minutes.

If you have a mnemonic for which types of fibers each cranial nerve is I'm all ears. I'll definitely use anything that is faster.

 

[Morsetlis]

Compulsive-obsessive traits 🙂

 

[Amemus]

Or you can just use a mnemonic which takes 3 minutes.

That may get you through the night for a test but it won't be effective in memorizing massive amounts of information. Do some research on memorization techniques; you'll find that the most powerful ones are linking techniques and the OP seems to have stumbled upon something like it. Mnemonics use the linking technique as well; they're just much, much more limited.
That is, if you're at all interested in memorizing massive amounts of information...

 

[shadowfox87]

If you know where the nerve is coming from, what it is innervating, and it's function, you can easily classify it because you already know what GVA or GSA means.

Similarly, you can either take each disease and memorize the symptoms OR you can just understand what happens in the disease and why each symptom occurs. This way you'll never forget.

I hate memorizing lists. Unfortunately, this method doesn't always work and you do have to just sometimes blindly memorize such as genes, mutations, cancer staging, etc.

 

[Rothbard]

nm

 

[Siverhideo1985]

Yea, being a mathematician is a very lucrative career.

Mathmetician? Eww. No. I'd be an aerospace engineer. If only them numbers and symbols made sense. 😀