The memory palace
A memory palace, or the method of loci, means picturing a place you know well and putting each thing to remember at a spot along a route through it. To recall them, you walk the route in your mind. Studies find it helps people remember lists in order, though the evidence is mostly from small laboratory studies.
How to build one
Pick a place you can walk through in your head without effort, such as your home or your route to school, and fix a handful of spots along it in order: the front door, the stairs, the kitchen table. Then turn each thing to remember into a vivid picture and put it at the next spot. To recall the list, walk the route again and look at each spot.
What the research says
A meta-analysis of 13 randomised trials in 2021 found a medium-sized benefit for memory, while noting a high risk of bias in the studies. A larger review in 2025 found a large effect on recalling lists in order, but rated the evidence low to very low quality. It works best for lists and sequences, takes time to set up, and does less for understanding; for that, testing yourself and spacing your practice have the strongest evidence.
Common questions
What is the method of loci?
Another name for the memory palace: you place things to remember at spots along a route through a place you know, then recall them by walking the route in your mind.
Does a memory palace really work?
For lists and sequences, studies find a real benefit, with a medium effect in a 2021 meta-analysis of 13 trials. The studies are mostly small and in laboratories, so treat it as a tool for some kinds of material rather than a way to revise everything.
What should I use it for?
Things that come in a fixed order or a list: the stages of a process, a sequence of events, the planets. For explaining ideas and solving problems, practice questions and flashcards spaced over weeks do more.