A world memory champion has revealed the secrets of forging a ‘razor-sharp’ memory well into old age.
Dominic O’Brien, 66, from London, appeared on This Morning today to share the handy tips he used to win the World Memory Championships a record eight times.
Dominic’s memory is so spectacular that in 2002 he was entered into the Guinness Book of Records for memorizing 54 decks of cards after looking at each card just once.
Speaking to presenters Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary, the mnemonist – a person with the ability to remember and retrieve unusually long lists of data – advised people to ward off dementia by playing digital games and instruments and exercising regularly to move.
He also explained how he keeps his memory ‘sharp’ in his sixties: ‘I play games every day. I do Sudoku, I do WordAll, I do connections – you know the four-by-four grid on TV.
Dominic O’Brien (pictured) has revealed the secrets of forging a ‘razor-sharp’ memory into old age
The mnemonic appeared on This Morning today to share the handy tips he used to win the World Memory Championships a record eight times
‘I also do spelling bees, crossword puzzles… I try to do them as quickly as possible. Every now and then I try to memorize a deck of cards, if possible. It’s to keep the wheels turning.
‘Also physical exertion. I walk a lot and play physical instruments. The piano is very good for the memory, just like brass instruments.
‘For executive functions and general skills it is more like singing and woodwind instruments. It is better if you start early with an instrument, but never too late to start.’
The former memory champion added that he trained his mind for three hours a day during competitions. However, he claimed that ordinary citizens only needed “10 to 15 minutes” of exercise a day.
Dominic, who has also written several memory-related books, warned viewers to take up these activities to ward off dementia, which he branded the ‘biggest killer in Britain today’.
He said: ‘There’s research coming from the University of York – they talk about playing digital games and you know training your memory.
‘Keeping things running here (in the head) and playing digital games is also very good for seniors’… stay active. Use it or lose it’.
Dominic also said that he started training his memory at the age of 30 after becoming interested in the classic card game Bridge.
Speaking to presenters Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary, he advised people to prevent dementia by playing digital games and instruments and exercising regularly.
Coming from a long line of bridge players, he developed an interest in memorizing entire decks of cards.
He would later earn a place in the Guinness Book of Records for memorizing a random sequence of 2,808 playing cards (54 packs).
Dominic revealed that this time in his life was ‘very tiring’.
He said: ‘I made a record here in London in 2002 – I memorized 54 packs of playing cards, which were shuffled together and then dealt just once.
‘So that took a lot of organization – it took me twelve hours to memorize them and another three hours to recite them all… very mentally exhausting.’
Dominic has written several books on memory training, including How to Pass Exams, The Winning Hand and The Amazing Memory Box.
He also developed the Dominic system – a mnemonic device used to remember sequences of numbers by converting numbers into pairs of letters.
He then associated the letters with people and actions, like Rishi Sunak with the number 10.