How to Improve Your Memory & Cognitive Function at Any Age | Dr. Alan Castel

July 13, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Dr. Alan Castel, a UCLA professor and memory researcher, opens with a confession: as a fifth-grader, he had one line in The Wizard of Oz — “Listen everyone, there’s a cyclone on the way, hurry and get into the cellar.” On opening night, he said, “Listen everyone, there’s a cellar on the way. Hurry and get into the cyclone.” That early experience of feeling certain he knew something and then getting it wrong became the seed of a career studying metacognition — our awareness of our own memory — and how it changes across the lifespan.

Why Seeing Something Repeatedly Doesn’t Mean You’ll Remember It

Castel’s central insight is that passive exposure is a poor teacher. He demonstrates this with a simple classroom exercise: ask people to draw the Apple logo from memory. Most people have seen it thousands of times, yet they cannot say whether the bite is on the left or right, or whether there is a stem or a leaf. The reason is habituation — we stop noticing features we don’t need to attend to.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **The Apple Logo Test & Learning from Mistakes** - Host introduces the concept that mere repetition doesn't guarantee memory, using the example of failing to recall details of the Apple logo.
2 (02:39) **What is Memory? Reconstructive & Metacognitive** - Dr. Castel defines memory as a "mental representation of the past" that is inherently reconstructive.
3 (04:49) **Mnemonics vs. Deep Learning** - A discussion on the limitations of rote memorization techniques like mnemonics for names or the periodic table.
4 (07:32) **The Power of Retrieval Practice & Failure** - The "levels of processing" concept is explored, emphasizing that struggling to retrieve information is more effective than passive review.
5 (09:52) **Seeing vs. Noticing: Active Engagement** - Explains the difference between passively seeing something and actively noticing it, using the example of a fire extinguisher.
6 (13:49) **Neuroplasticity & the Value of Frustration** - Discussion on how the gap between current and desired performance triggers neuroplasticity.
7 (16:08) **How Memory Changes with Age: Selectivity & Resilience** - Dr. Castel explains that while some memory systems decline, others remain stable or improve.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Dr. Alan Castel, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and one of the world's foremost experts on human memory and cognitive aging. We discuss what science actually tells us about how to improve our learning ability and memory at any age. We also discuss how memory works, why all planning and imagination about the future is based on the past, false memories, and how to leverage curiosity, emotion, and self-testing retrieval practice to stamp in memories for the long term. We discuss what "superagers"—people who actually improve their cognitive capacity with age—do differently than everyone else. This episode is for anyone interested in the science of memory and tools to maintain and improve your memory across the lifespan.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) Dr. Alan Castel

(00:02:41) What Is Memory?, Reconstruction & Metacognition

(00:04:49) Mnemonics, Remembering Names & Deeper Learning

(00:08:22) The Penny & Apple Logo, Noticing vs Seeing, Learning Through Mistakes

(00:10:43) Sponsors: Wealthfront & Helix

(00:14:05) Neuroplasticity, Frustration, Curiosity & Mindset

(00:17:42) Maintaining vs Learning New Things, Habits, Novelty & Emotional Memory

(00:24:28) "Mental Photographs," Photo-Taking & Imagining the Future

(00:29:28) Eyewitness Memory, the Ronald Cotton Case, Confidence vs Accuracy

(00:35:07) Medium-Term & Prospective Memory, Hotel Fire Exits

(00:40:28) Sponsor: AG1

(00:41:47) When Habits Turn Lethal, Aviation & Human Error

(00:49:01) Why Memory Changes With Age; Alzheimer's & the Nun Study

(00:52:34) Exercise & Hippocampal Volume, Falls & Balance

(00:57:14) SuperAgers & Athletes; Regret, Balance & Being Driven

(01:12:08) Sponsor: Function

(01:13:45) Age Stereotypes, Subjective Age & Positive Age Beliefs

(01:20:02) Goals & Plans, Scams; Anterior Midcingulate Cortex & SuperAgers

(01:26:23) Culture, Resilience, Blue Zones & COVID

(01:29:18) Adversity, the Positivity Effect & Intergenerational Learning

(01:36:31) Sponsor: Lingo

(01:38:00) Limitations & Purpose; Time, Family & Connection

(01:44:58) Deliberately Building Memories; the ABCs of Successful Aging

(01:51:02) Following Your Interests; Castel's Path & Older Adults

(01:57:16) Mental Simulations, Curiosity Studies & Selectivity