TEST YOURSELF WITH THE NUMBERS CHALLENGE

Look at this string of specially arranged digits for one minute. Turn away and write down as many as you can remember, starting from the left

349370527222750045468020871345655370067819216523445680 75614503594923400960676590 87

HOW many were you able to come up with?

According to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, the Gold Standard among neuropsychological screening tests, your performance was acceptable if you remembered five or more. Recalling seven is often the magic number. But these limits can be overcome.

Take a look at the numbers again (right), now organised as phone numbers.

It should only take a few minutes for you to remember the first three ten-digit numbers.

349-370-5272 227-500-4546 802-087-1345 655-370-0678 192-165-2344 568-075-6145 035-949-2340 096-067-6590 87

But even if you only remember two, you have already memorised 20 numbers, which is far more than the five numbers on the standard neuropsychological test.

The organising principle at work here is called chunking: converting random numbers into a memorable string.

So, when I suggested telephone numbers ever ything fell into place.