How to increase you're memory and how the human memory works

So I did a little bit of research and talked to a few medical professionals, and the basic concept is quite simple so this won't be too long of a post. But to start, for all those interested in neuroscience, I'm sure you've heard of Hebb's theory: "Neurons that fire together, wire together," which is the basis of forming long-terms memories.

So once, a famous scientist, Ivan Pavlov, tested this theory on his dogs. He found that every time his 

dogs saw meat, their mouths began to produce excess saliva. He decided to ring a bell right before giving his dogs the meat. So why did he do this? Well, there is neuron that fires when the dogs hear the ring of the bell. Eventually, the ring itself caused the dogs to salivate, because their brains starting associating the ring itself with salvation. The dogs realized that the ring of the bell meant that it was going to get meat. Eventually, the neuron for the ring connects with the neuron involved with the saliva, and we get a weak connection (the red dotted line in my not-so-beautiful diagram to the right). Eventually, Pavlov continued to ring the bell before serving meat, and it reached the point where the dogs' neurons for the ring of the bell established a strong connection for the meat (the solid red line on the diagram). After establishing a strong connection, the dogs salivated just as much when hearing the ring of the bell as they did when the saw the meat!

In a similar way, the strength of our neurons can be strong/weak, and forming the connection gives our memory. To remember something, associate it with something you already know, and chances are you will remember it better (because, according to the theory, the neuron for the thing you already know connects with what you want to remember, and bam, you're a genius! Jk, its obviously not that easy to be a genius, but hey, if it makes our lives easier, why not do it? Also, if you play sports, I highly recommend getting plenty of sleep every night, especially when you have practice/games. This is because, in your sleep, your brain undergoes muscle replay, or in other words, it replays the muscle movements you did during practice in your head. This is another reason why coaches and athletic trainers are always telling you to get a good night's sleep, aside from having enough energy.

As for study tips, you can use the trick I mentioned about associating something you need to memorize with something you already know. Second, do not multitask while you study, since you will remember things better (you're neurons will have a stronger connection) if you're brain isn't focused on multiple things (i.e. do not watch T.V., text, check fb, etc. while studying). Third, have spaced practice of studying; do not cram. Info you see multiple times over a spread period of time will allow stronger connection of neurons and better test results. Review your class notes when you come home. Fourth, set-up situations where you have to recall the info you are trying to learn. In other words, quiz yourself. Reading things over and over is not as effective as forcing yourself to recall info. And lastly, a trick I like to use is chewing the same flavor of gum while studying and taking a test. Not sure if it is based on science or a placebo, but all that matters is it works.

My theory is that by chewing the same flavor of gum, the same neurons fire while I am taking the test as I am studying because they have become associated with the gum. So there you have it, how to increase your memory and the basis of human memory. Feel free to comment if you have any other strategies that help :).