Here’s an all-too-familiar situation: You frantically packed the night before for your week-long beach trip. Luckily, you remembered all the essentials: socks, underwear and a phone charger. But upon arrival, you realize that you forgot to grab your toothbrush.
In a new study, researchers suggest that offloading important to-do items — for example by setting reminders on your phone — could clear brain space to better remember the little things like your toothbrush.
The team designed a computer game to simulate the idea. They gave participants a set of numbered circles, which they had to move to designated sides of the screen. Most circles were assigned to the bottom, but participants had to move others to the left or right sides.
Each time the subjects moved a circle, a new one appeared, flashing blue if they were assigned to the left, or pink of they were assigned to the right. ...
