From the moment we are born, our brains are bombarded by an immense amount of information about ourselves and the world around us. So, how do we hold on to everything we've learned and experienced? Humans retain different types of memories for different lengths of time. We also have a working memory, which lets us keep something in our minds for a limited time by repeating it. Whenever you say a phone number to yourself over and over to remember it, you're using your working memory.

Imagine that someone asked you to come up with a sequence of five words. In any other year, some idiosyncratic combination would likely come to mind. This year, though, one five-word sequence that has been etched into the memories of many Americans, and many worldwide, stands out--"person, woman, man, camera, TV." Donald Trump, touting his ability to memorize these words as part of a cognitive health test, made the sequence famous. We can tie together our personal experiences and acquired knowledge--such as this memory of Trump's behavior--into interconnected memories, recallable at a moment's notice.