I use a notebook computer as my computer at home. It sits on my lap on a little lap desk that I made out of oak and it has a leather covered cushion for comfort. I made it wide enough to hold my computer and a wireless mouse. When I travel my computer comes with me, but I generally leave the mouse at home. Recently I went traveling and came back after the trip to find that my mouse was gone. I looked for it all over the place. You know that search that ends up practically cleaning house because you’re moving things around and rearranging as you go? Well it was like that. Eventually I convinced myself that I must have accidentally packed the mouse and lost it on the trip. I broke down and spent the $25.00 to buy a new one.

The next time I went on a trip I dutifully packed my computer and resolved to put my brand new mouse somewhere safe where I would not lose it. Next to the chair I use for work is a small dresser with 3 drawers in it (one big and 2 small). The big drawer is where I have some papers and stationery for work. The little ones have pens and a little flashlight, mostly junk really, but an adequate size to put the mouse.

I pulled open one of the small drawers and much to my surprise was my “lost” mouse. I had put it there for safe keeping. The funny thing is I was not happy, I was kind of mad at myself for not thinking through the problem of where I put the mouse in the first place. I was thinking where would the mouse be, not where would I put it when I was about to go on a trip. When my brain was back in the going on a trip frame of ‘mind’ that little drawer was the logical place to put the mouse – again.

The concept of “state dependent learning” is well established and this story is somewhat like that because I was in the state of preparing for a trip, I repeated the same behavior again.  As a professor of neurology and an educator what that says to me is that our brains live and work in an environment and it can do that work best when the environment is kept constant, consistent and healthy. When learning and studying new and complicated material, every college student needs plenty of sleep, a healthy diet and a routine including exercise and study. Learning and comprehension is improved when the brain has the right ‘environment’ to learn and return that memory. You are spending a lot of time and money as a college student, to get the best value for your money, retain that information by giving your brain the best chance of keeping that information in your head.