At its best, memory is tricky. At its worst, it's the most frustrating element of being human.

Why is it we can perfectly remember, in excruciating detail, the hazelnut latte and cranberry scone we had that one time, at that little airport cafe on a layover in Boston—yet completely blank when a medical form needs our kid's birthday?

Why do the songs from our senior prom playlist evoke all the excitement and novelty of our teenage years, while today's music often sounds like nails on a chalkboard?

As long as science has studied the brain itself, it's been fascinated by memory recall.

From the reminiscence bump phenomenon (why our childhood, teen years, and twenties are so crisp and vivid, while all the years to follow get a little hazy), to emerging neuroscience on recall therapies for dementia—we've only begun to scratch the surface of what memory really is...and all the incredible things it can do.

Perhaps most incredible of all is that memory recall, like a muscle, can be honed and trained.

Recall techniques can improve and transform our daily lives, and even improve our memory going forward...no matter how young or old we are when we start.