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Next time you want to remember a piece of information, save it as a file on your phone or computer.

The act of digitally storing files containing useful or important data boosts memory and the brain's ability to remember future events, according to researchers.

This is because the brain knows the original information is safely stored, which ultimately frees up cognitive resources that can focus on learning and remembering new facts and figures.

When files are digitally saved, the brain knows the information is stored safely and can be accessed when needed. This frees up cognitive resources that can be used to remember new facts and figures, according to researchers from the University of California

Lead author, assistant professor Benjamin Storm of the University of California, said: 'Our findings show that people are significantly better at learning and remembering new information when they save previous information.

'The idea is pretty simple: Saving acts as a form of offloading.

'By ensuring that certain information will be digitally accessible, we can re-allocate cognitive resources.

'We tend to think of forgetting as happening when memory fails, but research suggests that forgetting plays an essential role in supporting the adaptive functioning of memory and cognition.'

The researchers set out to challenge previous studies that indicated saving information on a digital device, such as a computer or camera, hinders later memory for it.

In the first study, 20 students used computers to open and study pairs of PDF files - File A and File B. 

Both files contained a list of 10 nouns.

The students had 20 seconds to study File A before closing the file, with half being told to save it.

They then studied File B for 20 seconds and were immediately tested on how many nouns they could remember, before being tested on their memory for File A.

The students remembered more words from File B when they had saved File A than when they had simply closed it, according to the report published in Psychological Science.

A second study with a separate group of 48 undergraduates saw the same results.

The second study revealed that the saving-related memory effects depended on how reliable the students thought the saving process was. 

When the students were told that the saved version of File A might not stick, they showed no saving-related memory benefits.

If they thought saving was unreliable, students' memory for File B was the same regardless of whether they saved File A.

Students used computers to study pairs of PDF files. The students had 20 seconds to study File A before closing it, with half being told to save it. They then studied File B, and were tested on the details on both. Students remembered more from File B when they had saved File A than when they simply closed it

Professor Storm said: 'As technology develops, computers and smart phones are making it easier and easier to save information, which seems to have important consequences for the ways in which our memory functions.

'By treating computers and other digital devices as extensions of memory, people may be protecting themselves from the costs of forgetting while taking advantage of the benefits.'

The researchers believe that the memory benefits of saving previous information may even have broad implications for how we think more generally.

'Coming up with a new idea or solving a problem often requires that we think outside the box, so to speak, and forgetting previous information allows us to do that,' continued Professor Storm.

'By helping us to reduce the accessibility of old information, saving may facilitate our ability to think of new ideas and solve difficult problems.'