Boost Your Memory: Exercises and Methods
Nearly all people have the same memory power and a natural ability to memorize things quickly and easily. And even if you think that’s not true, you just do not know all the secrets of using it.
You can often hear the phrase, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. However, scientists claim this saying has nothing to do with the brain. Thanks to its neuroplasticity, our brain is quite flexible and adaptable regardless of its age. The proper stimulation is a sure recipe to make the brain form new neural connections and respond to changes. So, keep reading to find out what the ingredients of this recipe are.
#1 Challenge your brain
Our brain constantly develops billions of neural pathways that ensure our daily activities. Thus, when applying them every day, little mental effort is needed to sort familiar problems out or perform usual tasks. However, staying within the comfort for your brain zone and limiting its stimulation to only trivial patterns won’t promote further enhancement of your brain’s functions.
Human memory is like a muscle that needs constant training to stay sharp. Yet, be mindful that this training ought to be novel, challenging, and of gradual difficulty. That means new activities should go beyond the actual limits of your memory, keep you concentrated and engage more of your mental efforts every new time.
Despite the variety of different apps or digital games that may offer cognitive function improvements, health experts worldwide do insist on employing more real-world techniques. The point is that while the former may bring only short-term benefits, the latter is mostly focused on long-term memory.
Dr. Anthony Metivier, an experienced memory expert, author, and professor, offers some easy and time-efficient techniques to boost your memory.
The 4-Details Observation Exercise
During the day, choose some random person on your way and memorize their four characteristics. These can be hair color, shoe type, jewelry shape, handbag brand, or whatever you like. The task is to recall all this information in some time. You may begin with observing one person a day, and once you feel some progress try to complicate the exercise by adding more people or more features.
The Add 3, Minus 7 Game
For this activity, first, pick any three-digit number. Then add the digit 3 to it three times. Afterward, subtract the digit 7 from the resulting number seven times. Repeat this exercise five or more times.
You can also challenge yourself by performing subtraction and addition operations, choosing bigger numbers, and repeating them more times with some four-digit numbers.
Number skipping
This exercise may seem pretty easy at first glance, but it does require a lot of effort. The thing is that you need to count from one to ten, trying to omit to represent and visualize the even numbers and, at the same time, not ignore them but leave a kind of space for them. Similarly, you count back down from ten to one but suppress, in this case, the odd numbers. The difficulty lies in not letting your thought flow but controlling them instead.
Repeating what you hear
The task is as easy as ABC. All you need is to reproduce in your mind the words someone has said to you. The key point is to follow exact words and their order. Such a simple activity will make your brain remember more information and train your cognitive function.
This exercise can be supplemented by visualization and sensory practices, which will have an even better effect. Apart from recalling the words heard, try also recreating the picture and atmosphere of that moment by remembering surroundings, feelings, and scents.
Creating memory palaces
This method consists in imaginary reproduction of a certain known area and laying a route along it for further following. At some points of this route, you should leave “mental” images that you associate with what you need to remember and then recall.
#2 Eat properly
Healthy and nutritious food will definitely boost the power of your brain. Especially beneficial are the products containing omega-3 acids, such as “fatty fish”, seaweeds, walnuts, beans, etc. Foods rich in antioxidants (fruits, vegetables, green tea) help combat oxidative stress and brain cell destruction and slow brain aging down.
However, it is important for the brain not only what you eat but also what you do not eat. Overconsumption of refined carbohydrates (white rice, pasta, breakfast cereals, desserts, etc.) and added sugar may do significant harm to your memory and concentration, impair your cognitive function, and result in inflammation of particular brain parts.
#3 Sleep enough
Sound and deep sleep has a major part in memory consolidation transforming short-term memories into long-lasting ones. Since the disruption of the body’s natural sleep cycle or lack of it can interrupt the mental processes associated with memory formation, it can cause severe cognitive impairments. The recommended amount of sleep is about 8 hours for adults and 10 hours for children.
Click here to find more information about overcoming sleep disruption and returning to healthy and restful sleep.
#4 Practice sport
Physical activity not only prevents different diseases but also maintains your brain in good shape and decreases the risk of dementia. Exercising enhances your body’s blood flow, increases the secretion of neuroprotective proteins, and stimulates developing neurons, which collectively improve brain health and contribute to better memory.
#5 Manage stress and chronic conditions
The causes of cognitive decline go far beyond what we can imagine. Chronic stress can also lead to memory loss by damaging the hippocampus, which is involved in memory formation. Cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension are associated with vascular dementia through impairment of circulation to the brain. Therefore, it goes without saying that timely and proper treatment of any disorders of both mental and physical health is essential not only in this case but in general as well.
As we age and our neurons weaken, it becomes harder to keep a lot of information in mind. So, take all these easy, sure-shot, and, what is more, useful measures to maintain your brain and body healthy and memory sharp.
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