Simple Methods To Boost Your Memory

A name has slipped your mind, but no matter how hard you try to remember you can’t. As we age, our memories aren’t as sharp as they were when we were younger and our ability to remember starts to fade. Memory loss is quite unsettling. It can be the first warning sign of bigger health issues, such as Alzheimer's disease. The good news is there are some simple and effective ways to help boost one's memory. Start reading now to learn about them now.

Get Enough Sleep

Not getting a full night's sleep at night can contribute to memory problems, particularly if it is a chronic situation. Sleep does wonders for the brain, and while you are sleeping, your brain is busy at work processing information and cementing new memories. A lack of sleep makes it hard to learn new concepts and retain new information. Getting enough sleep every night helps recharge your brain, and thus makes it easier to learn and retain new information. A full night's sleep improves mood and makes it easier to focus.

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Eat Well

Research shows eating a well-balanced diet helps improve memory in a great way, and foods high in cholesterol, sugar, and saturated fats have been known to cause memory loss. Some studies show individuals whose diets were filled with saturated fats had a harder time recalling things than individuals who ate less saturated fat in their diets. Those who had diets consisting of excess fat and sugar had an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

However, avoiding foods high in sugars and fats isn’t enough. It is important to eat foods rich in vitamins and omega acids, such as avocados and fish. Good fats and the correct vitamins help boost brain power.

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Exercise

Going for a daily jog does more than keep you lean and fit. It may also keep your brain running smoothly! Individuals who exercise daily have better memories than those individuals who don’t. In some studies, people who had impaired memories found their memories improved simply by injecting more exercise time into their daily routine. Daily exercise can also aid in reducing stress, which is important as stress can contribute to memory issues. It has even been suggested the part of the brain used for thinking is larger in individuals who regularly exercise than in those who do not.

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Challenge The Mind

Put down the TV remote. It’s important to stimulate your mind to stay sharp. By doing puzzles like crosswords, sudoku, and brain teasers you stimulate the brain and challenge your mind. Taking up new hobbies like painting or bird watching has the same effect. Joining a book club, learning how to play chess, or partaking in classes with a social component will also help strengthen your memory. Pick something that appeals to your interest and be sure to engage in it regularly. Of course, remember to up the difficulty or add something new to the table every so often to make sure you are still challenging your mind as much as possible. Don't get complacent!

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Listen To Music

Listening to music helps improve your memory in many ways. First off, music helps increase the chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters, which help in almost every brain function imaginable. Listening to music also helps increase one's focus, IQ, and improves both language development and brain conductivity. The right kind of music can also be relaxing, and significantly reduce stress, which is part of what helps improve focus and the ability to learn new concepts. Create playlists that suit your musical taste and consider how you react to each genre and individual song for the best results.

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Meditate

Meditation is a very relaxing ritual, and it is also incredible for the mind and memory in particular. The good news is, meditation is not too difficult to master, and individuals can also do it anywhere. Meditation helps memory by relaxing the mind to the point where it becomes easier to focus. When the mind is clear, it is easier for the brain to process information and store memories. Meditation can improve attention span, which makes it easier to learn new things. Meditating for even as little as fifteen minutes a day can boost your brainpower in significant ways over time.

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Take A Fish Oil Supplement

A great natural way to help with memory is taking a fish oil supplement. This substance is extracted from fish with a high-fat content like salmon, mackerel, anchovies, and sardines. There are two main omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, DHA and EPA, both of which have been proven to offer skin and cardiovascular benefits. But recent studies indicate the supplement also impacts the brain heavily, especially for patients who suffer depression and mild memory loss. The fatty acids in fish oil are essential for an individual's brain to develop and function properly throughout their entire life. In studies of animals who were fed diets without these acids, their memory and brain function declined. Another study showed low amounts of DHA in older adults was correlated to smaller brains, which signifies their brains were aging more rapidly. Currently, there are studies being done to see whether the fatty acids in fish oil can benefit Alzheimer's disease patients and those with other forms of dementia. The research isn't yet conclusive, but if scientists find fish oil does help the disease, it could slow dementia progression and change millions of lives.

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Write Down Tasks And Important Information

To encode information more firmly into one's brain, it helps to write down tasks and important information. Interestingly enough, studies indicate writing by hand is better for memory than typing. This implies the process of taking notes in classes, interviews, and other situations can help with memory retention, even if individuals don't use those notes to study. Most students use their computers for notes. Typing is usually faster than longhand writing, and it's easier to organize data files than notebooks. Not to mention one laptop is lighter to carry than a backpack full of books. But if students have important information they need to remember from class, an interview, workplace training, or other situations, they might want to type it first and rewrite it on paper later. Handwriting forces the brain to slow down and process the information, which encodes it into an individual's long-term memory. Because handwriting involves varied motions, it also engages the brain more than typing.

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Engage In Social Activities

Studies indicate engaging in social activities may promote overall brain health, particularly in the aging population. When older adults engaged in card games, social outings, and online shopping, their brains were generally healthier than other older adults who didn't participate in stimulating social activities. In fact, computer use showed better brain health in aging populations. While overuse of electronics and internet addiction is a real phenomenon, technology appears to have beneficial neurological effects when used in a positive way. Individuals who used a computer at least one time each week had significantly lower instances of thinking and memory problems. In fact, not using the computer increased the prevalence of cognitive problems by forty-two percent. On top of that, individuals who participated in engaging social activities had a twenty-three percent reduction in cognitive problems when compared to the non-stimulated population. Researchers believe social interaction and stimulating games help keep the brain active. When the brain isn't stimulated, it begins to decrease in function, similar to how unused muscles atrophy.

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Lower Stress

An individual's stress levels may be impairing their memory by disrupting their brain's encoding process. Information is initially stored in short-term memory. When the brain processes that information, it becomes stored in long-term memory. Information processing takes three steps. The first is encoding, where the information is transmitted into readable data. Then there's consolidation, which is like making a copy of that data. Retrieval occurs when individuals access and play the data back. Consolidation is the step during which the information becomes stored in long-term memory. Stress can interrupt the encoding process, causing individuals to forget information before it's even in their short term memory. Even if the information is encoded properly, if the brain becomes distracted by stress, it can't give the right amount of energy to consolidation. The data doesn't reach long-term memory at all. Therefore, if individuals are stressed when trying to retrieve encoded information, their brain will have trouble with it. As such, it's important to minimize stress as much as possible.

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Make Time For Laughter

Believe it or not, if individuals make time for laughter, they might notice an improvement in their memory. One study showed laughter helps reduce cortisol levels in the body. Cortisol is a stress hormone created by the adrenal gland. It's one of the chemicals involved in the 'fight or flight' response. In addition to affecting immediate stress responses, cortisol also suppresses the immune system and can interfere with the ability to learn and remember information. The study involved two groups of older adults: one group watched a comedic television show, while the other watched a show without humor. Afterward, the group who watched the comedy had much lower cortisol levels. Their delayed recall capabilities were up to forty-three percent better than the control group's ability. This is because excessive cortisol damages the hippocampus, which encodes memory.