Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Ways to Improve Your Memory at Any Age



Introduction about your memory

Memory is a complex thing, which is not depend on a single factor. So in the beginning you should know you simply cannot improve your memory in a day or week. This is a process which takes some time and you should practice these this during day to day life. Different people uses their memory for different work setups but however all of those different professionals can improve their memory in the same manner. For example you can be a school child, undergraduate student, university student, teacher or business professional who wants to stay mentally sharp and prevent losing your memory. Theoretically you should enhance your grey matter in your brain to have a clean and healthy memory, but as a normal process with your age our memory can be limited. But anyway all of you can improve your memory up to certain level.

I am older, can I still improve my memory?

As i said earlier reducing your memory with aging is a normal process, but Answer is YES. Anyway there are limitations. There is a new ability which is known as neuroplasticity. Scientists has found that human can improve or adapt their memory according to current environment even the individual is old. Simply memory is something related to to neuronal pathways in our brain, while you study you can make new pathways in the other hand loss of memory means you are losing the neuronal connections in your brain.
Simply this is a two side process. In one side you can gain memory other side you are losing memory day by day. To improve memory you should increase adding new thing or you should refresh excising memory. That is the basic of improving your memory. I will explain these things under few tips as follows.

Tip 01: Do not let your memory die, give a workout

When you come to adulthood you have developed millions of neuronal pathways which are help you to keep things in the memory and recall them quickly. One of the key feature of memory is as long as you use memory it refreshes once you stop using it you start to losing your memory, this is something similar to to muscular growth. People who do regular exercises have strong muscles, but people who don't use their muscles has weaker muscles. Same way your brain also need exercises to improve.
Researchers has identified four key features of a well functioning brain,

1.       Learn something new everyday (Do not wear he same dress everyday, others will notice it) – if you are good at something and you can perform that task easily, you are doing the wrong thing right now. Because you need to learn or perform new tasks always to shake your memory and refresh it. If you are doing the same thing always it will not improve your memory, and the worse thing is you are losing so many other neuronal pathways as you are not using them. So you need to read, watch, hear, perform new things  and various things.
2.       It is a challenge. Accept it – learning new things is a challenge of course , if you can remember the days where you start driving a vehicle, you gain lot of information about driving a vehicle earlier days. But compare those days with your current situation as a experienced driver, you are probably not gaining new things now. You have to try something new.
3.       It is not a single step. Build it up – start something from the basic level and move on. You should go step by step and climb through the different levels of difficulty to build it.
4.       Rewards make it easier – this is a common fact we all know, if you win something you feel that is great and you are trying hard to do it even better during next stage. This is applicable for people who face regular exams too. Because once you pass the previous exam you feel happy and you are trying to win the next level too.

This is not all about your daily activities , try something new which was always a dream in your mind. Like playing a musical instrument , play new games or any new sports activities, dance, singing. Try to give challenges always to your self.

Tip 02: physical exercise plays a major role

Physical exercises play a equal role as mental exercises, when you do the physical exercises it increases oxygen supply to brain and reduces risk of getting diseases which can contribute to loss of memory such as Diabetes, Stroke, cardiovascular diseases.exercise also contribute to maintain good chemical balance in brain and reduces production of stress hormones
Exercise tips –
·         Mainly aerobic exercise  is good for overall health including brain.
·         Do the exercise in the morning before you go to work
·         Modern exercises which require good hand eye coordination or good motor skills

Tip 03: Proper sleep

According to statistics 95% of adults need 7 to 9 hours continuous sleep at everyday night. It makes a big difference to your memory, day to day activities, thinking – planning skills and other skills. Sleep consist of several stages together we call it as a sleep cycle. You can have multiple  sleep cycles per sleep. During deep stages of sleep it is believed to be memory consolidation takes place. Sleep according to a schedule, avoid using electrical devices hour before go to bed also helps to get a proper sleep.

Tip 04: Have fun and avoid unnecessary stress           

Have fun as much as possible, may e with friends or alone. You can spend time with playful people.
Good relationships helps to stimulate our brains, recent researches prove that people with very active social lives has the lowest late of memory loss. Chronic stress is a worst thing for brain, it can destroy brain cells (other cells too) in Hippo-campus area. Hippo-campus is a small area of brain which helps to create new memories and recall old memories.
Some tips to minimize the stress are as follows,
·         Take breaks during stressful work
·         Set realistic expectations
·         Keep a balance between stressful life and leisure time
·         Try to avoid multi-tasking

Tip 05: Balance diet

You can follow these steps to lower the risk of getting dementia (loss of memory)


  • ·         Omega 3 containing foods – Fish is the best source. Eg: salmon, tuna, mackerel, halibut, sardines, trout

  • ·        Non-fish omega 3 containing foods – walnuts flax-seed oil, ground flax-seed, spinach, broccoli, pumpkin seeds and soybeans
  • ·         Limit saturated fatty acids – sources are, red meat, whole milk, butter, cheese and ice cream
  • ·         Antioxidants – helps to control free radical damage to brain and other cells. They are protective for metabolic activities in the body. Green tea contains some amount of antioxidants, so the use of green tea can indirectly improve your memory.
  • ·         Moderate use of alcohol (wine) – it should be moderate use over use will kill the brain cells and ultimately end up with a permanent memory loss. Usually one wine glass per day for women and 2 glasses per day for men accepted. Still red wine is the best choice.

After all these you should really think about other diseases if you are having a serious memory loss. This task is up to the qualified doctor. There are many disease and risk factors for memory loss you should meet your doctor if you are having severe progressive memory loss.

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