Memory | prCvir

How To Maintain Your Memory Functions As You Age?

Aging is a natural process of growth and life. It’s a fact and should be faced head on. But, are there ways to keep your memory function as you age?

As you age, it is natural that your memory is not going to be as good as it used to be. If you have children, you may notice how well their memory functions.

However, as you move further into adulthood, you may find that your memory is decreased. In fact, it is known that most people experience decreases in their ability to learn new things and remember them as they age.

Part of these changes in memory can be related to lack of attention as your focus is divided into so many different areas.

For example, if you are a working parent, sometimes it can be overwhelming to remember all the appointments for the whole family.

You need to know who needs to go where and when. That is why using a calendar becomes extremely important. This would be considered normal memory problems.

Another reason for the increased difficulty in remembering things as you age is also biological. The brain changes and those areas related to memory are also affected with mild impairments occurring in memory.

The ability to process information and to react to it slows, as does the ability to multi-task. However, with a little more effort to learn and remember new things as you age, it is still possible.

However, it is important to note that the cognitive and biological changes were seen in normal aging are not the same as those seen in abnormal cognitive changes that occur due to dementias such as Alzheimer’s, for example.

Here are some ways to identify normal forgetfulness from abnormal forgetfulness:

1. The passage of time

The passing of time is often to blame for decreased memory in normal aging. In other words, if you do not think about particular memories often, there is a greater chance of forgetting them.

If the event was not of huge importance to you, there is also a greater chance of forgetting the details surrounding the event. This is normal.

The memories that you call upon more often will be retained more easily. However, if you don’t use those memories, you lose them.

Abnormal forgetfulness, on the other hand, is when you cannot recall recent events such as what you ate for breakfast or who visited you that day.

2. Stressful events

If you are asked to recall events from a time of stress in your life, it is likely due to normal memory lapses. During times of stress, your brain has a harder time storing information.

3. Repetition

If this is the second time that you tell your daughter the same story in two weeks, this is more likely due to normal forgetfulness.

However, if you tell your daughter the same story during a visit lasting thirty minutes, that is not normal.

4. Date

Normal forgetfulness includes not remembering the exact date but having a general idea of the time of the month, and the problem-solving ability to look the date up on the most recent edition of the newspaper you received that morning. Someone with abnormal memory will not even know what year it is.

5. Self-care abilities

If you experience some forgetfulness but are still able to remember to wash and dress, to eat, to go to the grocery store, to take your medications (you may need to use a pill box as a personal reminder), your memory is likely still within normal ranges for your age.

However, if you do not remember how to do these tasks or even that they need to be done, then that is abnormal.

6. Familiarity

It is normal to get lost in unfamiliar locations, such as when you are visiting a new area of your city. However, it is not normal to get lost and not remember familiar locations such as your own neighborhood or who your family members are.

7. Frustration levels

Someone with normal forgetfulness is not likely to get angry or upset when reminded of something.

People with abnormal forgetfulness will often display denial, anger, or defensiveness when reminded or when faced with questions that test their memory for dates, places, and more.

They may even accuse you of stealing something that they lost and cannot locate.

Adjusting to an Aging Mind

As our brains age, we’re less likely to think as quickly or remember things as well as we used to.

Research is now showing how the brain changes and adapts with age. You can use what we’ve learned and follow a few simple tips to help remember things and avoid scams.

Dr. Denise C. Park, director of the Royal Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Illinois, explains that the knowledge we gain from life experience can sometimes compensate for other changes in our brains as we age.

Older professionals can often be better at their jobs than younger ones. “Your memory may be less efficient,” Park says, “but your knowledge about how to do it may be better.”

Researchers can design tests that expose problems in the aging mind by creating tasks in which older adults can’t use their experience.

These tests reflect real-life situations like getting upsetting medical news or having a crafty scam artist pressure you for an answer.

One key to dealing with situations like these, Park says, is not to make rash decisions. Ask for further information and more time to consider. Discuss it with friends or relatives.

Perhaps the most common trouble people face as they age is remembering things. Park says it’s important to acknowledge that your memory is fallible.

“For medicines, driving directions or other things with specific details, don’t rely on your memory,” she says. “That’s good advice for everybody, but especially for older adults.”

Connecting Aging and Memory

It is a well-known fact that aging will affect memory for many different reasons. Family members, friends, spouses, and careers all suffer because of aging and memory loss.

Loss of memory seems to be a part of life that may sneak up on a person, gradually growing worse until it is finally acknowledged as being serious to warrant attention.

One of the least-heard-of ways people are affected by the loss of memory is called male menopause. It seems to be more of an issue to keep the health problems affecting men a secret than it is for women. The male pride can be extremely sensitive in the areas of failing health.

The first memory that seems to be affected by aging is the short-term memory. It is easy to assume that one may be in the first stages of Alzheimer’s when memory loss begins to occur.

Indeed, some may laugh at the idea of male menopause. After all, everyone knows menopause is something women endure, right? Unfortunately, this is not at all true.

Most men just never seek help for this condition because of not being aware of their feelings on a conscious level. Men are taught to put their emotions aside because to openly acknowledge them is perceived as a sign of weakness.

Forgetfulness is at the beginning of the list of changes occurring later in life. The mental processes are slowing down. We begin to run low on hormones after the age of 40.

There is a steroid hormone that the body will normally produce, using cholesterol as its main raw material. It converts into other steroids the body uses. The level of this hormone declines with age.

Low doses such as 10-30 mg a day have been shown to be a memory enhancer with a punch!

Possibly the most powerful memory enhancer of all, it is also an anti-inflammatory aid which helps arthritic conditions when given at high doses of 400-500 mg per day.

Other benefits of this hormone increased energy levels, balanced hormone levels, and repair to the sheath that covers neurons in the central nervous system.

Many women are able to laugh and joke with others about the effects of menopause, especially the memory loss.

It may be harder to notice memory loss caused by menopause simply because women and men are both caught up in working and rearing their children. This causes preoccupation of the mind, due to the busy lifestyles.

Aging and memory loss are no joke. Certainly, and even those who are able to find the humor in it may secretly be covering for the frustration it actually causes in their day-to-day lives.

Forgetting can be a scary, intimidating part of the aging process. Once it becomes such a problem that the elderly are faced with their loss of independence, it is certainly no longer a joke to one of them.

It can cause life-threatening confusion, sometimes causing them to wander away from home and get lost, cause a vehicle accident by wandering into the street or subject them to the fierce elements of nature.

Easy Tips for Maintaining Memory Function

Your brain is an extremely powerful tool and it has an amazing ability to adapt and change, regardless of your age. This ability to adapt is known as neuroplasticity.

This is a natural process which you can harness to increase your cognitive skills, and improve both your learning ability and memory.

One of the first things you need to pay attention to is your sleep patterns. It is so important to allow your body to sleep as it is critical when it comes to both learning and memory.

In addition getting adequate exercise also gets your brain into tip-top shape. When you exercise your body you are also exercising your brain. Exercise helps to improve the chemicals in your brain and to protect your brain cells.

Everyone leads a busy lifestyle these days and you need to make time for socializing with your friends. Life would be very boring with spending time with friends and having some fun.

Just the act of socializing with your friends can boost your memory. Interacting with others has shown to be one of the best brain exercises you can do.

A Harvard research study showed that people who had active social lives encountered the slowest rate of memory decline.

While meeting with your friends is great, it is not always possible to get together at convenient times. So if a friend isn’t available, why not socialize with your pet.

Laughter is the best medicine and this is very true when it comes to your brain. When you laugh you use multiple areas of your brain and you activate areas that play an important role in learning and creativity.

Not sure what to laugh about? Try laughing at yourself by not taking yourself so seriously. Find people who are fun and hang out with them.

Another way to lighten your mood is to keep a fun toy on your desk or a fun poster on your wall.

One of the worst enemies for your brain is stress. If you allow your stress levels to build it can actually destroy your brain cells.

It also damages an area of the brain called the hippocampus. This is the region where new memories are formed and where old ones are retrieved.

If you need to remember something important, write it down on a pad or use an electronic device like cellphone or tablet that lets you store notes and reminders.

Another way to remember things is through routines. Take your medicine with a snack or a particular meal, for example. Always keep your keys and wallet in the same place.

You can also use your imagination. If you imagine doing something beforehand, Park says, you’re much more likely to do it.

So, for example, imagine taking your medicine in as much detail as you can, paying attention to where, when and how.

Practice can help, too. Rehearse talking to a salesperson. Visit somewhere new in advance.

Keeping your brain active with activities that require mental effort, such as reading, may help keep your mind sharp. Staying physically active may help, too.

All of these above points have one thing in common. And that is working on leading a healthy lifestyle that includes eating right, exercising and making time to be with your friends.

Uncover Several Aspects Of Your Memory

Find out more about your memory as well as some mnemonic tactics that you can do to improve it.

There are two types of memory which can either be a long or short term. The latter is usually forgotten after it has served its purpose, while long-term memory stays with the person throughout his/her lifetime.

Memory is one’s ability to conveniently store, preserve and recall certain information as well as experiences. Conventional studies related to memory started in the area of philosophy and they comprised procedures of artificially boosting memory.

Classes of Memory

Memory can be subdivided into three respective echelons which include sensory, short & long term ranks.

Sensory memory roughly corresponds to the preliminary 300 milliseconds subsequent to perceiving an object.

The capacity to glance at a substance then remember exactly how it appeared within a second is a good illustration of sensory recall at work.

Short term recollection allows one to remember only for a limited duration, not exceeding two minutes. And there are no rehearsals required here.

Contemporary estimates regarding the aptitude of short-term recollection are low, generally averaging on about 4 to 5 small items.

Nonetheless, memory capacity may be improved via a process known as ‘chunking.’

Many scholars believe that this kind of memory is chiefly dependent on particular acoustic codes vital for storage of such kinds of information, visual codes may also be applicable here but to a minor extent.

In contradiction, LTM can store quite large proportions of information for a remarkably unlimited time duration which can be the individual’s entire lifespan. Its storage capacity is also incredibly great.

Many people believe that the different sections of memory are correlated in one way or another.

It is generally believed that technique and depth of actual processing are the major determinants of how experiences are stored up in one’s memory, which is slightly different from rehearsal.

Organization

Psychologists have identified that it’s much simpler to memorize information that has been subcategorized than random data. For instance, it’s much easier to recite alphabetical letters when arrange from A-Z than it is on the reverse.

Distinctiveness

When information is associated in a distinctive manner rather than the regular way it would be much easier to remember. Loudly spelling out words is more memorable than when you just read information from a list.

Effort

Memory is best retained when one puts more effort towards understanding certain information. The more you practice the better your recalling ability.

Elaboration

People tend to recall descriptive paragraphs more than ambiguous sentences.

Categorization by Nature of Information

There are some memory oriented scholars who have divided long-term recollection into declarative and also procedural subcategories. Declarative memory necessitates a conscious recall.

There are particular conscious procedures that need to call back certain information in the mind for proper storage.

This is at times referred to as explicit memory because it comprises information which is openly stored and repossessed.

– Declarative memory may also be categorized into semantic & episodic memory. The latter comprises data specific to set contexts like place or time, while the semantic memory is concerned with facts that are used from autonomous contexts.

– Semantic recollection permits one to encode abstract information concerning the world, like ‘London is the administrative capital of England.’ On the contrary, episodic memory is utilized in individual memory recollection on issues like emotions, sensations and also an individual correlation of certain venues or time.

– Autobiographical memory is related to an individual’s episodic events that are difficult to be eliminated from memory, like your wedding eve or honeymoon. This form of visual memory generally results in actual priming plus it’s assumed there’s some perceptual demonstrational system which underlies this particular phenomenon.

– Topographical memory refers to one’s capacity to appropriately be oriented in a set space; consequently one would distinguish and then tag along with an itinerary, as well as distinguish familiar settings.

Methods of Memory Optimization

Memorization refers to a system of learning which permits one to recall data in verbatim. Rote tutorial is the technique that’s used in this mode of memory recollection.

To improve memory there are certain loosely connected sets of mnemonic ideologies and techniques which can be utilized to drastically enhance one’s memory in standard memory art.

These include healthy eating, stress reduction and physical fitness amongst others. Brain teasers along with verbal reminiscence tutorial procedurals will also be of great assistance.

Researchers have indicated that with such coaching it would only take14 days for one to show improved word fluency, along with memory.

However, you should supplement the above-discussed procedurals with activities that increase blood flow to your brain such as reading and actively socializing.

Reduce the amount of stress that you have to improve your memory. Stay away from emotional unsteadiness, depression and also try to get some proper sleep for the best results.

Memory Tasks

Correspondence paired learning

This refers to a situation where one learns to relate a single word with significant others. For instance, when presented with one given a word like ‘safe’ you will have to learn a corresponding remark like ‘green’ to stimulate automatic recollection of the two. This process occurs in a stimulus and rejoinder manner.

Free recalling

In this process, the subject shall be requested to study a certain list of statements then afterward recall or in-script several words which they will be able to remember.

Recognition processes

Here, subjects are requested to recall a certain list of pictorials or words. Afterward, they are requested to identify certain previously represented terminologies or pictorials that are set alongside a certain inventory of alternatives which weren’t there in the preexisting list.

Memory and Learning

According to mind & memory researchers, actual learning is characteristically thought to be a mental process.

Nevertheless, your brain is a standard physical organ which mostly functions in an electrochemical and psychological way.

There are some movements along with categories of exercise which will sufficiently stimulate your mind and aid in learning.

Workings of Your Brain

On average there are new cells that are produced in the brain right from birth up to the person’s demise. This accounts for the individual’s capacity to carry on with learning in a bid to sufficiently ‘update the mind database’
Every individual generally has around 100 billion functional neurons in the brain. Each of them comprises about 1,000 and 100,000 nervous links. The information would be conveyed electrically all through neurons via chemical neurotransmitters. If your mind is sufficiently stimulated while thinking or puzzling up data, then brain cells would liberate chemicals which enhance the intensification of certain hormonal links along the cell structures.
The brain does consume around 25% of the entire fraction of glucose along with oxygen that humans do absorb. Glucose serves as your brain’s chief source of energy and is vital for nourishing nerve fibers for better recollection of information. Through consuming complex carbohydrates, proteins or lipids one would sufficiently feed the body’s most hungry organ.
An individual’s biological state does support most of the mental efforts applied. When an individual does stand after long periods of heavy mind exercise, for instance, stretching up the legs would aid you to sufficiently refresh mind functionalities.
Exercises which comprise a clear combination of equilibrium coordination alongside learning certain intricate movements will produce a greater amount of neurons. Memory and relevant mastery of certain information can vastly be administered through exercises related to such categories. This is mainly because the prime motor cortex, cerebellum and also basal ganglia do coordinate physiological movements as well as thought structures through ordering a cycle of thoughts requisite in thinking.
Many educational systems prefer the classroom setting as their favorite method of learning. However, researchers have found out that it is not very effective because it lacks engagement. Tasks that incorporate movement, communication skills and solving problems can exercise your brain effectively.

Humor can also be used to stimulate the brain for meaningful perception & learning. For healing to occur one should have a bold spirit and have in mind the goal of linking individual energy sources for mental clarity in a fun-filled environment.

More Information about Memory

Memory is not intelligence, the power of the mind to process and deduct is attributed to intelligence, but we do know that memory does have some part in assisting a powerful mind.

All scientific disciplines are guided by many rules and equations. Without memory, even the most powerful mind would get lost in going back to the same basic ideas over and over again.

Understanding is also linked to memory, it is a simple fact that once you understand some idea or concept you stand a better chance of remembering it.

All humans have a limited capacity for memory, there are some exceptional cases of phenomenal memory abilities, but most people do not enjoy that rare gift.

With our limited capacity humans have devised many forms of communication to help us remember notions and ideas, even hundreds of years old.

It is not only ideas and concepts that we can allow the memory of. It is feelings and emotions, and certain moments in our lives you treasure.

Think of reading the memories of a historian that lived in the Roman Empire time, providing you know what life was at that time you can understand almost every aspect of his life.

Although memory is not Intelligence, memory techniques train the mind and practice its ability. Memory techniques exercise boost brain power and push the brain to process what it remembers.

Principles of Mnemonic Tactics

Another factor in improving your mind and your memory is through using mnemonic tactics. It has been shown in many studies that mnemonics have three fundamental principles that include imagination, association, and location.

And these three creates a powerful mnemonic system.

Association is the method by which you link a thing to be remembered to a method of remembering it.

Although association techniques are different and use the same principles, you should try and use what you know works best for you.

Thus, it is suggested that you implant your own associations rather than adopting a foreign system.

You can use association by doing these following things:

Tying or linking a thing to be placed on top of the associated object
Infiltrating into each other
Merging together
Wrapping around each other
Rotating around each other or dancing together
Being attached to the same color, smell, shape, or feeling

Imagination in memory is used to create the links and associations needed to create effective memory techniques.

Imagination is the way in which you use your mind to create the links that have the most meaning for you.

There is a natural difference between people since images created will have less power and impact on you, because they reflect the way in which you think.

The more strongly you imagine and visualize a situation, the more effectively it will stick in your mind for later recall.

Mnemonic imagination can be as violent, vivid, or sensual as you like, as long as it helps you to remember what needs to be remembered.

The third principal is location.

Location provides you with two things, a coherent context.

This means that you have a context into which information can be placed so that it hangs together and a way of separating one mnemonic from another.

An example of this is by setting one mnemonic in one bus seat, separate it from a similar mnemonic located in the back of the same bus.

Location spices up your memory and provides context and texture to your mnemonics, and protects and prevents them from being confused with similar mnemonics.

Setting one mnemonic with visualizations in the stadium in Milan, Italy and another similar mnemonic with images of a stadium in London, England allows us to separate them with no danger of confusion.

So, using the three fundamentals of Association, Imagination and Location you can design images that strongly link things with the links between themselves and other things, in a context that allows you to recall those images in a way that does not conflict with other images and associations.

How To Seriously Cultivate Your Memory?

Do you feel the need of improving your memory? Do you feel as though your memory sucks?

Do you have a tendency to forget what you are doing and can’t recall even the simplest of things?

Well, you are not the only one. Hundreds of individuals, if not more, feel as though their memories are not working the way they ought to.

You may be astonished to know that no-one has an impeccable memory.

Your memory is a very complex thing, and it can be difficult to understand how it really works.

One thing to keep in mind with your memory is that certain events can cause you to remember, or not remember them.

For example, if you were a witness to a traumatic event, you may remember the event in different ways.

First, you may not remember it at all. Your brain has the ability to shut out unpleasant things when it wants too.

This is known as a coping mechanism and helps your brain manage what you had witnessed.

On the other hand, you may find that you can’t stop seeing the traumatic event in your mind. You remember things in such fine detail that you may even think you are going crazy.

Usually, anything that doesn’t appear interesting, bizarre or funny doesn’t appeal to a person.

When nothing appeals to a person’s interest, nothing will ever be retained.

This boils down to the fact that when you don’t pay any attention to anything that is presented to you, there is a very slim chance of retaining it.

At some point, you may have lost the entire idea after several seconds it has been presented to you.

What do you need to do to maintain a good memory in the first place?

Just be sure that your full attention is functioning at its highest level. It is one of the simplest things to do to remember something, but often times, we fail to practice it.

Your lifestyle can affect your memory and the way it functions.

Certain things such as eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly can help you maintain good memory function.

Exercise is thought to discharge proteins in your brain which enhance your memory.

Many older people who reported having a bad memory started exercising regularly. After exercising for just a short time period, they found that their memory improved.

Sleep is another important component when it comes to your memory.

As you are aware your body requires sleep and plenty of it. When you become sleep deprived your memory and your entire body suffers.

Basically, when you sleep your memory opens up new pathways. In a person who gets enough sleep these pathways are working at an optimal performance level. This allows them to learn a new task more efficiently than a person who is tired.

In addition, you actually need to use and challenge your memory.

If you don’t read very often or do any types of puzzles your brain gets lazy. You need to use your brain and memory on a regular basis.

There are lots of sites, books and other options which you can use to challenge your memory and get it working again, the way it should. So your memory may not suck, it may just need a challenge.

How to Work Out your Memory?

Information in your brain is collected, stored and retrieved by neural pathways.

These pathways are responsible for you being able to solve problems, remember familiar faces and tasks, without exerting a ton of effort.

An adult has millions of these neural pathways that have developed from infancy. One problem is that you need to continually create new pathways.

Changes in your lifestyle, as you age, can often lead to pathways not being developed.

This is because you tend to not exercise as much as you get older. You may not pay as much attention to your diet. Both of these things affect your brain and your memory.

If you stay with your regular habits you are not challenging your memory.

Your brain requires regular stimulation, regardless of your age. It should always be developing and growing pathways.

There are some simple things you can do to stimulate this production of new pathways. Take a new way home from the mall or grocery store.

Take up a new exercise or activity such as golf, dancing, yoga or fishing.

Even just going to a museum, an art gallery or a nature hike in the mountains can stimulate your brain and memory.

Your memory is one of those things that you need to use regularly, or you run the risk of losing it.

If you feel as though you can’t remember new things or recall old events, then you may be lacking in the stimulation area.

Any type of activity that uses your hands is a great way to sharpen your memory.

Playing a musical instrument is a great option, so is doing needlework or some type of craft.

Even putting together a jigsaw puzzle is a great way to get your brain working more effectively.

To really stimulate your memory you should look for activities which are new.

This way you have to go through the effort of learning and committing to memory a new skill, with new terms and language. Quite honestly, you want to do something that takes you out of your comfort zone.

Your new activity should be a challenge; puzzles, sports, a new language, challenging crossword puzzles and learning a new instrument all fit into this category.

In addition, you want your chosen activity to be fun.

You ought to appreciate the challenge and excitement of learning it. You don’t want to dread the time that you spend on it.

While any new activity may be hard at first, the more you continue doing it, the more benefits you will experience.

You will have taught yourself something new and you will have increased your neural pathways.

If you are able to learn, understand and remember better by using audio clips or materials or anything at all that can be heard through listening, then use this skill to retain information.

This is a good approach to keeping yourself active of the things around you since it wouldn’t be too hard to use your best learning style to work since. It’s already your natural asset in the first place.

When you have so much information in your head, take full responsibility in keeping it all together. This is most important with dates, events, meetings and other complicated information.

Label these with short, catchy words that are familiar to you so you wouldn’t have to look up unnecessarily on your cluttered list each time. You can just use these catchy words to associate it with the important dates and events.

From time to time, check what you need to do on a certain day. Have a routine of the important things you need to do the next day. Never give up in doing little things for the sake of your memory because there is always a solution if you put your heart and mind to it.

Additional Simple Techniques to Improve your Memory

1. Tell yourself to remember.

When you first learn a person’s name, for example, tell yourself, “Remember that.” This signals your unconscious mind to rank this input higher in importance.

2. Know why you want to remember something.

For example, to remember a person, think about how that person will be important to you in the future. If you want to remember the fact about something, think about how you will need them someday.

3. Visualize the future.

Imagine where you’ll see a person next, and anything you notice about them. Use this with the last technique. The additional associations will set the memory more firmly in your brain.

4. Retrace your steps.

When you forget something, like where you put your keys, you probably retrace your steps. This works, but tries it in your mind, as if you were watching yourself from a distance. This can help keep you from blanking out parts of your route, as you did when you first set the keys down.

5. Plan your memory.

When you set down the keys on the chair, see yourself walking in and setting the keys on the chair. You could also quickly imagine someone asking where you put them and you answering “on the chair.” You’ll remember where they are if you do this.

Guess what the biggest problem with memory techniques is? It is remembering to use them.

Seriously, there are many great methods out there, but if you don’t have the habit of using them, you’ll forget when you need them the most.

With any technique, make a conscious effort to use it until it becomes automatic. That’s how to improve memory.

Remember this tips in taking care of your memory and your whole well-being.

Now, what do you do personally to enhance your memory?

Food And Memory, Caffeine And Memory

What could be the relationship between food and memory or caffeine and memory? Are you eating the right food for a better memory? Or is it true that caffeine can improve your memory?

Your memory is your brain’s ability to encode information, retain and store them and recall vital data whenever needed.

Food and Memory

How many times have you been told that you are what you eat? If you eat lots of greasy or sugary foods it eventually shows up as fat and you gain weight.

How are food and memory associated?

The foods you eat play a significant component in how your memory functions when it comes to your memory.

No doubt, your mother always told you to eat all your vegetables so you would do good at school. She was definitely right!

You must eat right for your brain to function well. It will not help if you will be distracted by your hunger for your thoughts to come out fluently.

By eating right, it means that you have to eat the kinds of foods that are healthy in proportions that will help you stay fit and energetic.

If you are into some type of diet, just be sure that you follow the recommended intake of the food that you are allowed to eat. Consult your doctor, a nutritionist or a dietitian regarding this matter.

Being aware of the nutritional value of the foods you eat is obviously essential to a healthy body.

Eating the right combination of carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats work towards keeping muscles strong and organs functioning the way nature intended.

Your minds are no different and eating foods rich in certain nutrients can help alleviate brain fog and boost your memories back to the place they were when you were younger.

It only seems natural that since most of your body is fueled by the healthiest of foods, feeding your minds the same way follows suit.

There has been extensive research done into studying the effects of certain minerals and vitamins in relation to brain function. It’s common sense that sugar although a temporary stimulant quickly loses its luster.

Although you might feel very vibrant and alive after eating a candy bar, within an hour or two your bodies have become sluggish and less responsive.

Your minds and therefore your memories would feel the same high and crashing low if fed a diet of sweets.

Eating sensible is important for boosting your memory. Foods that are rich in antioxidants are said to work in helping memory function.

The benefits of antioxidants are often associated with fighting cancer and playing a positive role in certain diseases of the heart.

Now with the knowledge that they also work towards improved memory function, having them as a staple in the daily diet seems natural.

Some examples of foods readily available that are high in antioxidants include carrots and certain kinds of nuts.

Green tea is also an excellent source of antioxidants and its benefits reach well beyond boosting the memory.

Eating an adequate amount of vegetables will help improve your memory.

The best ones to eat are those dark, leafy green ones such as kale, broccoli, cabbage, spinach and collard greens.

If you aren’t a fan of these veggies try eating them in your salad. Or you may like to join the green smoothie revolution.

Mix up 2 cups of greens, add a banana and some berries, mix with water and you have a tasty smoothie, filled with brain boosting power.

Broccoli is sure to get the cognitive clock ticking. According to latest research studies broccoli, cauliflowers and other Cruciferous vegetables improves the memory and reverse the aging process by nothing less than one and half year.

Spinach that is high on folate is proved to reduce the risk of Alzheimer by breaking the homocysteine, an amino acid that is toxic to the nerve cell.

Like vegetables, you want to increase your intake of berries.

Fruits such as blackberries, blueberries, and cherries contain something called anthocyanins. Another memory boosting element.

Nuts contain healthy fats that you can include into your diet.

These seeds contain an abundant source of Vitamin E, an antioxidant that helps out in improving your memory as you grow older.

Other rich sources of Vitamin E include hazelnut, spinach, kiwi, broccoli, wheat germ oil, mango and dry almond.

Another product that helps with memory function is soy. Eating foods like tofu will provide benefits that help improve memory.

Another great source of soy is the soy milk, available in most food markets. Many are flavored and the taste although not exactly the same as cow’s milk is considered appealing to many people.

Soy also offers many other benefits to the body and knowing that it can help with boosting your memory is good stimulation for trying it and possibly making it a regular part of your diet.

Most people use oil in some form for cooking and if choosing a specific type of oil can boost your memory it would seem sensible to incorporate it into your everyday cooking.

Olive oil is a healthy choice for many reasons including its effects on memory function.

Using it to cook or within salad dressing is a healthy way to work towards having less brain cloudiness and improved memory clarity.

It’s another step towards feeling confident that you are doing everything you can to ensure that your memory stays sharp.

Omega 3 fatty acids are also great for your brain and memory.

These fatty acids contain DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which has been shown to improve memory, especially in young adults. The higher your levels are of this fatty acid the more efficiently your brain will function.

Your best sources of DHA can be found in seafood, algae, fish oil and in fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, sardines and herrings. Walnuts and chickpeas are other sources of Omega 3 fatty acids.

One lesser known good source is found in crabs. Crabs contain an amino acid called phenylalanine. This helps in the production of adrenaline and helps to keep your thyroid hormones in top shape.

Eating moderate amounts of red meat can also assist in improving your memory.

Red meat contains the vitamin B12, which provides your brain with an energy boost.

Lean beef is rich in iron that will help you boost and help better your memory if taken in moderate proportions. But make sure that you do not eat much of this because you may encounter weight problems if you do so.

For seniors who are finding they are becoming forgetful adding extra celery to your diet is recommended.

Celery contains luteolin, which helps to reduce inflammation in your brain, this will help reduce the amount of memory loss due to the aging process.

An added benefit of eating these foods regularly is that you are not just improving your memory. You are also improving the health of your heart and this can help you live a longer, happier life.

Adjusting one’s diet to balance the effects of memory loss seems a perfect solution.

With just a small change in the consumption of certain foods, anyone can feel as though they are not only eating healthier but also improving their memory.

Caffeine and Memory

Most of the time you associate drinking caffeine, as something which is bad for you. When it comes to your memory, this may be another ball game altogether.

What is the relationship between caffeine and memory?

A recent study was conducted by the John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. This study determined that caffeine can improve certain memories for up to a day after the memory has been formed.

This seems to help solidify the reasoning behind students drinking energy drinks and filling up on coffee and tea right before an exam. A shot of caffeine can boost your memory.

Previously any findings on the benefits of caffeine had been dismissed. So why now are people agreeing that caffeine can indeed help?

Scientists have turned up some interesting facts on caffeine.

For example, caffeine actually blocks the effects of a neurotransmitter in the brain (adenosine) that otherwise makes us feel tired.

This is why it works so well to keep us awake.

It also encourages the release of another brain chemical, dopamine (as well as adrenaline). Dopamine contributes to a feeling of wellbeing.

The results of one study indicated that people who drank more than 2 cups of coffee a day had a 44% lower chance of showing actual liver damage compared to those who drank no caffeine.

This was not a clinical trial, and the reason why coffee and tea had such an effect is not known. Coffee and tea contain a range of plant chemicals (phytonutrients) that could be responsible for this.

A 2005 Norwegian study also found similar benefits for coffee with regards liver disease. This study found that drinking 3 cups of coffee a day could lower the risk of death from liver cirrhosis.

Even if you’re not at risk of liver disease, caffeine still has some advantages. Recent research from Austria showed that caffeine may actually enhance short-term memory.

Researchers found that there was an increase in brain activity as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging in the parts of the brain that were associated with memory and attention.

These parts of the brain were the frontal lobe and the anterior cingulum. This was a placebo-controlled study, meaning that some people were not given any caffeine.

Another, an earlier study (2004) found that caffeine did support short-term memory, but only when it was in relation to a topic that people were already thinking about.

This study found that when testing coffee’s effects on unrelated subjects, a short-term recall was actually inhibited.

Everything does have a flip side, though. Adenosine, which is blocked by coffee, is also calming. This could be why it can also cause anxiety in excess, and in some individuals.

After all, the balance of our brain chemistry is unique. And when we are addicted to stimulants like caffeine, we lose the sensitivity to our own natural stimulants (dopamine and adrenaline).

Your actual state of mind could determine just how well a boost of caffeine can improve your memory.

When you register memories from reading, it seems that the more eager you are the more information you will retain.

This is a different concept to seeing how your natural alertness increases due to drinking coffee or tea. In an attempt to differentiate from being eager and willing, to seeing just how much more alert a person became, an alternative approach was necessary.

In the new study 73 volunteers were asked to look at images of objects, for example, plants, a horse, a basket, or a musical instrument.

Once the group had looked at the objects half were given caffeine, about two cups of strong espresso. The remaining volunteers were given a placebo.

The doctors took saliva samples on a 1,3 and 24-hour basis and measured the participant’s caffeine levels.

The next day everyone was asked to look at a new set of images. Now, some of these images were the same, some were very similar and others were brand new. The goal of the doctors was to see who could identify the changes that had been made.

The study showed that those volunteers who drank the caffeine found it easier to identify similar pictures. They were much more alert and picked out the similar images more easily.

The group who had taken the placebo could tell which images were old and which were new. But they had a harder time when it came to the similar images.

This research test was conducted differently to a standard recognition memory test. Viewing the images uses a part of your brain that distinguishes between patterns called the hippocampus. To do this effectively you need to have good short and long term memory.

This is the process that is enhanced by caffeine and means that drinking coffee may not be as bad for you as once thought.

Caffeine is a stimulant and it works to stimulate not only our hearts but our minds as well.

It can give a person the extra boost they need to clear their mind. Many people feel the need to have a cup of coffee each morning so they can focus.

The caffeine that is found within the coffee jolts the brain and the memory can retain more information.

You probably know someone who says that they can’t function until they’ve had their coffee. It appears that there’s more truth in that statement than most of us have ever realized. That first cup of morning coffee gets the memory gears moving in many people.

This can be especially important for many people at work. Having the ability to retain important information is essential for their employment.

If they find their memory lacking it could have serious consequences that stretch far beyond some of the minor annoyances that they might experience at home when they forget to do things.

A cup of coffee in the morning might be just the prescription to boost the memory enough that the rest of the day you function at full memory capacity. The same can be said for the lull that many people experience by mid-afternoon.

Having a piece of chocolate or a cup of hot chocolate stimulates your memory again and the rest of the day will flow as smoothly as the beginning did.

There you go! Take care of your brain through eating right and taking some moderate amount of caffeine.

How To Sharpen Your Mind Even When You Are Busy?

How to enhance your mental prowess and ability? It is vital to take care of your mind as you give attention to your body.

There are settings that are conducive for the mind to better thinking. Likewise, there are also foods that increase blood flow to the brain.

Sharpen your mind power starting today through simple tricks for instant brain boost and some habits that you can build up for a better and permanent brain function.

After some posts about memory and mind enhancement, here, you will be taken through a few techniques necessary in improving mental alertness.

Some of them are:

Proper Dieting

Physical and Mental Exercises

Adequate Lifestyle

At times, one may experience occasional lapses of mental block or forgetfulness. In such cases, the ability to remember slips out of the mind’s reach no matter how hard one tries.

It can quite be frustrating for one to get out of touch with her thoughts, or not sufficiently retain memory already stored up till the required instance.

Nonetheless, there are some tested ways of sharpening your brain power such that you will be able to effectively manage all data fed into it.

Tips to Sharpen your Mind

1. Sufficiently rest both your mind & body.

We presently live in quite a swift-paced frenzied society. In addition, we are repeatedly prone to incessantly taking our own lives.

This only serves to lay needless stress on one’s brain, and the person’s memory would be affected negatively. Adequate rest would permit your whole mind & body to effectively rejuvenate.

2. Consume healthy & nutritious diet only.

Fish contains omega 3 fatty acids which are known to ‘feed’ the brain. Taking such meals would complement your brain’s capacity to sufficiently retain certain knowledge and also recall it when necessary.

3. Get adequate exercise.

Health care experts have proven that someone who’s lethargic or slothful doesn’t aid the brain to stimulate certain hormones related to memory retention.

A recent study shows that cognitive function improved instantly right after ten minutes of aerobic exercise. If you need a brain recharge, walk up and down the stairs a few times.

Long-term exercise can boost brainpower, which isn’t surprising. Anything that affects physical health in a positive way probably helps the brain too.

Likewise, exercising helps in having a quality circulation of blood to the brain. Thereby, it increases the supply of oxygen to this region.

A brain which is nourished with enough oxygen shall have more clarity than another one starved of this compound.

Recent research shows that cognitive function improved immediately after just ten minutes of aerobic exercise. If you need a brain recharge, walk up and down the stairs a few times.

4. Practice reality orientation operations.

Immediately, you wake up to proceed to recall your forthcoming day. Significant events or appointments should be right at your fingertips.

5. Set some lists.

It’s important to prepare a things-to-do list before commencing with your day. This shall aid you in keeping stuff well organized. You will effectively remove all clutter from mind for better remembrance of more vital data.

6. Cut additives like nicotine, caffeine or alcohol.

All these substances function as stimulants as they will constrict all blood arteries.

In the long run, this would interfere with appropriate oxygenation in the body system, particularly in your brain.

In some cases, blood vessels at the brain have been constricted by this and it can reduce memory capacities.

7. Sufficiently feed the brain using new knowledge.

You can read magazine articles, books or also view relative instructive programs which will sufficiently feed your brain with new data.

This can be likened to giving your brain intermittent tune-ups, which is also similar to what you do with the car’s engine.

8. Make good use of recurring memorization procedures.

This would be an effectual tool in helping kids improve their memory. However, it will still work exceptionally for much older individuals.

Through successively repeating a particular feature, you will be able to imprint its image onto your memory. It would be sufficiently accessible for recall only when needed.

9. Formulate a rhyme that will aid you to recall data.

At times, information that set to music or certain catchy rhyme can be easily remembered in some instances where one needs to recall this information.

10. Keep a well-documented journal.

This is a good way of releasing stress and also sustaining our memories. At times, we seem not to remember several details about a topic.

But with an effectual detailed description of our everyday lives, we will have something preferable that will aid us to recall all information which has to be brought to memory at a particular instance.

11. Learn how you can be an effective listener.

Keen people usually boast an enhanced recall memory with regards to data they have already heard. Focus on what you wish to store and try as much as possible not to be distracted by secondary forces.

12. Become a problem solver.

Simply use a problem-solving technique for several weeks and it will become a habit. Redesign everything you see for a while, and that will become a customary.

Pick any of the many problem-solving techniques and train yourself to utilize it, and you’ll have a more powerful mind.

Many good thinking habits take some effort to develop, but then you will be more resourceful easily from that point on. Use the power of habit to upgrade your mind power.

13. Work out your intuition.

Some of the great minds of our times have developed their intuition. Einstein depends extremely on intuitive hunches.

Because of his intuitive grasp of the game, Gary Kasparov can beat the best chess computer even though the computer can calculate positions many moves further ahead. Experience allows him to combine analysis with a “sense” of which move is best.

Your skill, knowledge, and experience determine the potential efficiency of your intuition. A weak chess player will never intuitively beat that computer.

When enough good information is in your mind, it will go to work for you with or without your conscious involvement, so feed it well. Besides, check for your intuition to encourage it.

14. Attune your mind power beliefs.

Believe you are smarter, and you’ll become smarter. For this, affirmations may work, but even better is seeing an evidence.

Make a note of your successes. Tell yourself, “Hey, that was really creative,” when you do something creative or innovative. When you have a good idea, make a note of it. Compile the evidence for your own mind power and you’ll start to experience more of it.

How to Enhance Your Mind Even When You Are Busy

Everyone’s complaint today seems to be the same—there’s just too much work for me to do! It seems that everyone around us is biting more than they can chew and then they regret it, but cannot back out.

This is certainly a worrisome factor, but if you played your cards right, you could do things that could give you a more enriched life. In fact, you could do a few things in that regard even without putting any kind of limitations on your current busy life.

Think about these things.

1. Is there something that you really like to do, a real passion?

You should spend time doing it at least once a week. Imagine that playing tennis is a real passion of yours but you don’t get time to play it anymore. Even so, you should try to wedge it somewhere at least once during the week. Or maybe you can invite your office people over to play tennis with you. They want the relaxation too. And you won’t feel too guilty about it then.

2. Buy a good self-help audio program which gives good, life-changing advice.

There are many such motivating audio files or programs that you can get your hands on. Listen to them when you drive to work. A really good motivating tape in the morning can make your day.

3. Get some music you really like and put it into the player when you are driving to work.

There’s nothing like a dose of your favorite songs in the morning when the whole day stretches yawningly in front of you.

4. Talk to your friends when you can.

This is something that can really cheer you up. Maybe you can talk to a different friend each day. This is also a great way to socialize because people don’t exactly have the time to meet their friends regularly nowadays. The best time to call them is in the lazy afternoons when everything slows down to almost a halt.

5. Take short power naps.

Do you have some important work looming in front of you that is going to take the considerable part of the evening, and you are feeling sleepy already? It is time to take a power nap.

Close all doors to your room, sit on the most comfortable chair you have, draw the drapes and go off to sleep. Set an alarm to wake up after 15-20 minutes. When you wake up, let the dredges of sleep subside, and you will find yourself to be a new, refreshed person.

Try these tips to rejuvenate the inner ‘you’ even when you are busy. You will find the difference making its appearance felt soon enough.

How to Increase Your Mind Power

You can increase your mind power starting today. There are conditions that are conducive to better thinking, and plants that increase blood flow to the brain.

There are little “tricks” that can give you an immediate brainpower boost, and habits you can develop for a more permanent improvement in brain function.

Here are additional 5 things you can try right now or over the coming days to prove to yourself that improved mind power is possible.

Temperature and Mind Power

Many people have noted that they think better at certain temperatures. In general, it seems that being slightly cool, but not uncomfortable, is most conducive to good thinking. Try experimenting on yourself to see what temperature works best for you.

Become a Problem Solver

Just use a problem-solving technique for several weeks and it will become a habit. Redesign everything you see for a while, and that will become a habit.

Choose any of the many problem-solving techniques and train yourself to use it, and you’ll have a more powerful mind.

Many good thinking habits take some effort to develop, but then you will be more resourceful effortlessly from that point on. Use the power of habit to improve your mind power.

Develop Your Intuition

Einstein relied heavily on intuitive hunches. Because of his intuitive grasp of the game, Gary Kasparov can beat the best chess computer even though the computer can calculate positions many moves further ahead.

Experience allows him to combine analysis with a “sense” of which move is best.

Your skill, knowledge, and experience determine the potential effectiveness of your intuition. A weak chess player will never intuitively beat that computer.

When enough good information is in your mind, it will go to work for you with or without your conscious participation, so feed it well. Also, watch for intuition to encourage it.

Sniff Roses or Rose Oil

This is relaxing for some people. The idea here is that sometimes you are too “wound up” for effective thinking. Relaxing can bring you back to a state where you can start again on a mental challenge, this time with more clarity.

Adjust Your Mind Power Beliefs

Believe you are smarter, and you’ll become smarter. For this, affirmations may work, but even better is seeing an evidence. Make a note of your successes.

Tell yourself, “Hey, that was really creative,” when you do something creative. When you have a good idea, make a note of it. Gather the evidence for your own mind power and you’ll start to experience more of it.

Thus, you have no excuse not to keep your mind active or for taking your mind for granted. The arrays of tips and techniques above will surely help you sharpen your mind as you use it on your day to day activities or your quest for an exciting adventure in this life, even in the coming years ahead.

How to Remember Names with Ease?

Find out how to use our mind to remember names through discussing the virtual systems and some tips on how to remember a name.

One’s ability to sufficiently recall people’s names will serve her well particularly in social settings.

Most of us recognize faces. For example, did you ever hear anyone say, “Oh, I know your name, but I don’t recognize your face”? It’s the name we have trouble with. Since we do usually recognize faces, the thing to do is apply a system wherein the face tells us the name. That is basically what a good memory technique accomplishes if it is applied correctly.

Everybody has had issues in remembering a new person’s name. Some of these people who claims to having issues with names are blaming their “forgetfulness” trait while a handful of others say that it has been like that ever since they can remember and as expected, they do forget the names of the new people introduced to them when it happens.

What can we do about this? If you are one of the many people in the world who has the same problem with names, you can still try very simple remembering steps whenever an opportunity arises.

You see, the problem here does not entirely rely on memory problems. There is just too much emphasis put on this and with people hearing it from others, just makes the problem worse.

If you have not done this yet, the next time you meet a new person; anticipate the chance when they introduce their names. Hold on to it and as long as you are still in conversation with the person, pick up all the facial details that you can and associate it with the person’s name.

Just like when somebody walks up on you and say their name up front, immediately pick out something that is distinct from their facial features and associates it this with the person’s name right away. So when a friend asks you several days after whom were you talking to, you can easily respond with “Oh, the skinny guy with curly hair? His name is John.”

Another effective way to let this name-remembering problem go away is to let go of the attitude itself. Saying “I’m bad with names” isn’t going to solve the problem at all. Take the effort to let go of this bad habit and learn how to conquer it.

Remember, you should be aware of the fact that most people don’t really forget names. They just don’t recall them in the first place – often, they don’t really hear them in the first place.

Just think back and remember the many times you’ve been introduced to someone when all you heard was a mumble. There’s no way on earth to remember a mumble!

For some reason, people are usually embarrassed to simply say, “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear your name.” There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.

Since a person’s name is one of his most prized possessions, it’s flattering to make even the slightest fuss over it. Asking him to repeat it shows that you’re interested enough in him to want to be sure you get his name right.

Then there are those who don’t bother asking the person to repeat his name because they feel that they’ll probably never meet him again, so what difference does it make?

Of course, they often do meet that person again – which is why half the world seems to address the other half as Darling, Buddy, Fella’, Mac, Champ, Honey, or Sweetheart.

Not because “Honey” is so special to them, but because they don’t know who they’re talking to. It is probably all right because the chances are that “Honey” and “Buddy” don’t know who they’re talking to, either.

Take heed when someone else is being introduced to you. Several minutes after your meeting try to recall the name on your own.

In case you can’t remember, try to strike a conversation with this individual once more. And this time, you may ask for her name but in a clever way which will not make the individual know your intentions.

Jot down this new name at least thrice while placing the individual’s face in memory. This should be done promptly as you meet up with the individual.

You can further ask how to spell hard to grasp names. One may take a quick glance at the individual’s business card for the same, but this is only if the same is offered.

If you discern spellings of sentences and sufficiently picture the same in your mind it would be much simple to remember later.

One can further connect particular names to general sentences that are much easy to recall. For instance, an individual known as Gratiano could be sounded as ‘grate I know’ for better recollection.

The problem is the name. Well, that one is easily solved – simply apply the “Substitute Word” system of memory. You won’t need it for many names that already have meaning – names like Hayes, Howe, Carpenter, Fox, Paige, Coyne, Paynter, Gold, or Knott immediately create pictures in your mind.

Other names may not have meaning but will still remind you of something tangible. For example, the names Hudson, Jordan, and Shannon will probably make you think of a river, and the name Ruth might make you think of baseball.

The vast majority of names, however, have no meaning at all. They are conglomerations of sound, just like a word in a foreign language. That’s where the Substitute Word system comes in.

Moreover, you can sufficiently make a direct connection to one’s vocational center or hobby. For instance, ‘Will the steel’ may assist you sufficiently memorize the name of a friend who owns a steel mill.

Writing down new names is usually a very efficient memorizing procedure which doesn’t necessitate lots of effort from the individual.

Whether you are partying with friends or attending an important business meeting with valuable clients, tell yourself that you need to remember these people’s names. Help yourself improve your memory.

While you are still with these people, use their names repeatedly.

It does not matter if you sound like a recorder, the purpose is for you to be able to get used to the name until it makes an impression to your memory.

Phrases like “What do you do for work, John?”, “John, can you pass that to me please?” or “Thanks, John” are helpful ways to how you can remember names easily

For actual reminiscence boost, one should check out any significant book concerned with using mnemonic appliances or strategies.

Other Virtual Systems

Always picture specific names in your own mind. Then, focus on every letter found on the alphabetic sequence as you think through names which begin with that particular letter.

For instance, for the letter ‘A’ names to be considered include Allison, Ariel or Aimee amongst others.

As you continuously progress all through the alphabetical order, you may access a couple of letters which will ‘feel right’ to you.

Here, one should sufficiently narrow down results to these letters, and persist with actual focus. This name can pop up in your head when you are in need of it.

You may also want to Google whatever you may be knowing concerning this individual, apart from his name. Narrow down and optimize your search keywords for the best results.

Search for particular combinations of sentences which would sufficiently describe the individual. These may include the individual’s hobby, address, occupation or registered clubs.

In addition, you can vocalize words to make them more memorable. Utter the material out loudly. This will allow you to sufficiently see matter and also hear the same.

Auditory learners will learn a lot through this system as it’s geared for acoustic message deciphering.

You can repeat similar processes with all of your senses for better understanding. Write the stuff all through the computer or paper sheet while reciting it externally.

Through using the tactile logic of creating words along with an aural sense of vocalizing these terminologies, the data will sufficiently be reinforced in your mind’s recollection system.

A recent study reveals that up to 50% of individuals who utilize this particular system of material review, incorporating most of their senses will retain more data than others who ignore it.

You can also practice on skills necessary in memory retention through participating in several online games intended for this particular purpose. These may include chess and drive races, amongst others.

Always remember that people are different and would retain more information in their own unique ways.

While one individual may be interested in auditory learning the other can prefer visually illustrative diagrams. However, there are individuals who will blend diverse memorization systems for the best results.

Remembering a Name

It is quite embarrassing for one to meet up with a beautiful girl who supplies you with her contact but just as you are planning to give her a call the name disappears from your memory.

Apart from enhancing social interactions with significant others, remembering a person’s name has a lot of advantages and will make the person like you even more.

Always vocally repeat this name back to her immediately she has passed over the same to you.

For instance, you can say ‘it’s a pleasure to meet with you, Sandra;’ instead of plainly saying ‘it’s so good to see you.’ This shall aid in imprinting memory of the said name over to your mind.

Moreover, you can also link the name using another word which rhymes or a sentence which starts with exact letters as those of their name.

Plus, it appropriately describes her look and personality in one way or another. You should conduct this simple process inside your head and not vocally.

It works perfectly if the remark is an entity which can clearly be pictured in your brain.

One should picture the individual alongside a pictorial representation of words that have been selected in the mind. Imprinting a worthy image at your mind is vital in boosting memory.

If the name proves to be difficult to remember then you may want to inquire more about its origins.

Strange names are particularly difficult to recall. Therefore, you’ll need to get extra background information to assist you.

Jot down the given name alongside other related associations made soon after your encounter has been completed, and you move away from the person.

Saying, seeing or hearing one’s name alongside thinking about the same are all vital in recalling a name.

How to Prepare Your Mind for an Exam?

How can you successfully set the memory in the right direction towards remembering vital data during exam time?

Find out here from the general exam preparation until the days before you take a test.

Getting Ready for the Exam

First off, an exhaustive list of tips you can use prior to facing your exam:

1. Prepare well ahead of your time.

The best way to do this is reading through notes early enough such that you can be finely prepared come D-day.

Consequently, you shall be familiar with all terms in a given structure. This shall present you with extra confidence since you already know that you prepared for questions well in advance.

2. Jot down notes in point form for easy remembrance.

It’s not worthwhile for one to borrow another individual’s notes as they may be writing in their own unique style which could be very different from what you are used to.

People understand information differently and what one puts into his/her notebook may be different from what you may wish to know.

Besides, jotting down the information shall better assist you in memorization techniques.

3. Prefer to use related tools to review work for the sake of exams.

Highlighters can put more emphasis on words which you feel they require more remembrance, or mnemonics to adequately remember substances which are enumerated.

4. Identify a serious study group and join.

This is definitely an ample way for one to enjoy an ample exchange of several ideas. It shall moreover enhance your memory and also lighten up your burden.

5. Some few days prior to the exam one must try to get enough rest.

Spend time with friends or proceed to play computer games. One will minimize pressure and stress which will make the mind much fresher and settled to tackle the forthcoming mind boggling questions.

6. Eat sufficient food and also sleep right.

You can’t expect to party all through the night then drink yourself crazy prior to exams and still supposed to pass with flying colors.

Simply put, this is the stupidest you can do prior to an exam. It can be likened to rationing your own failure atop a sizable silver plate.

Reserve this partying vigor for later. Eat sufficiently and attempt to get yourself some decent sleep to relax your brain.

7. Never be lazy.

Success never favors those that don’t set proper aims or work extra hard to achieve their goals.

Complete your own part to be in a better position to seize whichever exam that will come your way. The achievement will just be at your fingertips if you follow these simple rules.

Other Popular Techniques

Forget all about the other scores. Clear your mind by trying to put aside other scores that you may have scored in previous tests. Just focus and think through:

How convinced are you in regards to your preparation?
Does the dread of undertaking these tests stifle you?
Are you irresolute on keenness towards giving your best shot for the test?

If your answer in regards to the preceding two questions in affirmative, then most probably you are in the league of failures.

But don’t panic as there is a solution.

Take things easy.

Getting frenzied after realizing the above two facts will serve you no good. You should instead try to get even. Have a constructive self-esteem and see yourself as a bright examinee.

Think through any tough goals that have ever been achieved to give you extra confidence.

It’s this positive mind structure that will offer guidance and effectively optimize emotions such that you can realize the best results.

Don’t generalize topics of study before fully understanding them.

Avoid terming some sections as the ‘bad areas’ as this will only discourage you from appropriately revising them.

Remember that fine & bad are simple terms which one employs as excuses for not performing as per the required standards.

After all, it would be almost impossible for one to study a particular subject when she hasn’t yet prepared his mind to grasp necessary information.

You should remove all negative opinions from the mind if good results are to be realized. This shall assist one to amply prepare for several sections.

The mind will be extra occupied in your study course, and success shall definitely come through your way.

Benefits of Mentally Preparing For An Exam

Proper test preparation is much more significant than one may have thought. Sufficient schooling shall have a significant impact all through your life since normally it shall determine:

The amount of cash you shall earn in future.

Research reveals that those who boast much higher education will categorically earn at least 33% more cash than those with little education.

While this may not seem quite a lot, it is only when you take out the calculator and then multiply the number of years you will be in service with a salary that you’ll realize how much is due.

Living standards will be improved.

Commonly, your income shall determine factors like kind of car that you shall drive, the size of the house that shall be bought, and the number of family holidays that will be taken.

Your kid’s schooling.

It’s the income you earn that shall give you a choice in regards to where to tutor the children. Simply put, one is only limited by the amount of cash that he has.

Have a sense of achievement.

Personal success boosts your self for future successes. Perhaps, it gives you more confidence and satisfaction.

You need to ask yourself what could be more significant than the discussed factors. Is it your gang, fake friends or drugs?

Or alternatively, is it your apathy, lack of enough motivation, laziness or comfort zone.

Now, if one truly believes that her life, the future children and also freedom are much more vital than the person should consider sufficient test preparation so as to sufficiently pass the exams.

Scheduling For the Main Exams

12 Months Prior To the Exams

Learn all about recollection and speed safeguarding to assist you properly incorporate and remember extra knowledge.

Put your fun life up on hold as you wholly focus on revising right till exam time.

This simply means that you will have to minimize the amount of time spent with friends.

Formulate a standard weekly plan.

Dedicate ‘x’ amount of hours each week for serious study. Select a venue where you will not be disturbed by others.

Break down study material to a minute and sufficiently attainable goals and objectives.

You should always celebrate the moment you attain the set goals as this shall give you extra energy to achieve probable goals.

Sufficiently communicate all your intentions over to the instructors.

Ask these individuals for help or counsel. Seek their advice when faced with a deadlock during the course of operations

6 Months Prior To the Exams

Learn sufficient techniques on how to unwind. A student can do this by amply focusing on breathing systems.

The objective would be to breathe much slower and profoundly to ensure that the diaphragm fiber muscle will work the stomach area perfectly. Don’t breathe too much as this will cause you to faint.

Your initial objective will be breathing at least four times each minute. Roughly seven seconds in and also another seven seconds out.

The examinee should practice this superb de-stressor system all through the day. It should also be practiced for just 15 minutes prior to retiring to bed. This must be done each day up to the final exams.

3 Months Prior to Exams

At this point, one should have sufficiently covered most of the subjects of study.

This would be the time vital in reworking through subjects that had initially proved to be burdensome for you to grasp.

One must make a sure list of several subjects or constituent parts of the same. Subsequently, make a weekly blueprint subdivide your tasks to manageable fractions.

1 Month before Exams

Thoroughly learn about them & create a standard Mind Map targeting every subject, particularly those that are difficult.

Focus your key subject at the core of each page then sufficiently attach relative subheadings onto the key subject. Important notes will then have to be attached aside each subheading.

2 Weeks Prior To the Test

Commence with practicing relevant positive imagery and feedback techniques.

Construct photos up in your head as related to achievement and also a success. Always maintain confidence throughout your preparation prior to the final exams.

View yourself as waking up the morning of D-day and being considerably certain, prepared and equipped to tackle the day.

You should picture yourself settling down then glancing at the exam sheet or computer, and relatively knowing that you shall perform excellently for each question that is thrown over to you.

Begin arguing, probing and rejecting that small voice deep in your mind which is conveying negative messages to you.

Let it know that its wrong and you are the one in full control of your life’s direction.

1 Day Prior To the Test

Take time to relax through spending most of your day engaged in diaphragm inhalation procedures.

Clear out your mind of all negative thoughts and try to be part of the systems you are learning.

You’ve already done considerable work, so it would only be worthwhile for you to get enough rest, and also be mentally prepared to tackle the task around the corner.

Proper assessment preparation is definitely worth each hour that you have sacrificed.

Download here a free PDF copy on how to prepare your mind for an exam.

Practical Steps to Improve your Mind Competency

Who does not want to get better and be better? Of course, you also want to improve your memory and mind competency.

Right now, we will find out some operational skills that can be of great assistance for those that may wish to learn memorization techniques from home, at your own convenience.

1. Visualization

With both of your eyes firmly shut, one should try to envisage an exceptionally clear picture of the object to be remembered.

Imagine that it’s just a few meters from where you are and visualize it in a whole color. This has proved to work exceptionally well in boosting LTM.

2. Keep sessions short but productive

One should always ensure that experiments remain short, covering only 15min or lesser than this. Controlled brain work exercises will serve to minimize fatigue as well as boredom, all for better results.

3. Be patient

One vital condition required for effective memorization is persistence. Never be discouraged if success doesn’t come immediately as this process is focused on achieving long rather than short-term goals & objectives. Nonetheless, when you have practiced for just a couple of days then success will start knocking on your door.

4. Stay far from all kinds of skeptics

These people have one main agenda of sidetracking those who are on the right path towards boosting their memory. They have critical mindsets and would tend to challenge everything that you do. Listening to them will only instill doubt in your mind, and one will not be psychologically prepared to complete the various processes needed for realization of memory gain.

Other Techniques Vital In the Process

Most individuals take for granted the actual power of their minds. Our daily routines have made so us too busy that we don’t take heed of our natural God given mind aptitude.

This particular realization is usually linked to the individual’s requisite to carry on in this bedlam and unpredictable society. Those lucky enough to identify their talents are only limited to what is conventional.

There are some well researched vital techniques that would drastically improve your brain’s capacity to grasp up information.

These systems are prepared and purposely designed to assist individuals to attain higher levels of consciousness.

Deep meditation is one of the applicable methods.

Here, one learns how to finally focus energy on the inwards, plus maintain some form of balance as well as peace.

Consequently, your mind shall be relaxed in such a way that you will be better positioned to mold it into whichever direction you wish.

Doing away with bad habits, adequately empowering learning systems and achieving a striking mindset may be accomplished when one is at this particular state.

There are several guides as to how one can attain this deep meditative mindset, which includes the well celebrated transcendental meditation that produces several dramatic outcomes within a minimal time duration.

Attending yoga classes would also help a lot in assisting you to attain a tranquil and favorable state.

Their blend of standard ethnic melody, breathing procedures and style will aid one to appropriately sink into peace & utmost tranquility.

All you need to do is just shut everything out of your psyche and release yourself. Other get relaxation and energy through the superb ‘floatation method.’

Here, all you got to do is just lay flat on a pool or tank’s surface so as to attain deep relaxation and excellent learning. Consequently, one will be sufficiently invigorated and also re-energized.

The other meaningful procedure is getting one’s hands tied up on tape as well as a digital file which has specifically been devised and mapped out to create noteworthy Binaural beats.

Definite auditory frequencies can also be weaved over to the soundtrack in a bid to create a cortical rejoinder inside your brain. This will further generate brain waves which relatively match up to the mind status you wish to attain.

Through appropriate regulation of brain signal frequencies, one can proceed to settle up the mind up to a deep contemplative state.

Through using supportive systems such as vocal-assisted therapy and also visualization, one can mold up the subconscious and drastically improve mental power.

The above three tried, tested and proven techniques can assist anyone to start up on the way to improved mental power, along with developing an altered viewpoint and living status to the better.

Always remember that your psyche is one of the very powerful entities in your body. Taking good care of your mind will benefit one in unique ways that will surprise you.

Tested Techniques in Boosting Mind Power

Be very attentive and examine subject from various angles

Always pay full attention to the subject of study. You have to take heed so that you shall be in a better position to appropriately store this data into your mind.

Constantly think through these vital events throughout the day so that they can be embedded in your mind.

For you to store relevant and vital statistics or data for longer durations then the memory needs to be focused.

Try and think through or constantly imagine that you are on the spot you wish to be, afterward, observe certain unique details.

This shall allow you to boast a direct shortcut that will be of assistance in recognizing once more the data relevant to particular entities you would wish to distinguish once again.

Convert data stored up in your brain into an image.

Human beings are known to possess the most powerful pictorial memory. For such cases, one can employ certain capabilities to opportunely recall entities which you wish to store or later recall after long time durations.

Try and give clearer imagery for each topic, information or scenario such that it can be simpler to identify them.

Our brains are very different from those of other mammals in the sense that we are able to exhibit ‘neuroelasticity.’ This makes one proficient in learning, amending and also adjust data at whichever age the person is currently at.

As regards recalling, one’s brain has the capacity to appropriately reshape itself. You can successfully make good use of the brain’s superior capacity to enhance your own memory as well as learning potentiality through mastering your inner strength.

Teach relative concepts to other significant individuals.

Coaching is a form of learning. As you instruct others you shall definitely revise your own unique knowledge and have a better understanding of relative information.

The Mnemonic System

This has been proven time and time again to be a very effective means of remembering stuff, particularly in instances of detecting long catalog lists. Here, the subject will have to associate certain words with other bizarre or familiar happenings. Psychologists have proved that individuals are able to memorize weird stuff than the regular stuff.

Here, the subject will have to associate certain words with other bizarre or familiar happenings. Psychologists have proved that individuals are able to memorize weird stuff than the regular stuff.

Schedule small but incessant study sessions.

It’s been proved by physicians that one’s brain has the potential to concentrate at its best during the initial 60mins of his/her standard study sessions.

Afterward, its level of activeness will start to dwindle. During this initial study hour it’s significant that you grasp the most information, and then strive to retain the same.

Categorize study material into memorable groupings.

Place identical concepts together. Our brains better assimilate information in the form of clusters.

Moreover, as you inscribe something it will eventually get impressed in your brain. It’s advisable to write stuff to remember in your own handwriting, rather than requesting a friend to do the same for you.

For long-term memory administration, it’s advisable to comprehend stuff before proceeding to memorize the same.

Just cramming is quite a terrible idea as information would not be embedded into the long-term memory or LTM.

For instance, as you learn definitions always seek to delve into the aspects of relative terms then grasp their meaning. Afterward, you may effortlessly recall relative definition.

Download here a free PDF copy of practical steps to improve your mind competency.

Physiological Aspects of Mind and Memory Control

What are the biological processes that take place in one’s brain during the process of learning new information?

If you want to know more about the science of how your memory and mind works, then keep on reading.

Cognitive neuroscience is the science which is chiefly mandated with the study of biological procedurals in memorization.

Brain sectors that are principally involved with memory retention vary in purpose and area in which they are situated. Some of them include the amygdala, striatum, and the delicate hippocampus.

The hippocampus is believed to control spatial as well as declarative aspects of learning. On the other hand, the amygdala will control one’s emotional recollection.

Damage to particular sectors of your brain system will eventually lead to memory deficit related to the affected region. It’s not adequate to illustrate memory or its close counterpart, learning.

These two are solely attributable to particular changes that occur in one’s neuronal synapses, which are further mediated with constant ‘potentiation’ as well as extended stress duration.

Researchers have confirmed that express injections of cortisol hormone and epinephrine will assist in storage of your very recent experiences.

The same effect is achieved when the amygdala has been stimulated. Excitement improves memory through stimulating certain hormones which influence the amygdala.

Too much or extended stress may lead to drastic loss of memory. Patients who are suffering from damage to their amygdala would most probably recall emotionally thrilling words than other non-emotionally stimulating sentences.

Moreover, one’s hippocampus is vital for unambiguous memory. It is also helpful in the actual consolidation of your memory.

Hippocampus does receive input from several regions of your cortex, after which it will convey output to diverse sectors of your brain.

This particular input results from certain secondary as well as tertiary sensory parts which had previously processed the data.

Injury to you Hippocampus can further result in memory loss, alongside difficulties related to memory storage.

Human Brain and Memory Processes

The memory process in the human brain is very complex. No computer has come close to the capacity of the human brain as of now.

However, it is only a matter of time before computers will have overcome the human brain’s power with the fusion of nanotechnology and biotech resources, expected within the next 20-30 years.

Scientists have been discovering and uncovering each part of the human memory system in order to help better understand how we encode our memories and retrieve them as well.

Understanding these memory processes can help parents to improve the prospect of a higher education for their children early in life and help people improve the quality of their memory and recall processes.

You can think of the procedure like storing memories in your mind to be similar to that of a computer that utilizes RAM (Random Access Memory) for the temporary storage of information before being placed in long-term storage on the hard drive.

This temporary storage, or working memory, depends on a different network of brain structures than long-term memories do. Psychologists refer to storing memories as an encoding process–a procedure for transforming something a person sees, hears, thinks, or feels into a memory. Scientists have determined there are different methods on how we lay down our memories.

Memory functions in the brain are very complicated fashion. To date, scientists are unable to design computers that can compete with the human brain.

But, it is promising in the next two or three decades that scientists may be able to devise advanced computers with the help of nanotechnology, cybernetics, and biotech resources.

Scientists and researchers have put their intelligent efforts to find and unearth all the elements of the human memory system in order to get a better understanding of its encoding and retrieving processes. These understandings are crucially important for improving the quality of an individual’s memory and recollection process.

Our thought, senses, memory and actions all influence distinct sets of nerve cells and chemicals within our brain. The hippocampus, the amygdala and close areas of the temporal lobe are associated with the cortex with the help of complex nerve cells. This actually forms the fundamental structure of our memory system.

When a nerve cell in the brain gets activated, a low-charged electrical potential is sent to the axon. This helps in releasing brain chemicals or neurotransmitters, which attain across the synaptic gaps between nerve cells and bolt onto the corresponding receptors. The nerve cells that obtain the brain chemicals then send the signal along to other relevant nerve cells. This happens like a relay race.

When the same signals are received repeatedly, the synaptic changes occur more efficiently contributing to the physical changes among synaptic connections. This is how the human brain stores memory on a long term basis.

Scientists and researchers assume that the changes in particular synaptic patterns in folds and ridges of the human brain contribute to memory encoding for a lengthy time span. In fact, conveying electrochemical associations constituted between different cells in human brain help storing memory including thoughts, skills, knowledge, and experiences.

There are debates on the distribution of memory over the human brain. While some scientists assume that human brain constitutes memory in a particular region within the brain structure, some others claim that human brain does not localize memory within a particular territory, that is, memory is all over distributed throughout the brain structure.

Scientists claim that the cell functions corresponding to learning and memory process are indistinguishable at the biological level.

In fact, proof has been already established in the support of the strong correlation between learning process and memory system. It is also assumed that to execute the learning process, the human brain employs multiple memory systems, each of which is engaged in encoding different sorts of memory functions.

Disorders Related to Memory Loss

The general term for memory loss is amnesia. There are several categories of amnesia, and through studying their diverse forms one can effectively observe evident defects at the individual’s counter-systems that are related to memory mechanism.

Consequently, you will theorize their functioning in a standard operational brain.

Other neurological dysfunctions like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disorder have the potency of affecting cognition and also memory.

The ‘hyperthymesic syndrome’ regularly affects the person’s autobiographical reminiscence; basically meaning that one will not forget minor details which otherwise may not be easily stored.

Another disorder is known as Korsakoff’s neurosis. This is as macrobiotic brain disorder which negatively affects memory.

In some rare cases, one can also suffer a brief failure of information recovery from the memory, a condition commonly referred to as tip-of-your-tongue occurrence.

However, individuals suffering from Anomia will not experience this condition continuously, mainly due to injury to the anterior along with parietal lobes which operate your brain functionalities.

Philosophical Roots of Mind-Body Interrelations

The study of mind-to-body correlation was investigated by several philosophers all through the previous centuries.

It was Rene Descartes who first affirmed that one’s mind and physiological functioning are distinct entities. It was through his coherent school of the reason that standard Western medicine gained its origins.

Since then, several original evidence and other findings have proven that there’s actually a correlation between these two parts. Ernest Rossi explored this topic and then scripted a book entitled ‘Psychobiology of Body & Mind Healing.’

In the book, Rossi argues that certain ‘precursor molecules’ serve as the general denominator which makes effective communication feasible between behavior, mind, emotions as well as the state of genes in terms of well-being or illness.

They will communicate all through several cells found in both your mind & body. Activities of each single nerve found in the body system can be altered through some messenger molecules.

These substances have the capacity to program our emotions, behavioral patterns, memory and also learning capacity.

Essentially, all vital systems found in your body will be able to communicate with each other via similar messenger molecules.

A scientific study was done to identify the main reason as to why psychological strain arises, and it was discovered that the chief cause of this was suppressed immune structure.

Stress generally reduces immune response since IL-2 amenable gene system will be compromised due to the appropriate production of certain IL-2 conveyance molecules would be low.

These findings established that there’s a straight association between your mind & body, thought patterns, sensations, emotional tendencies and pictorials which all manipulate certain mechanisms in your body structure.

There are 3 basic steps vital in the facilitation of body to mind contact healing.

1) The initial technique is concerned with accessing certain state-dependant reminiscence, learning, as well as behavioral systems which serve to encode particular psychosomatic difficulties.

2) The next reframing process incorporates reorganizing systems in, particularly healthy structure. Our memory regularly changes each instance that we access the same data. The reason for this, you will adjust it for current use and reprocess differently during the second storage instance.

3) The final step is very simple and involves actively confirming that the relative message has already been stored.

There are still more to learn but starting off with this information would help you to understand a bit and appreciate more our mind system.

How to Improve your Memory with Healthy Lifestyle?

What actions are you taking to enhance your memory? There is nothing incorrectly in planning to improve your memory.

There’s no compelling reason to go to experts to figure out how. You can really do your own particular exploration at whatever point you have time for such assignment.

Here are some ways that can help you take in more about what you can do in such manner.

1. Whenever you have time, spend it on your local library to pick up books that deal with the topic.

You can scan it wherever you are while bringing down notes as to related tips that you can do to enhance your brain’s performance.

2. Check the web for related articles that you can read and pick up tips from.

You will pick up the right strategies on how you can enhance your memory through reading them. This is likewise a good practice on your brain since this improves thinking.

3. Approach professionals for help regarding the matter.

You can do this whenever you are undertaking your normal physical exams. You can take this chance to find out about what you can do to enhance your memory by getting some information about the matter.

Healthy Lifestyle

One component that plays a main factor into the general situation is your way of life.

By leading a healthy lifestyle, you will help your brain retain its usual performance. Even if you think like you are good at remembering things, you must not abuse such ability.

Fruits and vegetables are good for you.

Studies reveal that blueberries, in particular, aid to improve memory aside from giving health benefits to the body. Another berry, which is strawberry, is also good for memory retention.

On the vegetable side, spinach and broccoli are foods for the brain. These fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants that protect the body and brain against stress.

Fish is food for the brain.

Fish contains the polyunsaturated fatty acid DHA, which is the main contributor to the efficient development of the nervous system and the brain. That is why some milk products for young children are supplemented with DHA. One of the best sources of DHA is cod liver oil.

Aside from fish, other products that are memory enhancers due to the presence of choline are soybeans, eggs, and liver. Still another substance that is present in fish like salmon, herring, mackerel, and sardines is the amazing omega-3 fatty acid.

It promotes good mood, aside from being a good memory developer. It also increases the learning capability because it enhances the capacity, speed, and efficiency of the brain.

Researchers are still checking the benefits that omega-3 can give to patients with Alzheimer’s disease and stress-related disorders. If you can’t get enough of these fish products, taking supplements about 600 mg will suffice.

“Did you take your vitamins?” They are good for you, especially vitamins C, B12, and beta-carotene. Not only they are good antioxidants, they are good memory enhancers as well.

I bet you’ve heard of the same old “early to bed, early to rise makes a person happy, healthy, and wise.”

When you’re asleep, the brain sorts the information obtained during the day so that this information is stored for future use.

Get out and get some exercise.

It seems like a complete drag, but exercise, like it or not, is good in sharpening memory. It’s like jogging your mind to wake it up.

Studies reveal that strenuous physical exercise gets the brain cells up and running, thus improving memory and creativity. Just half an hour of jogging can deliver amazing results to your body and mind.

Your brain needs a decent supply of blood and oxygen. This can be accomplished by frequent exercise and eating the right nourishments that can help you in such manner.

Also, limit drinking alcoholic beverages. If you must, do it on a moderate basis.

Researchers found that consuming a pack or more of cigarettes a day can result in impaired visual and verbal memory. And this will further result in the brain’s poor ability to process information.

Do not engage in drugs and other prohibited substances as these can cause damage to your brain which you may be oblivious to it at first.

You will just get the surprise of your life when you wake up one day and you feel the negative effects that these have brought

Better Memory

You don’t need to hold up until a turmoil hits you before you follow up on to enhancing your memory.

When you know with respect to how your cerebrum functions in getting and putting away the data that originates from different sources.

You can contrast your brain’s capacity to store data to how a computer works.

Your computer will sooner or later crash if you don’t do certain steps to deal with it.

Thus, let it rest and cool off after you have used it for a long time. You must also do a regular checkup to see if it is still virus free and there are no potent errors that may lead to its crash.

This is also what you must do on your brain to make sure that it won’t give in or gain lapses through time.

You must treat your brain right so that you will benefit from its superb performance as you age.

By resorting to these techniques, you will enhance your memory in the long run.

More Memory Tips

To help you with the objective of holding as much data as you want and need, here are some more straightforward memory change methods that you can choose to do.

1. Try to captivate events and individuals to different components that can help you recall them.

You would prefer not to get into situations wherein you cannot remember important faces and names just because your memory fails to work well.

By helping your brain in trying to remember, you will be successful in the way as you practice the process through time.

2. Do a mental picture of what you are attempting to recall.

This is particularly when you have to engage into speaking commitments wherein you ought to deliver long speeches.

You can try to break the speech into portions wherein each part will be associated with something to help you recall the line.

3. Try not to stop learning as you age.

It will be useful to engage in activities that you used to do when you were young. If you have children, you can browse on their books to re-learn some things that you already have forgotten.

This can also be a bonding moment for the family. You can help your children do their homework. While you are at it, you will be amazed at how this activity can help you exercise your brain at the same time.

If you feel like there are a variety of things that are hard to remember, it is high time that you think about resorting to tips and techniques on how to enhance your memory.

Avoid getting serious disorders by engaging into the kind of lifestyle and activities that promote healthy brain functions.

Remember that you’re always better off with a good or sharp memory.

4 Vital Tips for a Better Memory

As you age, you may feel like your memory is slowly losing its ability to store as much information like it used to.

Although this is a natural occurrence, you can do things and various exercises to help yourself not easily lose its grip when it comes to remembering things and better your memory.

Memory is defined in psychology as the mental ability of an organism to retain and store as well as recall information.

In the older days, the study of memory falls under the fields of philosophy. People even dig up on techniques to artificially enhance it.

In the late 19th up to the early 20th century, the study of memory became part of the paradigms of the cognitive psychology. As of today, this is one of the major fields in the branch of science known as cognitive neuroscience.

How the Memory Works

There are three stages that happen when you form and retrieve information as part of your memory.

First, the information is encoded or registered once it is received by your brain.

After that, your brain tries to create a permanent record of the information and store as much as it could.

Whenever the need arises, your brain will help you recall the stored information and retrieve whatever will help you in the circumstance that you are in.

Disorders Associated with Memory

The most common disorder that is being incurred in this regard is the loss of memory, also known as amnesia.

There are many types of amnesia and studies are being done continuously to know more about the field as well as to solve the dilemma.

Other known disorders that usually hit older people is the Alzheimer’s disease.

There is also a disorder that centers into one’s autobiographical memory or when they cannot dismiss even the littlest details. This is known as the hyperthymesia syndrome.

Holding Memory Back

How many habitual thought patterns do you have that hold you back? These damaging beliefs hold people back from success and contentment.

Negative thoughts such as:

I can’t do it, I’m not smart enough, I don’t have the money, or I’m not attractive.

Inefficient patterns including:

procrastination, consistent tardiness, working under stress, disorganization, lack of focus.

Faulty beliefs like:

You can’t make a living doing what you love.

You have to do it alone.

In order to win, someone has to lose.

All of these thoughts, patterns and beliefs are learned, usually at a very young age, and become part of memory that FEELS true. In other words, they seem so integral to who you are that you cannot imagine yourself without them.

Conditions for Better Memory

Many people are experiencing memory problems, regardless of age, gender, or stature. So don’t think only aging people can experience forgetfulness because everyone can encounter memory loss from time to time.

If you want to have a sharper memory, you will find these conditions essential:

1) Focus well and be attentive.

If you get distracted easily by things around you, then it will take you longer to memorize and remember things. Try to find a quiet room and concentrate on what you are reading, learning, or observing.

2) Be interested in what you want to remember or memorize.

Let’s say you love to study Psychology more than any other subjects in the world.

Do you think you would remember your lessons in Psychology more than your studies in Math, Literature, and other subjects?

You bet. By becoming more interested in the subject matter, you are also giving more attention to it. In so doing, this increases your chances of retrieving it from your memory anytime you wish.

3) Have the imagination of a child.

Be creative. Many memory techniques require the practitioner to think of the most outrageous and exaggerated images or pictures in order to remember certain facts or information.

The funnier and more out-of-this-world the images, the better chances you will retain data in your mind.

4) Have a healthy lifestyle.

Eat less fat and consume more foods rich in vitamins and minerals, especially beta-carotene. Drink plenty of water, get enough sleep, engage in cardiovascular exercises, relax and be happy always.

By doing these, your mind will benefit as much as your body.

Memory Tips

So much for that, it will be cool to actually remember all the names of the people we meet or recite from memory all of the books that we have read, right? But not all people are blessed with a photographic memory that can capture a lot of data.

The most that most people can do is to remember about 50 percent of the details in the books that they have read and recalled about 10 names in the 50 people they meet.

But hey, this does not mean that we should all give up wanting to make our memory better.

Although we cannot actually make our memory as powerful as one with a photographic memory, we can at least improve its processes so that we can recall more names than we usually do.

This is especially true with people who are already aging. As we grow older, our memory slips. This is why most of our grandfathers and mothers often forget a lot of things, even our names.

Below are some names on how to make your memory a little bit better. Read on and you might still be able to do something with that faulty memory of yours.

1. Start early

It is important to take care of the brain early on to avoid forgetfulness when old age comes. Brain development starts at a very young age, from 0-3 years old. It is during this time when your brain grows the fastest.

Although you may not have any power over your parents’ actions during this time, you can at least add to their care when you are much older, say 6 or 7 years old, by eating the right foods and avoiding as you grow old vices like cigarettes and alcohol which are proven to lessen memory skills.

2. Commit to the improvement

You should at least be able to commit to the task of bettering your memory. You may not realize it but it is not as simple as memorizing a grocery list and practicing your brain with crossword puzzles and memory games; you will also be changing the way you live your life and the food that you eat.

Changing your lifestyle and your diet takes a lot of gumption and self-discipline from you. You will not be able to do it if you do not commit wholeheartedly to the task.

3. Practice

Use your brain. Whether it is something as simple as reading a book or playing a strategy game like chess, exercising your brain will help keep those neurons awake and working.

In fact, studies have shown that those who answer crossword puzzles, read or generally use their brains will less likely become senile or acquire Alzheimer’s Disease. Using your brain will prevent it from being rusty and dusty.

4. Visualize

One of the most common techniques to improve memory is to visualize words and things.

You see, the brain sees data as pictures. It will be easily stored and faster to retrieve if it is seen and visualized as one picture than when it is memorized as numbers or words.

For instance, if you are trying to memorize a grocery list, you do not memorize the words. You memorize the pictures of the things that you need to buy.

That way, when you go to the grocery store, you will remember to buy that item, bettering your memory in the process.

And here are additional bonus memory tips for you.

5. Coaching/Mentoring

This can involve a relationship with a professional coach, a mentor, a trusted friend (co-coaching) or your own inner wisdom (self-coaching).

Make sure that anyone you enlist to help coach you is truly interested in helping you shift out of the old pattern. Sometimes the people who love us the most don’t want to see us change.

6. Logic

For the left-brained folks out there, sometimes, pure old reasoning works wonders. Let’s say you have a belief that you can’t make a living doing what you love.

Ask yourself, is it true? Can you think of anyone who DOES make a living doing what they love? I bet you can.

Once you find examples that disprove the belief embedded in the old one, you can begin looking to those examples each time you feel that old beliefs come up.

7. Affirmations

I know, affirmations got a bad rap. But affirmations work!

They begin to shift the neural programming by replacing the negative belief or pattern with a positive belief or pattern of your choice.

Here’s an example you could use to shift that old mind:

In an easy and graceful manner

In a healthy and joyous way

In its own perfect time

And in the highest good of all

I am now Being my True Self and Doing What I Love in order to create all the money required to live comfortably and securely.

You can use any or all of these techniques, or make up your own. Whatever method you choose to shift your old patterns and beliefs, repetition is the key.

If you’re a tennis player and want to improve your serve, what do you do? You have someone coach you on the most effective technique and then you go out and practice your serve over and over.

If you spent one hour a day for 30-days practicing your serve do you think you would see some improvement? You bet.

How Does Memory Improves by Playing Card Games?

Are there any tricks you are doing to improve your memory? Through time, there are many techniques that are being developed to help enhance one’s memory. There are various ways that you can opt to do if you want to better your memory.

The first thing that you have to take note of is your lifestyle. If you want your brain to be active and retain as much vital information as it could even if you are already old, you must help keep it healthy.

What can you do to help you achieve such goal? You may want to focus on improving your lifestyle.

It will be to your advantage if you will not drink too much alcoholic beverage. This can still be done but keep it at a moderate level.

To help improve your memory, you must also engage in activities such as exercise to keep a good supply of oxygen in your brain. It is also favourable to get enough rest and sleep.

Understanding Memory at a Deeper Level

Memory is defined in psychology as the organism’s mental capability to absorb, keep and recall information. The study about this field started as part of philosophy.

How the brain works is simple yet magnificent. This all starts when the brain receives information and it registers into your memory.

After it has received and processed what came in, it will store the encoded information. When you need to use any of the information that has been absorbed by the brain, it will try to recall and retrieve such data to that you can utilize it on the spot.

If you will not take good care of your brain, these are the possible disorders that you may develop. Amnesia can occur as an outcome of an accident.

It will vary depending on the impact of the scene and how healthy your brain is when such incident happened. Alzheimer’s disease affects not only your memory but your ability to recognize.

This is usually being experienced by older people. There is also an organic brain disease such as the Korsakoff’s syndrome that gravely affects your memory.

Card Games to Help You Improve Memory

There are things that you can do to enjoy while you are exercising your brain in order to improve your memory.

By engaging in activities that require your brain to react in certain ways, you are helping it to stay healthy.

You may want to start learning a few card games that can help you achieve this goal.

A good sample of this is when you aim to improve your concentration. You may want to try card games like Pairs.

You must be alert to retain the location of the pairs of the cards that you are holding. There are online versions of the game if you want to start learning and applying various techniques as you play it more often.

While you are at it, you may also start your research about other types of card games that can help better your memory. You can choose to gather family or friends to play with you or you can also opt to play the games online.

Improving memory methods such as puzzles and crossword puzzles are a good way to keep the brain active and will surely improve memory over the long term.

How to Train Your Memory by playing Scrabble?

You can memorize things better by using some easy techniques that can be trained by playing scrabble.

Playing scrabble, besides being a game that needs skills in strategy, it also calls for a good memory to win the game.

Therefore, this word game can be used to help improve one’s memory.

As you know very well, the key to attaining high points in this game is by forming words that contain a specified letter, such as “q” or “z”.

To train your memory, try to remember the words containing the letter.

Another tip to make it easier, try to associate the word with something, such as your experience, friend, favorite movie, and others.

For example, to remember the word ‘quiescent’, you can associate it with one of your friend, who is quite by nature.

Another technique is to remember a list, by combining the words together. For example, to remember some words which begin with ‘z’, try to memorize this sentence:

“The zany zebra in the zoo runs zigzag zealously and meets zookeeper, zoologist, and zombie.”

Notice that by combining them; at least you have memorized eight words that contain ‘z’ letter.

You can apply those techniques to remember things in your daily life.

A research showed that memory can also be improved by doing light activities that stimulate thinking power. The examples of such activities include playing scrabble.

Scrabble needs a right strategy to win. Besides of having to think of your next move, you also have to think to block up your opponent’s move.

Concentrate better so your memory will improve more.

Aside from card games, puzzles and scrabbles, keeping your brains active can help improve memory performance.

By learning new information, you can help improve memory in the long-term. The part of our brain that produces the chemical dopamine responds better to fresh images, ideas and experiences. And it can improve memory retention more effectively than simply repeating the same information over and over again.

To improve memory, there are plenty of things we can do in our day to day lives:

Word Games

By simply doing the crossword or word game in your daily or Sunday newspaper, you’ll help improve memory by learning new words or phrases. Each day will bring a new challenge so you will be stimulating your brain regularly.

Number Challenges

Sudoku is a popular number game, but there are many other number puzzles you can try to help your quest to improve your memory. Again, you will be keeping your brain active and opening up your mind to new challenges on a regular basis.

Learn a Language

Exposing your brain to anything new will help improve memory function, but learning a language can be a particularly rewarding experience. You don’t need to go as far as taking classes, simply watch some of the foreign language learning programs on TV or learn a few words of Spanish or French, for example, each day.

Play an Instrument

This is another fun way to get around the problem of increasing memory loss. Picking up a guitar or sitting for an hour or two at a keyboard could be a great way to improve memory performance. You’ll be stimulating your brain function by practicing new chords or melodies!

Of course, many of us lead a very busy life and don’t always have the time to take up a new hobby or pastime. You can still improve memory techniques in your day to day lives, simply by paying attention to the things around you. Instead of walking or driving home in a day, you can help improve your memory just by looking around!

There are handful things you can do to improve your memory even those simple games, hobbies or simple past time.

And here’s a piece I would like to leave you with memory:

Kaleidoscope

Memories are like jigsaw puzzles. It

fits perfectly and will create a

picture, but that is if the jigsaw

pieces are all present, nothing missing.

But what if some of the jigsaw pieces

are missing, there will be a hole in a

picture and it will be no longer connected

to other pieces.

Here are some ways to identify normal forgetfulness from abnormal forgetfulness:

1. The passage of time

2. Stressful events

3. Repetition

4. Date

5. Self-care abilities

6. Familiarity

7. Frustration levels

Adjusting to an Aging Mind

Connecting Aging and Memory

Easy Tips for Maintaining Memory Function

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Classes of Memory

Categorization by Nature of Information

Methods of Memory Optimization

Memory Tasks

Memory and Learning

Workings of Your Brain

On average there are new cells that are produced in the brain right from birth up to the person’s demise. This accounts for the individual’s capacity to carry on with learning in a bid to sufficiently ‘update the mind database’

An individual’s biological state does support most of the mental efforts applied. When an individual does stand after long periods of heavy mind exercise, for instance, stretching up the legs would aid you to sufficiently refresh mind functionalities.

Many educational systems prefer the classroom setting as their favorite method of learning. However, researchers have found out that it is not very effective because it lacks engagement. Tasks that incorporate movement, communication skills and solving problems can exercise your brain effectively.

Humor can also be used to stimulate the brain for meaningful perception & learning. For healing to occur one should have a bold spirit and have in mind the goal of linking individual energy sources for mental clarity in a fun-filled environment.

Principles of Mnemonic Tactics

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Your lifestyle can affect your memory and the way it functions.

How to Work Out your Memory?

Additional Simple Techniques to Improve your Memory

1. Tell yourself to remember.

2. Know why you want to remember something.

3. Visualize the future.

4. Retrace your steps.

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Food and Memory

How are food and memory associated?

Caffeine and Memory

What is the relationship between caffeine and memory?

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Tips to Sharpen your Mind

1. Sufficiently rest both your mind & body.

2. Consume healthy & nutritious diet only.

3. Get adequate exercise.

4. Practice reality orientation operations.

5. Set some lists.

6. Cut additives like nicotine, caffeine or alcohol.

7. Sufficiently feed the brain using new knowledge.

8. Make good use of recurring memorization procedures.

9. Formulate a rhyme that will aid you to recall data.

10. Keep a well-documented journal.

11. Learn how you can be an effective listener.

12. Become a problem solver.

13. Work out your intuition.

14. Attune your mind power beliefs.

How to Enhance Your Mind Even When You Are Busy

How to Increase Your Mind Power

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Other Virtual Systems

Remembering a Name

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Getting Ready for the Exam

1. Prepare well ahead of your time.

2. Jot down notes in point form for easy remembrance.

3. Prefer to use related tools to review work for the sake of exams.

4. Identify a serious study group and join.

5. Some few days prior to the exam one must try to get enough rest.

6. Eat sufficient food and also sleep right.

7. Never be lazy.

Other Popular Techniques

How convinced are you in regards to your preparation?

Does the dread of undertaking these tests stifle you?

Are you irresolute on keenness towards giving your best shot for the test?

Benefits of Mentally Preparing For An Exam

Scheduling For the Main Exams

12 Months Prior To the Exams

6 Months Prior To the Exams

3 Months Prior to Exams

1 Month before Exams

2 Weeks Prior To the Test

1 Day Prior To the Test

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1. Visualization