Memory Games For Seniors

A healthy mind rests in a healthy body. Though many of us preach this philosophy with relative ease, most of us are more than likely to have forgotten to actually practice it. People are known to engage much more in physical activity to maintain youthfulness than in keeping their minds even half as well-exercised. Hardly a thought is spared for sustaining the alertness and agility of the aging mind, which is basically the seat of all processes, regenerative or degenerative. If the mind is young, the body tends to age slower. It is a fact that with time our brain wears out and forgetfulness is one of the most common symptoms. Though forgetfulness cannot be categorized as an illness in itself, it can be a telling symptom of other underlying diseases like Alzheimer’s or Dementia. The degree of forgetfulness often indicates the seriousness of the disease. But then every memory loss is not Alzheimer or Dementia. So if a senior member of your family is dealing with a failing memory, here are some memory games that will help.
Memory Improvement Games For Seniors
Keeping the brain active is the best way to keep it fit. As people age, not only memory loss but also a host of other problems like loneliness and health complications start surfacing. Memory improvement games can help in reducing the severity of some of these problems, so listed here are a few you can start with:
Crossword puzzles are good entertainers for the young and old alike. If your grandparents or parents are interested in word games, crossword puzzles are the best way of keeping them pleasantly engaged. If he or she is mathematically-inclined, Sudoku is a good option to keep the brain from going dull. It will be a good stress-buster as well, for both their mental as well as physically fitness.
Indulging in hobbies is a great way to improve concentration. This can help regain memory and even trigger better mental responses.
They would love to re-visit their younger days through scrapbooks or photo albums. What you can do is to try some memory boosting questions in the process such as asking them to try and remember where the photograph was taken or who it was taken by, or even the year in which it was clicked. It is more like a review of the past which prods them into jogging their memory and keeping their grey matter sharp.
You can also hang some of these photos on the walls of their rooms, so that every time a senior catches a glimpse of them, they remind them of days gone by.
Seniors tend to forget the names of even those under their noses, so it will be a great idea to ask them to name as many relatives as possible from their photographs.
Building up imaginary stories can help, too. For this game you have a group of seniors from your neighborhood meet up. Ask one of them to start a story; it can be about anything. Start your story like this: ‘I went trekking the other day…’ and give each one of them a chance to add something to the story. This will make them work on their imagination and improve their memory.
Help them write daily journals. Help them visualize the whole day while doing this. This will help them remember the various incidents that happened during the day and be more aware, subsequently, of their existence.
Engaging them in a conversation where they talk about their past is a great idea.
By making them play online games, not only are you helping them improve their memory, but also exposing them to newer skills.

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How to Make Your Memory Work For You

It can begin with some minor instance like forgetting the birthday of a colleague at work. Then your friend, and then the birthdays of people really near to you: like your family. Hey! Or even worst your wedding anniversary.

After that, it could be that you forget the way to your best friend’s house, or to your favorite restaurant. And then if your memory gets really bad you forget your own keys inside your home.
Don’t worry! The thing is everyone suffers from moments of forgetfulness.

Even though, you weren’t probably born with a photographic memory, the good news is there are ways to improve the memory, and it doesn’t matter how old you are you can still do it!

As the body gets older, the neurons in the brain also get older. Some will die while others perform in a more sluggish way than usual. This is why people who are very old have a more confused memory than much younger people.

But hey! As stated above, there are ways to enhance the memory, and here are some ways to do it.

Do you use visuals or sounds? What kind of learner are you? Some people use visuals to remember things, others sound. If you are a visual person for example, all you need to do if you are trying to remember a shopping list is to look at the whole list and you will then be able to see in your mind the list. Other people, however, are more into sounds they need to hear the list before they can remember it: they read the list out loud to themselves. If you want to find out which method will work for you, try recalling how you memorize at school. Do you see the words in your mind (visual) or do you read them out loud (sound)?

Make use of associations: the brain needs assistance when it comes to remembering things. The simpler you make the remembering task for the brain the easier it will be for it to remember information. Associating information with things that we already know has been used in memory development for centuries. For example, have you heard of mnemonics?

When memorizing a group of words, we frequently take the first letter of that word and then form a sentence or words from those letters. Associating the word that we are trying to commit to memory with the first letter makes it simpler for the brain to remember.

Try to visualize it: have you ever thought why the expression photographic memory is use for people with a truly outstanding memory? The reason is that people who actually memorize well or have an excellent memory do not see one thing or one bit of information when memorizing. They see a picture of the words in set. For example, a person with a shopping list will typically memorize the items on the list one by one, but people who have studied memory improvement will memorize it in its entirety. They will examine the list and visualize it as a whole until they can see the list in their mind- just as if they were holding it in their hands.

Eat the right foods: a great way to a better memory is to take on a healthier diet. Your diet will have a great influence on your skill to memorize things. Eating wholesome brain foods like fish, milk and tofu will assist your brain to perform better and faster.

There are numerous ways to improve the memory, but the most significant thing is to promise yourself that you will improve your memory no matter what. Good Luck!

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Memory Improvement Made Easy

Memory improvement techniques are a great help to those of us who suffer from forgetfulness and the resulting chaos in our daily lives. Memory can be defined as the ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. This ability to connect individual incidents, names, faces and locations in the context of time and to bring them together in a cohesive whole in the shape of memories is essential to living a full and satisfying life.

Memory Systems and Processes

The brain has three main memory systems: sensory memory, short term memory and long term memory. Sensory memory refers to the ability to accurately retain sensory impressions (visual, auditory and so on) on a short-term basis. The capacity of sensory memory is approximately twelve items, but it degrades very quickly and it is not possible to improve memory of this type.

Short-term memory (STM) also known as the “primary” or “active memory” refers to the brain’s capacity to hold a small amount of information in an active, readily available state for a short period of time. The short term memory usually holds around seven pieces of data and lasts approximately 12-15 seconds depending on the person.

Finally, there is the long term memory. As the name suggests, this is the information that the brain processes from the short term memory and stores for later use.

Some Helpful Memory Improvement Tips

Most memory development systems work on either the short term or the long term memories and the process by which one is converted into the other. There are a number of easily learnt memory improvement techniques that can help you enhance this process of transferring information from the short-term to the long-term memories. These include:

* Chunking: Chunking is a memory development system that is helpful in increasing the effectiveness of the short-term memory. In Chunking, a person organizes material into meaningful groups so that they are more easily recallable.

* For example, when attempting to remember a phone number, rather than trying to remember the entire string of 10 digits, you can group the digits into three chunks: the area code, a three-digit chunk and lastly a four-digit chunk. With constant practice and the usage of existing information in long-term memory, chunking can greatly improve the short-term memory.

* Short-term memory improvement exercises: these are simple, fun exercises that act as a sort of memory workout. They help maintain your existing memory levels and also prevent further memory loss.

* For instance, play a simple game of match-up. Match-up is an easy single player memory game involving 20 to 40 matched pairs of cards. The game involves shuffling the cards and laying them face down on a table in rows.  Once the cards are laid out, flip over a card and try to find its match. If no match is found, flip both cards back, memorize their positions and try again. Continue this process until you have matched up all the cards.

To conclude, our memory is what enables us to recall information that we have learned or experienced, shaping our thoughts and characters and making us who we are. However, age and the stress of everyday life often cause the memory to deteriorate. Memory improvement exercises and techniques help reverse the wear of the memory and keep the brain in top condition.

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Can Anyone Develop A Photographic Memory?

Everyone has seen movies or read books where a character has the uncanny ability to remember everything he or she sees down to the finest detail.  These fictional characters have photographic memories, the envy of all who observe their talent.  The question that arises, though, is how do you develop a photographic memory yourself?  Is it something that’s even possible?

We know that we use only a small fraction of our brain’s full potential.  We also don’t understand much of how the brain works, although research gives us more insight every year.  Whether or not you will have the ability to just look at a page from a phone book and remember names and numbers years later, there are things that you can do right now to beef up your memory skills and enhance your brainpower.

Be Discerning: There’s a fine line that you need to learn to walk in order to improve your ability to memorize.  On the one hand, you need to be observant, noticing and processing all of the details necessary to commit the facts to your brain.  On the other hand, you also need to be somewhat discerning with what you loading into your mind.  Try to filter out extraneous information so as to reduce the workload on your brain in order to make storing and recalling more efficient.

Visual Association: The use of visual association has been around for centuries and involves associating information that you are learning with objects that you picture in your mind. Some people believe that visual association is relatively a new technique, which is not true. The basic principle behind visual association is to connect unique and unrelated topics with images, and thus recollect these topics by the images associated with them.

Improving Focus: Improving focus is very important when it comes to approaching the concept of a photographic memory for yourself. Some of the oldest yet most effective techniques to improve anyone’s focus is meditation and yoga. If you have problems in concentrating, these are two effective techniques that will dramatically improve your ability to concentrate. Without being able to filter out distractions, it can make it quite difficult for you to learn new information.  Moving to a quiet, isolated area and playing classical music in the background are two easy steps to create an ambience amenable to study.

Puzzle Games: Solving puzzles and playing games are not only great exercises for the mind, but they also allow you to engage others socially, which we know has a positive impact on cognitive function. There are many ways to improve your memory by playing puzzle games. You can play with your friends and challenge yourself by competing with others, finding tougher opponents to stretch your skills. Another idea is to play a game or solve a puzzle with an eye toward completing your goal in as short a time frame as possible. There are many games and puzzles out there that can hone your memory and problem-solving abilities.

These techniques are very easy to follow and you don’t need a whole lot of resources to invest in. Taking the time to invest in improving your recall abilities is a worthwhile endeavor. Even if you may not achieve the fabled photographic memory, you can still improve a skill which will benefit you greatly both personally and professionally.

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