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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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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Brain Neuroplasticity

Is it possible to self-direct brain neuroplasticity?

As I have explored the concept of brain fitness, two words keep popping up over and over, neuroplasticity and neurogenesis.

Neurogenesis describes the birth of new neurons in the human brain. The discovery of neurogenesis not too many years ago overthrew a lot of previous dogma and theory about the human brain and the human experience.

And I think it gives some of us Boomers a bit more confidence as we age into our 60′s and 70′s about our ability to maintain our mental effectiveness.

I guess I should speak for myself, and I am relieved to know that I have new neurons appearing in the memory centers daily. Now to get them locked in.

The other term, neuroplasticity. refers to the brain rewiring itself based on usage.

Somehow I had gotten the idea that neuroplasticity happened when a critical mass of knowledge was reached, and then the brain changed somehow, then knowledge needed to be poured in until another critical mass was reached, and I had another new addition added somewhere in my neural architecture again, like a wing to a library.

Imagine my surprise to learn that brain neuroplasticity does not have as much to do with stored knowledge as it does with neurons reaching out to each other to connect when new information is processed or a new topic is learned about, which is a CONSTANT process, ongoing, ceaseless, sort of what I would imagine the Dance of Shiva to look like.

New connections can be formed, according to Simon Evans, Ph.D. co-author of Brainfit for Life, in minutes and hours, not after some critical mass is reached once per year, or something.

I am delighted to know that my brain is letting its dendrites and axons do the walking, to paraphrase that old Bell Telephone commercial, all the time.

Self Directed Brain Neuroplasticity

Now there are folks out there talking about self-directed neuroplasticity which is apparently the administration of sound, light, taste, smell, and tactile stimulus to the brain so that its change or building of connections is not so random, hence self directed.

Other folks are describing Self Directed Neuroplasticity as a process of attention, rather than sensation.

Seems to me focusing on attention has been around for a long time, whether you call it meditation or nlp or cognitive behavioral therapy or TM or Zen Buddhism.

Why for example, would a mystic spend a lifetime contemplating an icon, or a guru spend a lifetime practicing meditation in isolation?

To develop better attention, which represents a neuroplastic adjustment in the brain.

I know I have used sound and light technology and biofeedback and TM to accomplish something similar, the establishment of habits which are strong and deep, which must strengthen the connection between the neurons.

I think it is important to do the mindfulness in brief bursts. My mind is supposed to pay attention to movement in the environment. That is called the human orienting response, so maybe I do mindfulness exercises to engineer brain neuoplasticity using computerized brain fitness programs, and the meditative aspects of mindfulness can happen when I am exercising and breathing deep. That can happen while pushing the lawnmower in the yard, if I focus on something, like a mantra.

So is self-directed brain neuroplasticity possible? Sure is. Folks have been doing it forever.

Ask your neighborhood Shaman.

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Do You Know About Fish Oil Brain Health Enhancer Supplement?

You might have studied various editorials on the benefits fish oil for heart and controlling the inflammation in the body. However, do you know about fish oil brain enhancer supplements?

Studies have proven that fish oil brain supplements contain the essential long chain polyunsaturated DHA omega3 fat, which is the major constituent of human brain too. Therefore, the regular consumption of these supplements helps in keeping brain healthy and functional by attaining the desired levels of DHA in the body.

The deficiency of vital DHA fats results in various health conditions ranging from lack of concentration, poor memory, weak vocabulary and comprehension capabilities, frequent mood swings, anxiety and depression bouts, etc. to many neurobehavioral conditions like Autism, Dyslexia, Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, etc.

Regular consumption of an effective fish oil brain supplement not only avoids all the above health conditions but also help in keeping the mind razor sharp.

Key features of an effective fish supplement –

1.High DHA content High quality supplement is rich in DHA fats. 1000mg of oil should at least have 250mg of DHA. This information can be fetched either from ingredients label from company’s website. Moreover, since experts recommend consumption of 500mg of DHA daily, you should take at least two soft gels daily.

2.Fresh Consumption of rancid oil results in fishy burps, long lasting metallic after taste and increased free radical activity in the body. Therefore, to avoid all these side effects, it is very important to check freshness of oil. You can cut open a soft gel and out it to smell test. Fresh oil smells like ocean water and is far away from any unnatural and artificial fragrance.

3.Pure Because of increasing pollution in ocean waters, fish caught are full of contaminations like mercury, lead, arsenic, PCBs, etc. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for the oil to undergo various refining process to filter out the toxins to avoid the risk of toxin poisoning.

Purity of oil can be checked by looking at COA (Certificate of analysis) published by the manufacturer, where he mentions the amount of toxins present in the oil. Higher the toxicity of oil, poorer is the quality of oil.

Fish oil brain supplements that undergo the molecular distillation process are the purest. This is because; the molecular distillation process is very efficient in removing all the unwanted and harmful chemicals from the oil and hence, ensures that the quality of oil is pharmaceutical.

Now that you know about fish oil brain sharpener supplements, your next logical step should be to do a little research and find out an effective supplement for yourself and your family.

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