Some habits can help you remember new information better, think faster, and significantly reduce your risk of dementia. Take note of them!
Unusual conclusions were made by researchers from the University of Notre Dame (USA): they proved that short-term memories are forgotten faster when moving to another room. This phenomenon is called the “doorway effect”, since it is it that serves as a kind of signal for the psyche to “clear the knowledge base”. However, the opposite is also true – if you cannot remember what thought was spinning in your head half an hour ago, return to the room where it visited you.
Breathe Deeper
Scientists from California have found that meditation slows down the aging of the brain. Their colleagues at Harvard noted that after eight weeks of regular half-hour meditation, study participants increased the density of gray matter in the brain regions responsible for memory and introspection.
Start meditating for 10-15 minutes a day. Find a quiet place, warn family members not to make noise or enter the room during practice. Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, relax. You can start with the deep breathing technique. Breathe in and out and focus on them. Gradually allow your body to breathe as it used to. Perhaps extraneous thoughts will appear. In this case, simply turn your attention to the breath and keep practicing.
Write by hand
Writing by hand improves cognitive function – this is the conclusion made by psychologists from the University of California. Students took part in the experiment. One group took notes of the lectures by hand, while the other typed the notes on an electronic device. It turned out that the students from the second group grasped the essence of the lecture and memorized the facts worse. The point is that the act of writing stimulates the reticular activating system. Almost all nerve impulses sent to the brain via sensory channels also enter the reticular formation. It assesses the need for these impulses, and only after that the cortex is activated to process them. Awareness of actions increases. Get in the habit of briefly describing your day on a piece of paper before bed. You can write letters to yourself to improve brain function.
Exercise
Eye Exercises Side-to-side movement of the eyeballs stimulates the two hemispheres to work together and improves memory. Just 30 seconds of such charging in the morning will help you memorize 10% more information during the day.
Hand massage has a similar effect. If you clench your fists tightly for 45 seconds at the moment when you need to remember something, the chance of remembering increases. It works!
Take a Thought Tour
Sit and close your eyes, walk mentally on your way to work, or take a “trip” through your own apartment. At the same time, pay attention to details, examine objects, notice little things. This virtual walk improves concentration and trains memory.
Another similar exercise is called the Aivazovsky method. It helps develop photographic memory. Stare at an object or landscape outside the window for five minutes. Then close your eyelids and try to present what you see in the smallest detail.
Reproduce colors, shades, arrangement of objects, shadows. If you practice the method daily, after a month your memory will improve.
Watch your posture
Professor Eric Pepper of San Francisco State University has set up a fun experiment. He studied the postures of a group of volunteers and concluded that people who hunched over are more likely to feel frustrated, helpless, and apathetic. Straightened shoulders and a straight back, on the contrary, contribute to the formation of positive thinking and good memory. This effect can be explained from a physiological point of view: when the spine is straight, blood circulation in the neck and head area improves, and the brain is more actively supplied with oxygen.
For the same reason, exercise is beneficial. During physical activity, the brain consumes an average of 20% more oxygen, and aerobic exercise (for example, running, dancing, cycling) increases the production of the protein cathepsin B. It promotes the formation of interneuronal connections in the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory.
Natural memory stimulants include sage, ginseng, green tea. The aromas of rosemary will help to increase the volume of memorization. But vitamin D deficiency impairs memory.
