Improve memory: 5 long-term tips

improve memory
5 long-term tips against forgetfulness

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Do you have a memory like a sieve? Then there is good news: you can improve your memory. We show you five practical tips for your memory training!

improve memory

What did I want to do again? That’s certainly a question that some people ask themselves, although the thought was just there. the memory performance decreases with age, the gray matter disappears. Unfortunately, these are responsible for transferring information into long-term memory. If this does not happen, we forget what we have just learned. But: There are some things we can do ourselves to train our memory.

Improving memory: This is what makes up our memory

When we talk about memory, we often mean our long-term memory. But that’s only part of it: that ultra short term memory (also: sensory memory) only keeps our perceptual impressions ready for about a second – what we don’t need is deleted again. during that short memory (also: working memory) retains information for a maximum of a few minutes, information that we need in the long term gets into the long-term memory. This happens, for example, through emotional experiences or through targeted learning. Then: The environment and our genes are responsible for about 30 to 40 percent of our brain power. And the rest? practice thing.

What can I do to improve my memory?

Unfortunately, solving a Sudoku from time to time is not enough to increase our cognitive performance. To improve your memory, you should heed the following things and exercises:

1st tip: Solve difficult tasks

Of course it can’t hurt to solve the crossword puzzle or Sudoku from the daily newspaper. However, only your general knowledge is queried in the crossword puzzle, for example. However, it is better tricky tasks to solve to train your memory.

2nd tip: do sports

Sport and exercise are not only good for the body, but also for the brain. One reason could be that Sport promotes blood flow in the brain and nerve growth. However, it is not yet entirely clear which processes are triggered by sport. Nonetheless, it’s good memory training and good for your health too!

Tip 3: Learn something new

The best way to train the memory is to keep familiarizing yourself with new areas. This can also be during professional life, by familiarizing yourself with new aspects there, for example by acquiring a new program. Especially with increasing age, new learning may become more difficult and time-consuming. The cognitive psychologist Hans Markowitsch told Spiegel Online, it helps to orientate yourself on what you have already learned – i.e. through associations. This can be, for example, a new language that you use as a guide to an already learned and related language.

4th tip: maintain contacts

A point that at first glance has nothing to do with our memory: social interaction. But a conversation with others lifts the mood on the one hand and it is one on the other complex cognitive performance. Perfect to get our gray matter going! Also works on the phone or via video telephony.

5th tip: Meditate

Studies have shown that meditation not only improves general well-being and relieves stress, but also improves cognitive abilities! In doing so, they could Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (USA) found in a small study that a short meditation of 27 minutes a day over a period of eight weeks was enough to promote memory performance, among other things. The team achieved similar results Fadel Zeidan of Wake Forest University School of Medicine (USA). There, the working memory has already improved significantly after four days and 20 minutes of meditation per day!

Improve memory: These foods should be on your menu

Our daily food not only ensures that metabolic processes in our body function smoothly, our brain also benefits from what we eat. The nutritional psychiatrist Dr. Uma Naidoo revealed opposite cnbc.comwhich healthy foods can increase the ability to concentrate and improve our memory at the same time:

  1. Dark chocolate
  2. Berry
  3. turmeric
  4. Leafy vegetables
  5. Fermented Foods

Dark chocolate can be easily integrated into our menu and berries end up in our breakfast almost every day. Turmeric makes it easy to mix golden milk, and leafy greens and fermented foods like kimchi and miso are found en masse in Japanese cuisine. It can be that easy! We don’t forget these foods in a hurry.

What actually is dementia?

Dementia is a generic term for around 50 different forms. For example, Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. What the different forms have in common is that they lead to a loss of mental performance in the long term.

However, it is not always a matter of incipient dementia, around two-thirds of dementia patients are over 80 years old. So forgetfulness does not mean that you are slowly developing dementia. With the strategies mentioned to improve memory, dementia can even be preventedaccording to the guide to dementia.

By the way: Here we show you how you can easily learn meditation or how tree yoga can lead to more inner peace (and what else helps against inner restlessness).

Sources used:

Bridget

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