You started to notice that you do not remember where you put your keys or once again forgot important meetings, you can not focus on important issues and are distracted all the time, do not remember new material well or do not remember materialwhich was recently approved? If so, it's worth thinking about how you can improve memory and attention in adults and restore your previous condition.
The first thing that comes to mind is to create a calendar, or online calendar with reminders to not miss important events and appointments. But what to do with information that should be remembered and transferred to long-term memory? !
Sorry, things are not that simple. Despite the wide variety, tablet composition and variety of supplements and medicines, there is currently not much scientific evidence that they actually improve brain function and thought processes. And trying a $ 50 drug that promises to strengthen nerve connections in the brain in just a few weeks does not sound very tempting, especially if your doctor ordered the prescription as part of a presentation.
In the 21st century of information technology, in order to cover all volumes or even prepare exams, it is not only necessary to spend time on it. The core of the problem is often just poor memory, weak memory and a wrong approach to the learning process.
Fortunately, there are scientifically proven effective ways to improve memory and ways to improve brain function, both in the short and long term at home, and even make exam preparation easier. Below we will look at each of them separately.Try meditation to improve your concentration
Attention is one major part of my memory. In order to move data from short-term memory to long-term memory, it is necessary to focus on this specific topic. Try to do important things away from distractions such as television, music, telephones, chat rooms and other entertainment.
This is not always easy to do, especially if you are surrounded by noisy neighbors or children. Try to set aside time when no one is in the way so you can focus on your work.
Memory and concentration are located in the same area of the brain. It has been proven that with increased concentration of attention through meditation, it leads to an improvement in brain performance and the process of remembering adults.
Meditation helps to improve and develop working memory that stores the data you need temporarily throughout the day. Simply put, at any given time there are 7 pieces of information in the brain, when a new object arrives, it removes the old one, which is or is not recorded in long-term memory. Meditation helps to bring the information needed at a given time faster.
How long it takes to see positive results is not known for sure. In general, this may take 2 to 8 weeks.
Perhaps the calming effect of meditation increases the ability to overcome mental noise (distraction) and focus on what you need to know at one point or another.
Here are some more powerful ways:
- Disable all notifications as you learn.
- Try to isolate yourself from people you know during your studies. Go to the library or café where you will not be disturbed.
- Work on only one topic at a time, avoid multitasking and often switch to another topic.
Do not tread
In order to process this or that information well enough, it should be researched in several ways. Research has shown that those who regularly study a particular subject in chapters remember it much better than those who study it all at once.
Organize and organize your data
Scientists have found that information is organized in the brain into interconnected "clusters". This ability of the brain to build data can be used in daily life. Try to combine similar ideas and concepts or draw notes or sort material from different books, this will make it easier to remember and extract the information you want from different sources.
Use memorabilia and abbreviations
Mnemonics is a memory technology that students often use to retrieve data faster from the brain. In other words, it's an easy way to remember complex information. For example, you can associate a concept you want to remember by associating it with topics you are familiar with. The best words of remembrance are those associated with positive imagery or humor. You can come up with a rhyme, song or joke to remember a certain part of the material.
Abbreviations are the most common technique for linking short lists or sequences.
In everyday life we are already so used to the acronyms that we do not even notice them and do not think about what words they are made of.
As you learn new knowledge, you can create your own abbreviations.
Analyze the content in detail and repeat what you have passed
To remember information, you must first make it comprehensible to the brain and then repeat everything that is learned again, then the information will surely fall into long-term memory. For example, read the definition of a key term, read the definition of that term, and then read a more detailed description of what the term means. By repeating this process several times, you will probably find that you remember the concept more easily and faster over time.
To review the material being researched, it is also recommended to divide it into three difficulty categories. Choose the time you spend and the days of the week for each of them.
Review the content again, if you remember it well, repeat it only once a week.
If you have difficulty reproducing information, read it again in a few hours or every other day.
And if you do not remember anything, read the material again in 10 minutes. After repeating all the cycles, rearrange the information according to how you remember it and allocate your time for repetition and fill in the blanks.
Show information
Visualization of information often helps people remember content better because some people have more visual perception. Keep a close eye on pictures, graphs and tables in the same courses, for example. You can create your own diagrams, diagrams and drawings, use notes in margins or colored markers to remember important points and find what you need quickly.
Link new information to already known information
When researching unfamiliar material, take time to think about how this information relates to what you already know. Once you find this connection, it will be easier for you to remember recently received information.
Read aloud
Research shows that reading aloud makes it easier to remember information. Teachers also support this concept and implement it when they ask their students to teach their classmates new material. You can also use this approach and learn new stuff with your friends.
Spend more time on complex information
What information is easiest to remember at the beginning or end? The researchers found that the order in which the data is viewed plays an important role in how fast the brain displays and produces that information. And the material is best remembered at the beginning of the book and at the end of it.
Information in the middle is often lost, but this problem can be solved by repeating it several times. Another strategy is to try to rephrase what you have learned in your own words to make it easier to remember.
Change Normal Environment
Another great way to improve your memory is to change your learning environment. Change your classroom or time of day to familiarize yourself with the material. By adding elements of innovation to your learning activities, you can increase the effectiveness of your efforts and memorize information.
Remember before writing
Teachers often tell you to write things down before you start teaching them so that the material will be better.
Remember and mentally repeat what you write down and not just rewrite without thinking.
This process will not be difficult because the information will be in short-term memory for about 10-20 seconds. And after you put that information mentally in your head, you'll transfer it to a long-term memory.
Get enough sleep and don't forget to take a nap if possible
Most students try to spend more time studying and completely forget about sleep. But this makes things a little worse, because lack of sleep affects memory as well as some other cognitive abilities.
The link between sleep and memory has been confirmed by numerous studies, as many people know that memory loss occurs during sleep. As a result, the quality of sleep is directly related to the clarity of memories. If the quality of sleep suffers, you will soon notice that the memories are flowing from you. Conversely, with enough sleep from 8+ hours, it is much easier and faster to recall certain moments.
Studies have also shown that napping can improve performance. One of the best known studies in this field has shown that REM sleep (only half an hour or so) increases the brain's ability to store information. The researchers asked two groups of people to memorize a set of pictures with different pictures and then showed another set of maps in about 40 minutes. One of the groups managed to snooze during these 40 minutes.
Results:The group that took a nap kept significantly more information about the pictures (85%) compared to those who did not sleep at all (60%).
The reason, again, is to rely on memory - the brain needs sleep for this process to work well, so a little sleep will only be beneficial.
Conclusion:If you want to make the most of your memory, give your body enough sleep.
Lest
Exercise is known to improve cognition, concentration and blood circulation in the brain by flowing oxygen to cells and moods.
Exercise also triggers the release of cathepsin B protein into the brain. This stimulates the growth of neurons (brain cells) and creates additional connections in the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for long-term memory and extracellular.
Exercise has been proven to improve brain function in a number of studies, so let's discuss it first. In one of them, it was proven that just a few minutes of light exercise lead to a reduction immediately. Participants in the experiment performed exercises of varying intensity, but researchers at this time saw changes in brain function.
The results showed that during these exercises, the connection between the brain regions responsible for creating new memories (autobiographical memory, which is remembered according to the principle of "who, what, where and when") improved, as well as intannheppniog hippocampus.
Therefore, in just a few minutes or even an hour of exercise, you can improve your memory. You can try a treadmill or walk to begin with and most people can do that.
Drink coffee and tea
Caffeine is a well-known brain booster. In large quantities it is unhealthy and even dangerous, but there is no doubt that it improves memory.
In one Johns Hopkins study, one group of volunteers was asked not to consume caffeinated food at all and the other was given a 200 mg decaffeinated supplement five minutes after being asked to look at pictures. The next day they were shown even more pictures, some were like the past or similar in some way, they were also new.
The group that took caffeine the day before did much better in identifying which images were similar to the original and could even detect the differences between them.
Tea and coffee contain the highest levels of caffeine, and they have many other benefits, such as antioxidants. Try to get your caffeine from natural tea and coffee, not sugary carbonated energy drinks. In addition to caffeine, green and black tea contain components that improve memory. It is recommended to drink them all day but preferably not before bedtime.
Eat flavonoid-rich foods
Foods that contain saturated fats and trans fats (red meat, butter) are bad for memory. And just in preparation for exams, students often eat a lot of unhealthy foods that are even worse for the brain.
Numerous studies have shown that these foods can even lead to Alzheimer's and dementia in the future, causing irreparable damage to health and causing amnesia.
To improve memory, it is recommended to eat foods that are good for the brain, more fish, olive oil, whole grains, walnuts, blueberries.
In the long run, foods high in flavonoids will help improve memory, especially dark berries and cocoa. Flavonoids are anti-inflammatory compounds found in plants that improve cardiovascular disease. Some studies have also shown excellent cancer prevention and consuming blueberries for a few weeks slows down amnesia.
Another study found that regular consumption of blueberries for 12 weeks improved local memory. The first signs of improvement appeared as early as the third week of the experiment.
Dark chocolate containing 70% or more cocoa is also known to improve brain function.
Medicines and supplements
If you are trying to improve brain function with supplements, then omega-3 fatty acids are best.
When choosing supplements and before taking any tablets, pay attention to the label, omega-3 fats must be obtained from highly refined fish oil, preferably from fish found in cold water, as it contains less mercury. They improve memory, especially in the elderly and other cognitive functions.