It was once believed that brain function peaked during early
adulthood and then slowly declined, leading to lapses in memory and brain fog
during your golden years.
Now it's known that our modern lifestyle plays a significant
role in contributing to cognitive decline, which is why exposure to toxins,
chemicals, poor diet, lack of sleep, stress, and much more can actually hinder
the functioning of your brain.
A strong memory depends on the health and vitality of your
brain. Whether you're a student studying for final exams, a working
professional interested in doing all you can to stay mentally sharp, or a
senior looking to preserve and enhance your grey matter as you age, there are
lots of things you can do to improve your memory and mental performance.
1.
Good Night Sleep
The less you sleep, the more your
cognitive abilities including your memory will suffer. Sleep is a time when
your brain sorts and stores new memories. If you're sleep-deprived, your brain
won't retain or recall information as well as it normally would. And no amount
of catch-up sleep will bring back those lost memories.
Go to bed at the same time every
night and get up at the same time each morning. Try not to break your routine,
even on weekends and holidays.
2.
Exercise
While mental exercise is important
for brain health, that doesn’t mean you never need to break a sweat. Physical
exercise helps your brain stay sharp. It increases oxygen to your brain and
reduces the risk for disorders that lead to memory loss, such as diabetes and
cardiovascular disease. Exercise also enhances the effects of helpful brain
chemicals and reduces stress hormones.
3.
Eat right
The foods you eat and don't eat play a crucial role in your memory. Fresh
vegetables are essential, as are healthy fats and avoiding sugar and grain
carbohydrates. walnuts contain antioxidants and other compounds that protect
your brain health and may even stimulate the production of new brain cells.
Increasing your animal-based
omega-3 fat intake and reducing consumption of damaged omega-6 fats (think
processed vegetable oils) in order to balance your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio. Coconut
oil is another healthful fat for brain function.
4.
Chat with friends
You probably don't realize it, but
having a conversation with another person requires your brain to complete
several high-level processes at once. You have to follow what the person is
saying, interpret the meaning of her words, and come up with an appropriate
reply. All of that requires effort. And as a result, speaking with another
person—even on the phone—is enough to boost your recall significantly.
5.
Laugh
You've heard that laughter is the
best medicine, and that holds true for the brain and the memory, as well as the
body. Unlike emotional responses, which are limited to specific areas of the
brain, laughter engages multiple regions across the whole brain.
Furthermore, listening to jokes and
working out punch lines activates areas of the brain vital to learning and
creativity.
6.
Stop multitasking
Used for decades to describe the
parallel processing abilities of computers, multitasking is now shorthand for
the human attempt to do simultaneously as many things as possible, as quickly
as possible. Ultimately, multitasking may actually slow you down, make you
prone to errors as well as make you forgetful.
Research shows you actually need
about eight seconds to commit a piece of information to your memory, so if
you're talking on your phone and carrying in groceries when you put down your
car keys, you're unlikely to remember where you left them.
7.
Stress
Stress is one of the brain’s worst
enemies. Stress and everything that goes along with it (inflammation, poor
sleep) have been shown to mess with your memory.
Over time, chronic stress destroys
brain cells and damages the hippocampus, the region of the brain involved in
the formation of new memories and the retrieval of old ones. Studies have also
linked stress to memory loss.
8.
Brain workouts
By the time you've reached
adulthood, your brain has developed millions of neural pathways that help you
process and recall information quickly, solve familiar problems, and execute
familiar tasks with a minimum of mental effort. But if you always stick to
these well-worn paths, you aren't giving your brain the stimulation it needs to
keep growing and developing. You have to shake things up from time to time!
Memory, like muscular strength,
requires you to “use it or lose it.” The more you work out your brain, the
better you’ll be able to process and remember information. But not all
activities are equal. The best brain exercises break your routine and challenge
you to use and develop new brain pathways.
9.
Depression
Emotional difficulties can take
just as heavy of a toll on the brain as physical problems. In fact, mental
sluggishness, difficulty concentrating, and forgetfulness are common symptoms
of depression. The memory issues can be particularly bad in older people who
are depressed so much so that it is sometimes mistaken for dementia.
10. Daydream
Several recent experiments have
found that mind wandering may allow your brain to better catalog and store
memories. One study suggested that daydreaming actually helps improve your
memory in ways similar to sleeping or napping. On the other hand, multitasking that
is, switching quickly from one task to another without a break may actually
harm your brain's ability to recall information.
Sources:
https://www.helpguide.org
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