So you got up walked into the room and completely forgot why you went in there in the first place. It’s frustrating when you think “I’m getting forgetful” and you need to know How to Boost Your Memory. The car keys are nowhere to be found, and the laundry has been left in the dryer since yesterday and you can’t figure out for the life of you where that pretty blue pair of pants is – they are in the dryer with the keys in the pocket! You run into an old friend and can’t for the life of you remember their name or where you even knew them from, and you forgot to turn off the coffee pot…again!
Everyone laughs about these “senior moments” but when these moments are coming more frequently than they used to, it’s not nearly so funny. It’s embarrassing. It’s extremely frustrating, and worst of all it’s becoming worrisome. It happens to everyone on occasion, but that’s about as comforting as saying “oh most people need a hip replacement when they turn 70”. True for a good portion of humanity, but there’s little comfort in knowing it could be you.
Scientists have been able to discover more and more of how the brain works and how the neurons and synapses work together. Every day they are learning more about the myelin in the brain and how the nerves have reduced quantities of this myelin and they become damaged. They know that when the damaged nerve fibers don’t transmit the messages clearly, people become more and more forgetful. In addition, there are fewer neurotransmitters produced as people age which likes to the gas tank running with little gasoline remaining.
When the damage has not been done to these neurons and synapses and nerve endings, there are some memory boosting techniques that can help when people first find they are getting forgetful. The mind needs exercise just like the body does to refurbish these neural pathways and keep the mind healthy. Here are some tips that may help…
- Play games that helps focus the mind and exercise the memory. There are actually a variety of them out on the internet that focuses on counting, memory, sounds, colors, and sharpening reasoning skills. Also work with crossword puzzles, Sudoku, and even Scrabble games can help with words association.
- Break the memory exercise routine and make it something new, something challenging, and something fun. Don’t do the same brain exercises every day because they cease to become stimulating and fail to do a good job in keeping the brain exercised.
- Make a connection to something easily associated such as a phone number. One friend’s phone number is 324-1992, and you can associate your birthday with the first three digits of the phone number and the year your youngest sister was born with the 1992.
- Associate the words with a visual memory and make it shocking or emotional. For example, if the thought is to remember to put gas in the car, visualize the car chasing the gas pump around the gas station. Or if the thought is to remember to pick up the dry cleaning, visualize going into the closet and there are absolutely no clothes hanging in any closet in the house.
There are a couple of ideas to boosting memory that doesn’t sound like it works the brain, but in reality it does. Reduce the stress. Everyone has a certain degree of stress in their lives, but take time out every single day to distress. When the hypothalamus recognizes stress it alerts the pituitary gland which secretes a hormone, which in turn secretes corticosteroids. These can weaken the brain barriers and damage the memory center. So de-stressing, eating right, and getting the right amount of rest each night helps, as much as just getting out and having some fun!
No matter the age having a good memory is important. There are many techniques to know about How to Boost Your Memory that can help keep the memory functioning well. Remember that exercising the mind is every bit as important as exercising the car keys. No wait that’s not it. Exercising the mind is as important as picking up the laundry. Oops, that’s not it either. Exercising the mind is as important as exercising the body to keep it healthy.
