Tips for Enhancing your memory

Some Truths about Memory

• Human memory is not perfect: Only few people have “picture-perfec­t” memories that can record information the way a camera does. Most people have to use strategies to help them remember.

• Memory is a case of “use it or lose it.”: Memory strategies require practice and discipline. Using your memory also seems more difficult if you haven’t been in a school setting recently.

• Memory is a skill that can be learned: Memory strategies are not generic or innate – they must be learned. There are many different strategies to help you remember information.

• Memory does not diminish over time: Many people think that memory “goes” when they get older. In fact, memory stays quite intact – it is the speed of retrieval that diminishes.

Rote memorization has limitations: Students who rely on memorization for their exams are in for a big surprise. Not only is it difficult to memorize an entire term’s worth of information for the exam, but trying to do so can cause a great deal of anxiety.

The following tips will help you enhance your memory:

• Memory Tip 1: Pay Attention in Class - All information presented in class, whether by spoken word or visual aids, must pass through sensory memory. It is the critical gateway for information to be received by other memory systems. Attend your lectures with a goal of listening.

• Memory Tip 2: Take Effective Notes - In order for information to be stored in long-term memory, it first needs to pass through your short-term or working memory. As this stage of memory is limited in the amount of information it can retain, information you receive in class must be written down or you will forget it.

• Memory Tip 3: Remember the Three R’s - In order to move information from short-term memory into long-term memory, you must do three things: Repeat information, make information Relevant or meaningful, and keep information Recent.

• Memory Tip 4: Use Mnemonics - Mnemonics are short-term memory devices that involve making arbitrary but easy-to-remember associations for specific information that is easy to forget. Some examples are SOHCAHTOA (trigonometric definitions of sine, cosine, and tangent) and ROYGBIV (the colours of the rainbow).

• Memory Tip 5: Generate Examples - A very effective way of monitoring your own comprehension is to generate examples of concepts. If you cannot do this, it is likely that you do not fully understand the concept. It is also important to understand why something is an example of a concept and why it is not an example of something else.

• Memory Tip 6: Use Visual Imagery - Visualization of concepts can be a very powerful way to learn. Images can be directly related to the topic or can be based on analogies that transfer abstract concepts into concrete images. (e.g. Flow of electricity > river)

• Memory Tip 7: Make Associations - Get a sense of the “big picture” by making connections between the lecture and textbook or readings, and between lectures. Memory works best when information is first learned by theme.

• Memory Tip 8: Use Rehearsal Strategies - Practice retrieving information by reciting key ideas, predicting questions, practicing problems, and testing yourself using old exams. These strategies will assist you with consolidating information in long-term memory.

Researches have that enhanced memory put you in the top 1% of your profession in 5 years. Now that you know that as a fact, put it into action and please share this post with your friends using the social sharing bar below.

10 Simple Ways to Tune Up Your Brain

Have you ever felt exasperated when you bumped into someone at the store but absolutely  couldn’t remember his/her name? Sure, it happens to all of us.

Despite being the strongest computer on the planet, our brains do lapse sometimes. It’s hard to blame them really.

As humans, we spend much of our existence stuffing our brains with stuff. Some stuff is worthless, some of it’s meaningful, some of it, well, it’s just stuff and there is an endless amount of it.

No matter how powerful our brains are, they need recuperation time, to be kept in shape, and even an occasional charge. Think of it as a tune up for your brain. Skipping brain maintenance is as silly as the person wandering the parking garage because they forgot where they parked. Is that you? Are you that person? Sure. We all are at some point. No worries, there is hope.

Here are some things you can begin doing as soon as today to begin the great brain tune up:

• Eat Almonds: Almond is believed to improve memory. If a combination of almond oil and milk is taken together before going to bed or after getting up at morning, it strengthens our memory power. Almond milk is prepared by crushing the almonds without the outer cover and adding water and sugar to it.

• Drink Apple Juice:Research from the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) indicates that apple juice increases the production of the essential neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the brain, resulting in an increased memory power.

• Sleep well: Research indicates that the long-term memory is consolidated during sleep by replaying the images of the experiences of the day. These repeated playbacks program the subconscious mind to store these images and other related information.

• Enjoy simple Pleasures: Stress drains our brainpower. A stress-ridden mind consumes much of our memory resources to leave us with a feeble mind. Make a habit to engage yourself in few simple pleasures everyday to dissolve stress from your mind. Some of these simple pleasures are good for your mind, body and soul.

• Fast for a day: Fasting cleans and detoxifies our body. It is known fact that heavy food not only causes stress on our digestive system but also drains our brainpower. Fasting relieves toxic emotions such as anger, grief, worry, and fears – before they accumulate and cause disease. By cleansing toxic emotions, fasting strengthens metal clarity with increases memory, concentration, creativity and insight.

• Exercise your mind:Just as physical exercise is essential for a strong body, mental exercise is equally essential for a sharp and agile mind. Have you noticed that children have far superior brainpower than an adult does? Children have playful minds. A playful mind exhibits superior memory power. Engage in some of the activities that require your mind to remain active and playful. Play scrabble or crossword puzzle,Volunteer, Interact with others, Start a new hobby such as blogging, reading, painting, bird watching, Learn new skill or a language.

• Practice Yoga or Meditation: Yoga or Meditation relives stress. Stress is a known memory buster.With less stress, lower blood pressure, slower respiration, slower metabolism, and released muscle tension follows. All of these factors contribute significantly towards increases in our brainpower.

• Eat whole wheat: The whole wheat germs contain lecithin. Lecithin helps ease the problem of the hardening of the arteries, which often impairs brain functioning.

• Develop imagination: Greeks mastered the principle of imagination and association to memorize everything. This technique requires one to develop a vivid and colorful imagination that can be linked to a known object. If you involve all your senses – touching, feeling, smelling, hearing and seeing in the imagination process, you can remember greater details of the event.

• Control your temper: Bleached food, excess of starch or excess of white bread can lead to nerve grating effect. This results in a violent and some time depressive behavior. Eat fresh vegetables. Drink lots of water and meditate or practice yoga to relieve these toxic emotions of temper and violent mood swings.

If  you are serious about putting your brain to optimum use, these are tips you should never neglect.