All the processes we perform consciously are related to memory. An adult at work uses the knowledge and skills he learned at university, the same job or courses, and at school children recite memorized poems. But even in everyday life, we are constantly using memory: in the store, we remember the shopping list, when we check if we took the keys before going out, while placing bets via https://20bet.com/live, we try to memorize all the previous matches, and even when we talk we give out a set of words and concepts that we once learned.
So if we suddenly begin to suffer from excessive forgetfulness, it immediately affects the quality of our entire life.
But where does forgetfulness come from in the first place? And is it possible to improve the situation and develop memory as an adult?
Types of Memory
The memory cannot be divided into good and bad. Memorization depends on the characteristics of information perception of a particular person and what type of memory they have better developed.
It can be classified in different ways. Since the structure and operating principles are complex and not fully understood, there are more and more new types. Let’s take 4 criteria as a basis: perception channel, information storage time, purpose, and level of awareness.
Let’s start with the simplest one – the channel of perception, or in clever terms the leading analyzer. Everything is simple – through what organ you have received information, it means that type of memory and was involved. This type of memory is also called sensory memory. There are two types of memory:
- Visual.
- Motor.
- Auditory.
- Taste.
- Olfactory.
- Photographic.
There are few people in the world whose different memory channels are equally developed, not to mention those unique people with photographic memory.
The next criterion is the shelf life.
- Instantaneous or sensory memory is responsible for the perception of what has just been seen or heard. The very fact of what is happening is recorded, whether it’s a store sign or a person passing by. If the brain thinks that the information is unnecessary, it’s erased – the duration of this type of memory is only 0.1-2 seconds – and later you won’t remember what store you were passing by or what color hat was on the passerby.
- Short-term memory adds attributes to the images from instant memory. Information is stored for about 20 seconds. If you want to be attentive, you can reproduce the color of the store sign and the approximate age of the passerby.
- Your working memory is there for as long as you need it. For example, if you have been memorizing the material for an exam, you will forget everything after passing the exam.
- Long-term memory stores everything that is important to your brain, but only if you regularly review what you have learned.
When they talk about the purpose of remembering, they mean having it or not having it. If you hear a song on the bus, and then walk around humming it all day long and can’t get rid of the sticky tune, involuntary memory is to blame. And forgetting this melody will also be selective: maybe you will forget, and maybe you will remember for the rest of your life. Scientists still can’t explain the mechanics of this forgetting.
But if you pore over your textbooks, reciting the most difficult definition a hundred times, or making tables and charts, you are engaging your random memory, that is, a controlled process that has a clear goal, and you are using different techniques to remember.
The level of mindfulness refers to how exactly you reproduce a piece of information. In other words, whether you think about the information before releasing it to the world around you, or whether you do it involuntarily. Implicit memory is responsible for the former, and explicit memory for the latter. To make it clearer, here’s an example: if you can type without looking at the keys, you are engaging implicit memory. You don’t remember where the right key is every time, you just know intuitively, that is, you don’t make any effort to reproduce the information. But if you are retelling the content of a movie to a friend, you are using explicit memory because you are forcing your brain to “get” the data about what happened.
Causes of Memory Impairment
Memory impairment can occur for hundreds of reasons, from head injuries to trivial fatigue. These problems are not necessarily confined to the elderly, children and adults may also notice deterioration.
Setting aside the purely medical reasons – brain injury, stroke, neoplasms, and the like – which require comprehensive treatment prescribed by a doctor, there remain a few external factors that have the greatest impact on reducing the ability to remember and retrieve information:
- Information overload. The high pace of life, the large flow of data, and multitasking cause our brains to freeze due to too much material to process.
- Long stress and emotional overwork have a negative effect mainly on short-term memory, because stress increases inflammation in the brain.
- Avitaminosis negatively affects the body as a whole, B vitamins are important for memory, as they participate in the synthesis of neurotransmitters (substances responsible for communication between cells).
- Lack of sleep. A few times will not lead to serious problems, but the chronic can lead to violations of the process of remembering and reproducing information, because during sleep, our brain synthesizes new cells and is engaged in the processing of information received.
- Bad habits. Excessive smoking, alcohol consumption, and junk food reduce cognitive abilities.
Ways to Improve Memory
For now, we can’t just stick a thumb drive with the data we need in our brains, download it to ourselves and enjoy life without having to consciously remember the information we need.
But here are a few ways to help improve and facilitate the memory process. However, you need to remember that only regular actions will lead to visible results. Therefore, it’s important that they become a habit.
Get Enough Sleep
We neglect sleep more often than other activities. The modern pace of life requires us to be active and productive much more of the day, but at night the brain must have time to process information obtained during the day and transfer it from short-term memory to long-term memory. Lack of nighttime sleep can be made up for by a brief daytime nap. According to studies, 40-60 minutes of sleep after training helps you remember information better.
Learn Foreign Languages
If you can’t get your act together and start learning Italian or French, here’s another bright side – learning foreign languages can improve your memory. A constant stream of new information to memorize such as grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling stimulates our perception. At the same time, this knowledge stays in our working memory and transfers to our long-term memory if you constantly practice the language.
Exercise
When one engages in vigorous physical activity, the heart starts to beat faster and breathing becomes more frequent. In this way, more oxygen enters the blood, and the heart begins to supply the body with nutrients more actively.
According to studies, physical activity changes the frontal cortex, which is responsible for short-term memory. Regular exercise also affects the hippocampus, which is also responsible for memory and emotional well-being.
In this case, blood circulation improves not only during exercise but also at other times, but only if you do them regularly. And any exercise is suitable here, from running to yoga to a walk in the park.
Make Time for Meditation
Regular meditation is the first time that new neurons begin to form and nerve cells and other parts of the brain responsible for remembering and storing information are better stimulated.
Eat Healthy Foods That Are Good for the Brain
We get energy from food, and that energy is used, among other things, for brain function. But not all foods are equally healthy.
The most harmful are trans fats from fast food, sugary baked goods and mayonnaise, and fast carbohydrates, especially sugar. They are dangerous because they can damage the endothelium, which leads to the destruction of the walls of blood vessels. This can cause atherosclerotic plaque to form, the brain can no longer get the right amount of nutrients and oxygen, and cognitive function can decline.
Replace such foods with fish, avocados, nuts, fresh vegetables, and greens. And if you can’t do without sweets, eat chocolate with high cocoa content. It just dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure.
Add Fish Oil to Your Diet
The main ingredient is omega-3 fatty acids, which increase the flow of energy to transfer impulses between neurons, and this helps perceive and remember information. These fatty acids also help to eliminate excess cholesterol, and they are important for strengthening cell membranes and normalizing blood pressure.
Turn Into an Ambidextrous
When you write by hand, the reticular activating system kicks in. It’s responsible for the level of excitability of the different parts of the nervous system, that is, it tells the brain what to pay attention to. So you will remember the data better also because while writing down we are more inclined to reformulate the received material, and therefore to analyze it. You can also write with a different hand from the one you are used to, and the result will be even better.
Check Your Vitamin D Levels
Vitamin D deficiency is directly linked to impaired ability of the brain to plan and also process and transfer information from short-term to long-term memory. This vitamin has an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect on neurons, which is especially important for the elderly because long-term deficiency can lead to the development of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Train Your Brain
We won’t talk about math problems and mental arithmetic, although the positive effect of these methods on memorization and attention is beyond doubt. But you can do without them.
Long-term and short-term memory develops chess. A player needs to memorize various strategies, calculate the opponent’s moves, and come up with countermeasures to them. And that’s not to mention the improvement of attention and concentration. If you don’t like chess, you can replace them with Sudoku and puzzles.
