We begin to understand the need to develop memory back in school years. The program provides for learning poems and remembering the rules. In the future, we will further develop in obtaining higher education. It is impossible to ignore the need for better memory. At work, you also often need to remember a significant amount of information. But how to do this, if no action has been taken previously to develop this quality?
How memory research occurs
Methods of studying the state of memory of patients are used in clinics that treat nervous and mental diseases. They study the ability to remember in case of asthenia, general weakness, fatigue, and also with infectious, endocrine or vascular diseases.
The state of short-term and long-term memory can be determined by the survey method. The bottom line is that the researcher tells about the events that happened to him recently, which helps to analyze his memory. A memory study may include a request to tell about what recently read books were, as well as movies watched. To study memory, you can ask even the simplest questions. To identify the ability to remember current events, they ask about what dishes the patient used to eat today.
The study of the ability to perceive different information
The subject is asked to read stories of different levels of complexity to determine the state of meaning and logical memory. The study of memory consists in the use of works that vary in their duration. The test subject must retell the contents of what they read.
To identify retrograde and anterograde amnesia, you need to find out how well the patient remembers the events that occurred before the onset of the disease, as well as after it started. In this case, the doctor can compare the information received from the patient with the information that his relatives tell. This checks how well his memory works.
An experimental study of memory uses the repetition method. Short stories, sets of syllables, numbers, words are offered for study. If you show the patient the words presented on the cards, then in this way you can study different types of memory.
Learning the ability to remember using words
The technique is quite widespread. It consists in counting the number of words reproduced by the patient. Initially, they are offered 10. Previously, the test material is repeated for 6-7 times. For the first time, the task is performed after a one-time enumeration of words, as well as at certain intervals. The test person is asked to list the words in the order named in the task in order to study his memory.
The study of memory also involves the use of a method aimed at identifying the patient's ability to reproduce information after being distracted. To do this, they talk with the subject on some extraneous topic, after which they turn to the patient with a proposal to repeat the previously set words. Of course, if a person suffers from increased distractibility, then his results are significantly reduced.
What causes memory impairment?
The ability to remember needs to be attentive to it. It can improve or, conversely, get worse over time. Among the reasons that adversely affect memory, the following can be distinguished:
- Depression state.
- The lack of a full night's rest.
- Smoking.
- Frequent use of alcohol.
- The use of sleeping pills and antidepressants.
- The presence of any disease. This can be multiple sclerosis, atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, thyroid dysfunction.
- Brain injuries.
- The aging of the body that occurs naturally.
- A large number of daily stresses.
The state of your memory should be monitored
As you know, the quality that is not used atrophies over time. This is not surprising, since remembering that for which some effort is required does not usually arise. If you constantly listen to light popular music, avoid difficulties, do not memorize streets, names, dates, etc., you will gradually notice that memory began to deteriorate. Of course, this happens gradually and many do not notice the problem. They also do not start to sound the alarm because of primitive laziness. Although in fact, you should take care of yourself.
And, as a result, the inability to reproduce in your head the desired event that occurred recently. Usually this fact is a complete surprise to a person. How so, he does not remember what happened this morning, how he got out of bed and whether he drank tea during breakfast.
Problems at work
But the eventfulness of what is happening at the household level is not so important. It is much worse when the owner of a weak memory is suddenly unable to remember any data at his workplace. For example, everything that concerns his current duties, he knows by heart. But how to remember something new, if it suddenly turns out that this ability is lost?
With a slight change, for example, automation in the workplace, it becomes difficult for such a person to get comfortable. As a result, he begins to spend more time than required. And if he fails to remember new information and get used to it quickly, then this is fraught with problems with the performance of his functions, which may result in dismissal.
Simple exercises
To improve memory, you should periodically perform small tasks. Thus, you can develop the ability to work with several tasks at the same time. Among them are such simple exercises for memory and attention:
- Making changes to the system for arranging items on the desktop.
- The desire to find as many different ways as possible to work, to visit, shop and other places.
- Brushing your teeth with your left hand.
- Dressing in the dark.
- Listening to audio books while shopping.
Visual memory should also be addressed. To do this, select 5 different objects in the room, remember their color, size and location features. And after a few hours you need to give yourself the task to reproduce this data.
Any conversation consists of questions and answers. Therefore, you need to try to communicate more with other people. Thanks to thinking about what to answer to a person, the abilities of memory and analysis of situations of various kinds develop.
Need to monitor health
You should take care of your health, give preference to natural and healthy foods. After all, we depend on what we take as food. It is the products we use that completely shape our body as a result.
Bad habits must be discarded. Smoking and drinking have a detrimental effect on the condition of the body as a whole. There is no benefit from such “hobbies”, but they bring a lot of problems. Smoking and drinking alcohol destroys the cells of the central nervous system. That is, to improve memory and brain function, you must first abandon bad habits.
Maximize yourself from unpleasant factors
Every effort must be made to reduce the amount of stress in your life. After all, negative emotions significantly weaken the nervous system, undermine the immune system. It is necessary to try to smile as often as possible, if necessary, seek the help of a specialist. By the way, when experiencing positive emotions, the development of the ability to associative thinking. In this way, memory is also improved.
Remember unnecessary information should not be. It’s best to have a notebook on hand with the goal of writing down all the minor points. Memory overloads are not needed at all. Moreover, due to the fact that information is not perceived as necessary, its internal rejection will occur. That is, remembering such information is not easy. As a result, stress will appear, as well as dissatisfaction with oneself due to the inability to retain the necessary information in memory.
Memory Enhancers
In today's world, memory can be improved by taking certain medications. But before you start using them, you need to consult a doctor. This is done in order to avoid the appearance of allergic reactions, as well as side effects or negative interactions of various drugs.
In any case, you should not expect from yourself such abilities as the protagonist of the film “Areas of Darkness”. But it’s pretty useful to know which products and drugs are good for memory and attention. In this case, it will be possible to significantly improve memory in any case. And when combining two or more drugs, there is a chance of getting an ineffective combination, which can even worsen well-being.
Coffee, tea and chocolate
The combination of caffeine + L-tianin components is a fairly effective medicine for memory. Moreover, the necessary products are usually available in every home. As you know, the effect caused by caffeine is short-lived. That is, after nervous excitement, a sharp decrease in performance occurs. L-Thianine is an amino acid found in green tea. To achieve the desired effect using improvised means, you can use ordinary at first glance, but containing the necessary substances products. The proportion should be approximately as follows: 2 cups of green tea should be drunk for 1 cup of coffee. For this combination, a long and very noticeable effect is observed. At the same time, attention also improves significantly.
Dark chocolate significantly improves memory and thinking. At the same time, thanks to the flavanols and phytochemicals contained in cocoa, it turns out to significantly raise your mood. Cardiovascular health is thus also improved. This drug cannot be called very powerful, but its usefulness is quite tangible. Chocolate with a high cocoa content and a minimum of sugar should be preferred. And every day you need to eat 35-200 grams, while the pleasure should be stretched for the whole day.
Other drugs
Significantly increases the activity of receptors and neurotransmitters such a drug as Piracetam. And so that its properties are fully disclosed, you should add "Choline." It is recommended to use 300 mg of Piracetam and the same amount of Choline 3 times a day.
Creatine is able to significantly improve memory and increase concentration . It is an organic acid that is present in animals. You need to take medicine for memory in the amount of 5 grams, doing it daily.
L-tyrosine is used to boost mood as well as increase mental focus. The drug is effective when used to prevent pathology of the endocrine system, namely with diseases of the thyroid gland and pituitary gland.
An interesting remedy is Ginkgo Biloba Extract. It is extracted from the ginkgo tree, native to China. The drug improves memory and helps to improve concentration. Through the use of the extract, short-term memory also develops. A person who uses the drug feels calmer and less tired than usual. Take the nutrient 2 times a day at 500 mg.
For millennia, Chinese medicine has been using Asian ginseng. This product affects all the processes that take place in the brain.
Also, to improve memory and brain function, you can take a drug such as Rhodiola rosea. This component effectively reduces the feeling of fatigue and anxiety, thereby increasing efficiency. The plant is rich in phytochemical components that have been used by representatives of the northern peoples of Scandinavia and Russia since ancient times. Usually recommend from 100 to 1 thousand mg per day. This amount should be divided into equal parts.
Acetyl-L-carnitine is an amino acid that is involved in regulating the formation of intracellular energy. The substance affects carbohydrate metabolism. People taking the drug are more savvy when solving tasks for which it is necessary to memorize information.
Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil also improve brain activity. When using this drug, the concentration of attention increases, and the emotional background also improves. Use preferably 1200-2400 mg daily. These are approximately 1-2 fish oil capsules.
Children's memory
Parents wish their child grow up to be the smartest and smartest. Therefore, they are interested in how it develops from the first days of their lives. The memory is represented by the processes of obtaining, storing and reproducing information over any period of time.
In childhood, perception and memorization merge; at 3 years, the formation of stable brain structures that are responsible for memorization occurs. The memory of the child is not intended to remember anything. The child behaves directly. That is, there is a memorization of what seemed interesting to the baby, attracted his attention.
It is best to develop memory by playing the game. But children 2-3 years old have the lowest ability to remember. At 3-4 years old, there is already an arbitrary memorization of information, as well as its use in the game. A good memory is formed starting in childhood. And by the life period of preschool childhood, the child already has a long-term memory.
Memory of preschoolers
Children of early preschool age have visual-emotional memory. They remember well and also reproduce what they saw and heard. This happens if what is happening has caused their interest.
And it is best to engage in the development of memory in early childhood. Moreover, the memory of a preschooler develops faster than other abilities. It is preferable to engage in its development precisely in the most favorable period for this.
As you know, if the best years are missed, the process becomes irreversible. If it turned out that time turned out to be wasted, then the opportunities to learn everything necessary that could be studied at this age were lost. Preschoolers are sensitive to what is happening. In this case, the results can not always be detected instantly. Children absorb everything that happens around them like a sponge, so if there are no obvious results of exposure to something, then this does not mean that nothing happened. In any case, to analyze the situation, there are techniques for studying memory that make it possible to give an impression of the current situation.