Since we're so much more complicated than an electronic computer adding a memory chip to our programs is not adequate enough to improve our memories or cognitive performance. The fortunate news is that there are workouts to improve short-term memory that are entertaining and have been exhibited to have advantageous results.
In a recent study delivered in the American Journal of Psychiatry, research workers reported that they found evidence of restored working memory in patients with schizophrenic disorder after doing cognitive drills. The improvements were most apparent in communicative memory but were not evident in non-verbal memory.
Memory is the intellectual activity of recalling selective information that you have gained through study or experience. Memory is either short-term or long-term. Short-term memories are stacked away for a few seconds or minutes – just long enough to compare prices at the store or dial a new phone number.
Long-term memory is data you make an attempt to retain. It is purposeful in some manner to you. It can be facts about acquaintances or family, material you are learning for an exam, or something that created an impression on you such as a song or the day your grandmother died.
The regions of the brain that are crucial to the establishment of memory are the amygdala, hippocampus and the cerebral cortex. Additionally memory also necessitates communication along the meshwork of neurons employing chemicals known as neurotransmitters.
Your mind must first learn the facts, which occurs only if you're paying attention. Then your brain consolidates the info for storage. In the retrieval portion of memory the brain triggers the identical pattern of neurons it employed to store it. The more frequently you recollect facts and information the easier it gets.
There are a lot of different 'tricks' you can use to help improve your long-term and short-term memory. You can tailor the acquirement of information to your learning style- visual, auditory or tactile. Include as many of these senses as possible, even if you are a visual assimilator say or read the information aloud so it is also committed to your auditory memory.
Another trick is to relate new information to data that you already have stored within your long-term memory. As an example, let's say that the name of a new person that you just met is the same as your best friends. Connect them together within your mind and chances are good that you will remember the new name. Additionally, always be sure to rehearse the information as frequently as needed.
You can spark your neurons to fire in patterns that are not activated by procedural memory. Put differently, you are able to do things that generally you do doltishly in a way that forces the brain to work much harder. Play these games that help to improve memory by demanding your brain to work in ways it generally does not. These 'mind games' could include simple things such as brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand or showering with your eyes shut. Basically all actions that you'd ordinarily execute without thinking can be exercised in ways that make the job a bit tougher thus making the neurons work harder.
You can also play games with selective information you would like to remember by 'binding' a visual image to the data, using the information in a sentence, putting the information into an acronym or rhyme or including the information in a joke. All of these games that are used to improve short-term memory can also be used to better your cognitive skills as well. The best thing to do is relax and have fun because stress and tenseness will only diminish your memory – just the reverse of what you intended!
