Enhance the Brain Power and Stay Mentally Sharp
This blog discusses the important issue: Not being able to remember! Let How to Improve Our Memory – Tips for anyone who wants to stay mentally sharp or enhance our brain power as we age and students studying for final examinations
My nephew was worrying about his daughter, that
she doesn’t remember her class work(she is in her 9th standard) and her memory is very limited. She is putting on good efforts to read and almost more than 90% of the time that she is awake she spends only on studying. Even then she scores only average marks and she forgets some answers that she has to tell in the class leading to self-pity.
My students, while counseling them, I can understand that there are a few who really have difficulty remembering. They put in sincere efforts in studying but are unable to answer in the examination.
Even certain important things we forget, right? I kept some items we had bought for Niranjana for her wedding and kept them in a very safe place but for the past two days I have been searching for them. I do not remember that safe place now! All my cupboards turned upside down, but I am not able to locate those safely kept things!
One of my colleagues shared in a meeting when she was responding to doing things in order and systematically, “I write all those things that I have to do in a notebook, but I forget to see that notebook!”
If you look back, you also would have come across such things or at least heard from your friends, relatives, or colleagues.
So, this problem of being unable to remember or poor memory is widely seen not only in a student studying for final examinations but also in a working professional or an elderly person! Personally, I have a fear that sooner or later I might get Alzheimer’s disease!
Actually, I only started browsing for some solutions for these memory issues to help my students but I noticed certain valuable points that can help everyone who wants to stay mentally sharp or enhance our brain power as we age.
As all of us know, strong memory depends on the health and vitality of our brain. Scientists believe that the human brain has an astonishing ability to adapt and change. This ability they call neuroplasticity. The interesting thing about our human brain is that, with the right stimulation, our brain can form new neural pathways, alter existing connections, and adapt and react in ever-changing ways.
The same is true for the memory and learning part too.
Yes, we can stimulate our brain and by that, we can harness the natural power of neuroplasticity to increase our cognitive abilities, enhance our ability to learn new information, and improve our memory.
There are lots of things we can do to improve our memory and mental performance.
- Our ability to remember increases when we nurture our brain with a good diet and other healthy habits.(Let me share the healthy diet for boosting our brain power, soon)
When we do the regular physical exercise, we exercise the brain also!
Treating our body well can enhance our ability to process and recall information. Physical exercise increases oxygen to our brain and reduces the risk for disorders that lead to memory loss, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Exercise may also enhance the effects of helpful brain chemicals and protect brain cells.
Getting a good sleep enhances our memory:
Sleep is critical to learning and memory in an even more fundamental way. Research shows that sleep is necessary for memory consolidation, with the key memory-enhancing activity occurring during the deepest stages of sleep.
- Countless studies show that a life that’s full of friends and fun comes with cognitive benefits. Yes, healthy relationships are the ultimate memory booster!
I have discussed “We need relationship with other human beings to ensure happiness in our lives” in my previous blog, https://pavaiarun.blogspot.com/2024/06/do-you-want-to-be-happy-every-moment.html .
Humans are not meant to survive, let alone thrive, in isolation. In fact, relationships stimulate our brains and interacting with others may be the best kind of brain exercise.
We’ve heard that laughter is the best medicine, and that holds true for the brain as well as the body. Laughter engages multiple regions across the whole brain.
Furthermore, listening to jokes and working out punch lines activates areas of the brain vital to learning and creativity. As psychologist Daniel Goleman notes in his book Emotional Intelligence, “laughter…seems to help people think more broadly and associate more freely.”
- Stress/ Depression/ Anxiety is one of the brain’s worst enemies. Over time, if left unchecked, chronic stress destroys brain cells and damages the hippocampus, the region of the brain involved in the formation of new memories and the retrieval of old ones. In fact, some of the symptoms of stress/ depression/ anxiety include difficulty concentrating, making decisions, and remembering things.
Meditation has stress-busting effects and brain-boosting benefits:
Studies show that meditation helps improve many different types of conditions, including depression, anxiety, chronic pain, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Meditation also can improve focus, concentration, creativity, and learning and reasoning skills.
- By the time we reach adulthood, our brain would have developed millions of neural pathways that help us process information quickly, solve familiar problems, and execute familiar tasks with a minimum of mental effort. But if we always stick to these well-worn paths, we aren’t giving our brain the stimulation it needs to keep growing and developing. So, we have to shake things up from time to time! We can try taking a new route home from work or the grocery store, visiting new places at the weekend, or reading different kinds of books. Give your brain a workout.
Memory, like muscular strength, requires us to “use it or lose it.” The more we work out our brain, the better we’ll be able to process and remember information. The best brain exercising activities include breaking our routine and challenging us to use and develop new brain pathways. Activities that require using our hands are a great way to exercise our brain. Playing a musical instrument, dancing, juggling, enjoying a game, making pottery, knitting, or needlework are activities that exercise the brain by challenging hand-eye coordination, spatial-temporal reasoning, and creativity.
Is it not our responsibility to keep our grey matter healthy?
A few tips for enhancing your brain health in a nutshell:
- Eat a brain boosting diet, generally a good healthy diet!
- Keep yourself healthy – Keep an eye on your daily routine(Circadian rhythm)
- Do the regular physical exercise
- Get a good sleep
- Keep stress in check
- Make time for friends – healthy relationships
- Laugh frequently, remind yourself to laugh
- Practice meditation
Have good physical and mental health!
