Improve Your MEMORY

Two Free Brain Games Added

2008-10-02T06:46:00.000-07:00

I've added two more free brain games my memory improvement site:

Flash Chess 3D is great for building concentration, memory, and strategy ability. Play free now.

Spiderman 2 - Web of Words trains your processing speed and verbal fluency. Play free now.

To get the most benefit from brain games you need to play them often. This shouldn't be surprising. Practice and repetition are necessary with any self improvement activity, whether it's physical exercise, learning a new skill, or forming a positive new habit.

Start by playing brain games for five or ten minutes a day, preferrably in the morning. Morning is better because it helps prepare your brain for the busy new day.

But any time of the day is fine - the important thing is to do it!

New Proof that Brain Games Work

2008-09-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

A new study from Scotland provides the first independent, academic evidence that brain games such as Lumosity and Nintendo's Brain Age can increase educational performance.

In this study, over 600 students in 32 schools across Scotland played Brain Age for 20 minutes every day at the beginning of class. Researchers found that by the end of the study these students had experienced an improvement in their math scores, concentration, and behavior.

And it wasn't just a small improvement, either. The groups who played the brain game improved 50% more than the control groups who did not play the game! The time they took to complete their exams dropped as well, double the amount of the control groups.

Brain games won't turn you into a genius. But mounting evidence suggests that regularly playing these games can significantly improve your concentration, memory, reaction time, perception, and other mental abilities.

To read more about the fascinating Scotland study, click here.

Chew Gum to Improve Memory

2008-09-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

At least one study has shown that the act of chewing a piece of gum can improve your memory by up to 36%!

The study found that chewing gum improved both short-term and long-term memory. It didn't matter whether the people in the study chewed spearmint, cinnamon, bubble-gum, or another flavor.

One of the researchers said, "The results were extremely clear; we found that chewing gum targeted memory. People recalled more words and performed better in tests on working memory."

So chew, chew, chew that gum!

You can read more about the chewing gum study here.

Your Hidden Memory Power

2008-09-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

A new study implies that we all have potentially amazing memories.

In the experiment, people were shown thousands of pictures over a five-hour time period. When they were tested on their memory of the pictures, they remembered 90% of what they had seen!

The researchers concluded that most of us have an excellent memory for visual images. (Yet more evidence why the Memory Systems discussed on my website are so powerful.)

The other factors that influenced the success of the participants were attention and motivation.

Attention is how intently you focus on the material. Motivation helps keep your energy and desire to be attentive at a high level.

To motivate the participants, the researchers offered a small cash prize to whoever could remember the most pictures. Motivated by the desire to win the prize money, the participants were very attentive to the images.

So what are the lessons here for improving your memory?

Use visualization whenever possible.

Focus intently on the material you want to remember.

Set up a motivating rewards system for your own memory performance.

To read more about this fascinating study, check out this LiveScience article.

Fish Meals Are Better than Fish Oil

2008-08-31T09:21:00.000-07:00

Eating fish helps your brain more than taking fish oil capsules or herbal supplements.

The omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish such as salmon can improve your memory and concentration. That is an established fact.

But a recent study indicates that if you want the most benefit, you need to actually eat the fish, not just take fish oil pills.

Making the effort to include more fatty fish in your diet is a really smart move. The authors of the study recommend eating fatty fish such as salmon or sardines at least two meals per week.

Don't worry; despite being called "fatty fish", these fish won't make you fat. Rather, the fatty oils in the fish help the cells in your brain and nervous system work more efficiently.

New Fish Oil Study

2008-08-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

A new study out of South Africa supports earlier findings that a daily dose of fish oil can improve learning and memory.

The authors of the study found that the Omega-3 in fish oil helped improve "verbal learning, memory, and spelling ability" in the study participants, a group of school-aged children. Not only were the children "able to retain information better", but they also had fewer sick days.

For more details, check out this short article:

Fish Oil Linked to Kids' Spelling Skills

You can add fish oil to your own diet in one of three ways:

Eat "fatty" fish such as salmon two or three meals per week.

Take fish oil pills. These are available anywhere vitamins are sold.

Take fish oil liquid, such as Carlson's brand. This is the most concentrated form of fish oil and is what I personally use.

An Apple a Day ...

2008-08-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

According to the old saying, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away". That apple might also help keep memory loss away.

As we age, the cells in our nervous system accumulate more and more damage from chemicals called "free radicals". Although harmful, free radicals are produced naturally in the body over time.

Free radicals cause oxidative (destructive) damage to our cells, which makes our cells work less efficiently. In particular, oxidative damage to your brain cells can contribute to loss of memory.

The challenge is to protect your body against oxidative damage and reverse it if possible. That's where apples and other foods that contain "anti-oxidants" come into play.

One study at the University of Massachusetts reveals that eating apples can help provide this anti-oxidant protection. Dr. Thomas Shea, one of the researchers, says results of the new study suggest that "... eating and drinking apples and apple juice, in conjunction with a balanced diet, can protect the brain from the effects of oxidative stress."

So eat an apple or two a day - they're good for you and will help keep your memory strong as you age.

To read more about the study, click here.

Black Beans for Brain Power

2008-08-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

A health article in today's Yahoo! News points out that black beans are an especially powerful brain food:

"All beans are good for your heart, but none can boost your brain power like black beans.

"That’s because they’re full of anthocyanins, antioxidant compounds that have been shown to improve brain function. A daily half-cup serving provides 8 grams of protein and 7.5 grams of fiber, and is low in calories and free of saturated fat.

"SUBSTITUTES: Peas, lentils, and pinto, kidney, fava, and lima beans.

"FIT IT IN: Wrap black beans in a breakfast burrito; use both black beans and kidney beans in your chili; puree 1 cup black beans with 2 Tbsp olive oil and roasted garlic for a healthy dip; add favas, limas, or peas to pasta dishes."

So try and work black beans into at least one meal a day to help keep your brain working at its best.

Memory Training Increases Intelligence

2008-07-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

A study published back in March shows that a certain type of memory training actually makes you smarter!

The study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concludes that regularly training "working memory" - the kind of memory used to remember telephone numbers - can actually increase fluid intelligence beyond what you are born with genetically.

Fluid intelligence is the kind you use to solve problems when presented with insufficient information or new situations. This type of intelligence is highly correlated with economic and professional success.

To learn more, check out the New York Times article Memory Training Shown to Turn Up Brainpower. To read an abstract of the actual research study, check out "http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0801268105v1" target="_blank">Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory.

The Best Part: You can start training your working memory right now, scientifically, for free! Just sign up for the Lumosity brain training service. Lumosity is the brain training system that I personally use every day. The cost is $6.60 per month, but you can try it free for two weeks to see whether it fits your lifestyle.

Honestly, I think you're crazy not to at least try Lumosity. Who doesn't want to be more intelligent and have a better memory?!

My prediction: One day (in a generation or two, maybe), daily training sessions with services like Lumosity will be required in the schools of countries that want to give their citizens a competitive intellectual advantage.

Exercise and Memory Connection Goes Mainstream

2008-07-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

More buzz in the media about how exercise improves memory.

A recent New York Times includes an op-ed article "Exercise on the Brain" that touts the benefits of exercise for memory. From the article:

"One form of training, however, has been shown to maintain and improve brain health — physical exercise. In humans, exercise improves what scientists call “executive function,” the set of abilities that allows you to select behavior that’s appropriate to the situation, inhibit inappropriate behavior and focus on the job at hand in spite of distractions. Executive function includes basic functions like processing speed, response speed and working memory, the type used to remember a house number while walking from the car to a party."

...

"How might exercise help the brain? In people, fitness training slows the age-related shrinkage of the frontal cortex, which is important for executive function. In rodents, exercise increases the number of capillaries in the brain, which should improve blood flow, and therefore the availability of energy, to neurons. Exercise may also help the brain by improving cardiovascular health, preventing heart attacks and strokes that can cause brain damage. Finally, exercise causes the release of growth factors, proteins that increase the number of connections between neurons, and the birth of neurons in the hippocampus, a brain region important for memory. Any of these effects might improve cognitive performance, though it’s not known which ones are most important."

So all the stuff I have been saying on my memory improvement website about exercise and memory is now mainstream. How about that. :)

For more, see the Exercise and Memory page on my website.

The Holistic Approach to Memory

2008-07-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

For the best shot at improving your memory, you really need to join the brain/body component with the memory technique component. This is the holistic approach to memory improvement.

"Holistic" just means taking into account that everything works together. With memory, for example, you may have all the techniques down cold, but if your blood sugar is all over the map you will have trouble concentrating - and therefore remembering.

Similarly, you might eat healthy, but never exercise and never use memory techniques. You guessed it - your memory will not be as good as it could be.

The holistic approach means doing everything right (at least as best as you can). Eat the brain foods. Do the intense cardio exercise. Do the meditation. Learn the memory visualization techniques. Get restful sleep.

You see where I'm going with this.

Brain function and memory is a three-legged stool: Body - Brain - Technique. If you neglect one or two of the legs, you might find yourself with memory problems.

My site, Memory-Improvement-Tips.com, covers all the bases.

Essential Memory Vitamins

2008-06-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

Omega vitamins are the latest thing, but let's not forget about Vitamin B and the antioxidant vitamins. These are the basic memory vitamins the brain can't function well without.

The B vitamins include Vitamin B6, B12, and Folic Acid (B9). The antioxidant vitamins include Vitamins C, E, and Beta Carotene. Most multivitamin pills contain minimal levels of these vitamins. However, you might want to consider taking these separately, too. You can find these vitamins at any grocery or pharmacy.

Both the B vitamins and antioxidants protect brain cells and help them work more efficiently, so make sure you are getting enough Vitamin B and antioxidant vitamins in your diet. It's a waste of time trying fancier memory improvement techniques if you're not even covering the basics!

For more information about how the B vitamins and antioxidants work to protect your brain, click here.

Omega-3 for Memory Problems

2008-06-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

Having problems concentrating and remembering things? You could have a vitamin deficiency.

I've been reading a lot lately about how the modern diet zaps all the good fats out of our diets. These are the healthy fats your brain needs to work properly. Instead, all of today's processed foods contain hydrogenated fats, which is a bad type of fat.

Recent studies of school children with ADD/ADHD seem to suggest that taking Omega vitamins (basically Fish Oil and Primrose Oil) can help replace these missing brain fats. Some of the results are quite amazing - kids who in just a few months go from the ADHD list to the A+ list!

Read more about this on my memory website here.

Journal to Improve Episodic Memory

2008-06-05T11:40:00.000-07:00

I started keeping a daily journal several years ago. Although memory improvement wasn't really the reason I started writing in my journal, it turns out that journaling is a great way to improve your so-called "episodic" memory.

Episodic memory means your memory of events. This is different from "semantic" memory, which is your memory of information. When you think about the fun stuff you did during your most recent vacation, you are using your episodic memory. When you try to remember the dates of that vacation, you are accessing your semantic memory.

Keeping a journal is not hard. Any small, blank book will do. The trick is to make it a daily habit. Each day of your life, something special happens, whether in your relationships or in the things you experience. How many of these events have you simply forgotten over the years?

Writing them down means that any time later in life you can jog your memory and bring those events back to life. Experts say everything that has every happened to us is buried deep in our brains. The reason we can't remember most of it is that we have no mental "handle" to grab the memory by.

A journal entry provides that handle. Every time I read an entry from weeks or years ago, many more details and images from the event come flooding back to mind. Many of those things I would never have been able to recall without the journal entry to spark the memory.

Check out this journaling page from my memory website for more ideas on how you can start journaling, too.

Teen Binge Drinking Destroys Memory

2008-05-27T15:54:00.000-07:00

If you are a teenager or the parent of one, beware! A new study shows that teen "binge drinking" can permanently destroy memory cells.

It was already known that the binge drinking of alcohol can wipe out memories of past events (which is bad enough!). But now it appears that binge drinking also destroys prospective memory. This is the kind of memory you use to remember future tasks, such as the items on your to-do list.

Keep this in mind the next time you decide to go out and "party". The effects can stay with you for a lifetime.

Click here to read more about this study.

New Way to Memorize the 11 Planets

2008-05-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard, astronomers have added a couple of "dwarf planets" to the solar system. Plus, Pluto got a demotion. So now there are 11 planets instead of 9. This means school children everywhere, along with the rest of us, need a new way to memorize the names of the planets.

As a child, you may have learned a mnemonic (memory trick) like "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas". The first letter of each word reminds you of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Sorry to say, that one and others like it don't work anymore.

Fortunately, a little girl in Great Falls, Montana named Maryn Smith has come up with one we call all use now:

My - Very - Exciting - Magic - Carpet - Just - Sailed - Under - Nine - Palace - Elephants

This new mnemonic will help us remember that the new order of the solar system is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres (dwarf planet), Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto (now a dwarf planet), and Eris (dwarf planet).

Good to know!

Memorize Like a Monk

2008-04-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

Just by coincidence, I recently came across an intriguing memory technique used by Tibetan monks.

Apparently, monks in the lamaseries of Tibet are required to memorized a lot of scripture and other information as part of their training. In his book, The Third Eye, T. Lobsang Rampa describes the memory technique they were taught to use:

A method of memory training had been evolved throughout the centuries. We imagined that we were in a room lined with thousands and thousands of drawers.

Each drawer was clearly labelled, and the writing on all the labels could be read with ease from where we stood. Every fact we were told had to be classified, and we were instructed to imagine that we opened the appropriate drawer and put the fact inside.

We had to visualize it very clearly as we did it, visualize the 'fact' and the exact location of the 'drawer'. With a little practice it was amazingly easy to - in imagination - enter the room, open the correct drawer, and extract the fact required as well as all related facts.

I guess you could call this the Memory Drawer technique. Sounds like a powerful method!

Anyone who needs to memorize a lot of facts (students, etc.) might want to give this a try.

Naps May Boost Memory

2008-04-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

New research indicates that a 90-minute power nap during the day can enhance long-term memory.

A recent study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience showed that when one group was allowed to take a 90-minute nap during the afternoon, the participant's memories were greatly improved compared to the group that did not take a nap.

Ah, if I only had time for a daily siesta!

Many employers have not bought in to the power nap idea. My old company in Houston laughed at a co-worker of mine who suggested the idea a few years ago.

However, some companies do recognize the benefits of the daily nap, including Nike.

Who knows, maybe the nap will catch on. If your schedule allows a daily nap, try it for a week or two and let me know whether your memory has improved.

Santos Wins Best Memory in U.S.

2008-03-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Chester Santos of San Francisco won the title of "Best Memory in the U.S." He clinched the trophy by correctly recally the exact order of a deck of 52 shuffled cards after looking at them for only five minutes.

Here's the full article: Software engineer is top U.S. mental athlete.

So what's his secret? Santos uses mental images to remember each card. Plus, he practices his technique a few hours each night.

To see this technique in action, check out this excellent YouTube video: World memory champion Andi Bell's card technique. In this video, memory expert Andi Bell memorizes the order of 10 shuffled decks in 20 minutes. That's 520 cards. Wow!

The important thing to realize is that anyone - including YOU - can use techniques like this to build a better memory.

As Tony Dottino, founder of the U.S. Memory Championships, says, "People are deathly afraid of losing their memories, but if you practice and use the right techniques, you can develop your memory at any age."

So if you feel your memory is not as strong as it should be, do something about it!

A Memory Improvement Adventure

2008-03-02T21:08:00.000-08:00

I've had quite enough of this bad memory of mine. Several months ago, I decided to see what could be done. It turns out fixing your memory involves more than just popping a pill - it's really a process. This blog will explore some of my adventures as I work to improve my memory.

As I am discovering, there are a lot of approaches to memory improvement. Some require you to learn memory techniques, while others mean diet, exercise, sleep, meditation, brain games, and even hypnosis. I'm determined to discover what works and what doesn't.

Much of what I've found out about memory improvement I've posted already on my website, http://www.memory-improvement-tips.com/. Check it out and let me know what you think. Don't be too harsh - it's a work in progress.