Posts Tagged ‘memory’

Memory And Your Health

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Want an enviable memory? Start leading a healthy life fused with exercises that boosts blood circulation to that area of brain that is responsible for memory. A sedentary lifestyle causes not only a lethargic body but also a diminishing static brain. While you take a jog make sure that that the exercise regimen also includes cardio vascular exercises. A lapse is memory can often be an indication of start of Alzheimer disease especially in elderlies.

With growing awareness of the disease it is more probable that people suspect disease the moment they identify a small gap in memory. It mostly occurs at the age of 50 or more with ageing and diminishing nutrition. A lot also depend on the stress level for memory to detoriate before time. However, it is perfectly normal to forget a thing or two at later stage in life. Besides stress, people deprived of sleep specially those working odd hours are prone to memory loss. Only a well-rested body and brain can perform well.

There are many over the counter drugs apart from herbal medication to boost memory. Few people believe that taking Gingko Biloba helps in restoring memory others rely on memory formula enriched with vitamin and minerals. These herbs and medication expand blood vessels, fight free radicals, boost immune system and decreases the level of depression and stress. Other naturally occurring substance that helps in ensuring proper blood circulation to brain are rosemary, ginseng and green tea. Green tea contains plethora of benefits that surpasses any her from improving blood circulation to weight maintenance. Their antioxidant helps fight cancer and promotes healing. It is used across skin preparations as it acts as soother and healer. It is also known for its anti-aging benefits. Other medication promises to increase the concentration level and boost brainpower by improving oxygen flow to the brain.

While aging people might want to indulge in the above-mentioned supplements and medication the younger lot can always look for memory building games online or otherwise. There are memory plans on internet such as pmemory.com, Brain age, Big brain academy that promises to build a phenomenal memory. But the first and foremost step toward acquiring a great memory is to squash the laziness syndrome and start feeling active. But surf to these online memory shacks are certainly not as good as visiting your local farmer market and grabbing a broccoli instead. These powerful veggies are sure to get the cognitive clock ticking. According to latest research studies broccoli, cauliflowers and other Cruciferous vegetables improves the memory and reverse the aging process by nothing less than one and half year. Spinach that is high on folate is proved to reduce the risk of Alzheimer by breaking the homocysteine, an amino acid that is toxic to the nerve cell. Usage of unsaturated or hydrogenated fats have also proved to reduce the risk of Alzheimer and memory loss.

However there are other reasons that can be attributed to memory loss called Amnesia its is a symptom that causes complete memory blackout generally caused by head injury, drug toxicity, stroke, paralysis attack, emotional shock, and infection. These memories can be recovered through psychotherapy but it few cases it is observed that the condition prevails for lifetime resulting in subject to live a completely new life.

Brain Food

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Our brain controls so many functions of our body besides being the powerhouse of information. Few vital functions of our brain are motor control, visual processing, auditory processing, sensation and learning. Considering all the functions of our brain there is no second thought that it is the most vital organ of our body beside our heart. Any kind of brain malfunction can be well understood if related to the current technology that is used in computer. The hard disk contains all the vital information of the computer and without it, the computer is as good as dead. If the hard disk crashes it is tough to recover it back and in most cases it cannot be recovered. Similarly if Amnesia or Alzheimer disease affects our brain it first destroys our brain cells and affects our memory. Loss of memory renders us useless, as we tend to forget all the skills that we have learnt over the period of time including language too. Any such disease can turn a human being into nothing less than vegetable.

All the medications used to regain the memory back are used for brain nourishment. This can only be achieved thru universal nourishment of body and brain. In order to have them work both in tandem with each other we must feed our body properly at the same time keeps it active by participating in physical and mental activities such as jogging and memory games. Children in their early stages should specifically be taken care of. Right nutrition can ensure their physical as well as mental well being. Right from the stage of pregnancy, future mothers are administered the right dosage of multivitamins and folic acid to help the brain of fetus grow. In cases where folic acid and dietary supplements are not taken low or no mental growth is observed. In their growing phases children are feeded with health drinks as they become choosy and eat what they like. This leads to various deficiencies affecting growth. This has given rise to so many health capsules and drink but the best and trusted supplement is Cod liver oil. It is rich in Omega 3 fat that helps in better growth of brain. Research proves that children who have been given cod liver oil on a regular basis display good memory and active body.

Over the period of time we barely make use of such supplements and the drug interference makes it worse along with the day-to-day life stress. This makes us prone to several mental disorders such as confusion, attention problem, foggy brain etc. We must not forget that the core brainpower has been derived from the nutrition given at early age and this would not last lifetime. We need to supplement it on a regular basis. There are many over the counter supplements available that are fortified with zinc, magnesium, folic acid and other essential nutrients for brain. But taking these supplements alone will not work wonder over brain hence we need to put in adequate exercise too. Try to challenge the memory often by engaging in memory games and other mentally challenging activities to ensure adequate supply of blood and oxygen to the brain. Taking care of heart and keeping the cholesterol and blood pressure in check also helps in clearing the arteries of any block to allow good flow of blood. Hormones, specially estrogen level should be kept in check as it affects our brain and leads to various diseases in longer run.

Improving Memory Using Memory Exercises

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

If you are a student struggling to study for a big test, you may soon learn that you will need the help of certain tricks to make your study life easier.  Many students of all ages benefit from learning memory exercises.  Teachers usually try to help their students by suggesting certain exercises that they themselves have used or that they have learned since beginning to teach.

Of course, each person must use whatever appeals to them.  What works for one won’t necessarily work for another.  This lesson has been demonstrated in the simple act of teaching a child to tie a shoe.  His concentration may be thrown askew and result in frustration when asked to try a new way to learn.  Maybe one parent teaches a different method, or the grandparents disagree on what is best.

Children with learning disabilities must learn constructive methods for improving their memories that are tailored to their own distinct capabilities.  A child who struggles may need to associate certain things with the same colors daily to remember.  Maybe they have certain shapes that help them remember, or smells.  A child who has sight impairment may learn to associate by touch or scent.  Grandma may wear the same perfume every day or Grandpa may wear the same cologne or after shave.

There are times when the teachers have a learning method that is different from the parents’.  When the child asks the parent for help with homework, an argument may develop because the parent will use a different method to get the same result.  Sometimes if the child is taught not to argue with the parent, this could result in a bad mark on the work that is turned in.  This is where consistency and cooperation is successful in the parent/teacher relationship.

Have you ever made up a silly, but rude song about someone who offended you?  This was a great memory exercise, even though it could be construed as mean.  Music is a helpful tool, especially for teaching small children to improve their memories, although it is usually not used in a derogatory way.  Comedians make jokes with rude songs, which often results in the audience remembering the comedian simply because the music acted as a tool to cement the person into memory.  Maybe you don’t even recall the words, but simply the tune, the results are the same.

Rhyming games are a very helpful memory tool.  An endless number of people have grown up enjoying the antics of the characters in Dr. Seuss stories!  Many of the words don’t even make sense and mean nothing in reality.  But they served to help a person remember the story because of the rhyming effect.

The key to memory exercises is repetition.  You must teach yourself to perform the actions over and over.  Like always putting your car keys in your purse so you won’t lose them.  If you have trouble getting your children to school on time because they spend too much time finding their backpack or shoes, have them learn to place the items in the same place each evening.  These little memory tricks are sure to make your boss happy if they get you to work on time each day!

Mystically yours,

Michael Holt, Ph.D.
Magi Institute of Natural Medicine