Awesome! Do THIS and YOU Will Be Amazed What Happens to YOUR Memory!
Okay, a good memory is not a matter of space. Every adult brain is about the same size. Menβs brains are slightly larger in a size comparison, with an average brain volume of 1.27 liters. Women, on the other hand, can only boast about 1.13 liters. But also here, as is often the case, size is irrelevant. Quality beats quantity by far. The problem with our brain is, if anything, a user-based one. We train it far too seldom, and since helpful tools like Google can omnisciently provide us with any information in a fraction of a second that our brain cells would otherwise have to bend to the limit for, they can theoretically run in all-day rest mode. But that's not how thinking works. Although our brain consists of a large part of fat, it still needs to be exercised regularly like a muscle in order not to atrophy. In this article, we'll show you 11 quick exercises that can increase your memory by up to 90%.
1. Use both hands
Only one percent of the world's population with outstanding motor skills is gifted with both hands. In early childhood, the rest of us decide on a preferred hand, with which everything is controlled and touched from that point on. But it would be really worthwhile for our brain if we consciously used the other hand from time to time. Then the neural connections in our brain are strengthened, which also benefits our mind and memory. Practice makes perfect.
2. Become a fan of Asian food
It is actually one of the most effective methods to make our brain more efficient in no time. Eating with chopsticks, as we know from China, Japan and other Asian countries. Studies show that regular use of chopsticks promotes the regrowth of new dendrites. These are extensions of nerve cells in the brain that are responsible for cell communication. In addition, using this exotic eating utensil stimulates blood flow to the brain. Added bonus of this challenging ritual at the table: it improves our digestion and helps us save some calories. Anyone who has tried eating with chopsticks knows why.
3. Temporarily put your world on mute
You should forewarn those around you if you decide to do this exercise. It is worthwhile from time to time to go through the world with earplugs, because by blocking out the sounds and verbal communication, other parts of our perception are challenged. Among other things, our cognitive abilities take on increased importance during a temporarily silent phase, and our memory may also feel called upon here.
4. Play Scrabble, Word Salad or build phrase clouds
Playing with words and phrases is one of the best exercises ever to get our brains in top shape. Freely associating not only improves our memory, but also our general education. Phrase or keyword clouds are also popular gap fillers in PowerPoint presentations or useful and creative placeholders.
5. Read to yourself, but out loud
You should do this exercise in private if you don't want to attract irritated glances. Studies have shown that we can remember things read aloud much better than any other form of learning. So if there's something you really want to integrate into your memory, read it out loud over and over again. Our brain then hears what is said and simultaneously registers what is read. In this way, we put the brain on a double track, so to speak.
6. Go through life with a clenched fist, at least sometimes
We also have a scientific study to thank for this finding. Clenching the right fist for 90 seconds promotes memory formation, while clenching the left hand into a fist strengthens the recall of information from our memory. This exercise is simple and can be effortlessly and discreetly integrated into our daily lives. Apparently, by doing so, we stimulate certain regions of our brain that are responsible for the areas of memory and recall.
7. Listening to music gets the little gray cells moving
For some, it would be the ultimate distraction. For science, however, listening to inspiring background music while cramming means better learning results. Apparently, our brain is not as easily distracted as the rest of us, but uses the positive vibrations that music can give us to remember what we have learned better and longer.
8. Practice passive memory training
You can also actively and consciously train your memory on a daily basis. Dead times that you would spend waiting anyway are best suited for this. At the bus stop or in a public transport, you can use this idle time for your memory training in the future. Remember 4 details about a person's appearance. An hour later, at lunch or in the evening, try to remember them. Advanced learners then successively choose more and more people and more and more memorable details to remember later in the day.
9. Scribbling is allowed
You may know this from your school days. But while we're on the phone, some of us tend to scribble seemingly meaningless shapes on a piece of paper. Interestingly enough, this activity has nothing to do with the fact that we are bored by the conversation or that the subject matter at school was as dull as the Gobi Desert. Our brain literally asks us to put these abstract sketches on paper. The drawing hides everything we are listening to. This leads to the fact that this information remains better and longer anchored in our memory.
10. Laughter enhances the mind
Laughter really does seem to be good for pretty much everything. Now, as part of an experiment conducted in 2012 at Loma Linda University, researchers were even able to find out that laughter has a positive effect on our ability to remember. Those test subjects who were allowed to watch a comedy beforehand retained the given learning material better than the control group with a boring educational film. Laughter lowers our cortisol levels. The stress hormone is thus less likely to affect the hippocampus. And it is ultimately this part of our brain that plays a central role in the storage of information.
11. Increase your heart rate 3 times a week
No, a hot date unfortunately does not help our memory. What we mean here is exercise, preferably cardio or endurance training. The good news for all sports fans is that a brisk walk for 20 minutes has a similarly positive effect on our memory.
Today's Conclusion: Update for the upper brain
If you are one of those people who notice progressive memory loss as the years go by, you can confidently counteract it with these 11 simple tricks. After all, it's annoying when we're already carrying around a woefully poor memory like an empty bag outside of assisted living and senior citizen savings menus. Our brain can do so much if we just give it a chance to shine on a regular basis. The greater the challenge, by the way, the better we train our thinking apparatus. Those who foresee dementia creeping into old age are best advised to start at a young age to prevent the upper brain from becoming sluggish in the first place. Healthy and fit in old age then also means that we can still look forward to many beautiful memories that do not fizzle out in the next moment as if they had never existed. That's it for today.