Jammed: Full into Capacity

I recently received an article from Harvard Health Publications entitled, “Preserving and Boosting Your Memory.” Basically, it contained helpful and simple ways to avoid forgetfulness. And I think the article is intended for me.

I’ve already talked about my memory lapses in my Xanga. Sometimes, I can even sleep with my glasses on (especially, when I fell asleep on my study table, heh!). You might think that this problem is associated only with aging, although it is said that forgetfulness is commonly encountered with senility.

The article emphasized some of the preventive and enhancing activities for the mind.

1. Be educated. Many epidemiologic studies associated higher levels of education and intelligence with lower rates of dementia. The theory states that the neurons of the intelligent and educated brain have more connections than a less intelligent, less educated brain.

2. Exercise your mind. Our mind can be compared to our physical body. Regular exercise ensues good physical health. They give these examples: When you meet a new person, for example, you are more likely to remember his or her name if you not only focus on how the person looks, but also repeat the name aloud, and note how the handshake feels and what his or her voice sounds like. Second, the activity of the brain intensifies when it is asked to process new information or attacks a routine task in a novel way. Making a new friend, cooking from a new recipe, or taking a new route to the supermarket are examples of how you might consciously give your brain fresh material to work on.

3. Avoid stress. Some researches associate lower mental performance to higher cortisol level. Cortisol, usually referred as “stress hormone”, is released when the body is put under stress.

4. Get enough sleep. Apparently, our mothers were right when they asked us to sleep early to get a brighter mind when we were kids. Remembrances can have a dreamlike quality and dreams can certainly dredge up long-buried thoughts, but sleep in general also seems to play a big part in maintaining the brain’s workaday memory functions.

5. Stay physically active. Epidemiologic studies have suggested a link between exercise and healthy human thinking.

In the article, it was also pointed out that hypertension can cause significant memory because this condition may result to damage of the small blood vessels in the brain which could affect cognitive functions.

Reference:
1. www.health.harvard.edu (Newsletter)

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