*This article is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not replace the advice of a medical professional.
We all forget things occasionally. What was the name of that guy in that movie? Do you know where I set my book? You might even miss an exit on the highway that you have taken a thousand times on your way to work. I must confess that I sometimes worry that I am developing early dementia or some other cognitive disorder. Usually, these small lapses are nothing serious and can be attributed to lack of sleep, stress, or some other distraction.
Still, who wouldn’t like to have a savant-like ability to recall facts like Ken Jennings or Kim Peek, the real-life person upon whom the character Raymond Bass in the movie “Rain Man,” is based? Honestly, I would just like to be able to find my car keys most mornings.
Memory goes through three stages: encoding, storage, and retrieval. Information is then stored as either a long-term or short-term memory. Then, hopefully, the memory will be retrievable at a later time. There are some things, however, that can be done to improve memory and make recalling information a little easier.
Exercise: As I have been saying, exercise is awesome and helps with all sorts of things, including memory. It improves blood flow in general and has been shown to increase the size and neural function of the hippocampus, the part of your brain associated with verbal learning and memory. Of course, exercise is also great for improving sleep and reducing stress, which we’ll discuss in a bit.
Food: Eating well, like regular exercise, just makes good sense. You wouldn’t put cheap gas in a Ferrari if you expected peak performance. Similarly, you cannot expect your body and brain to operate efficiently on junk food and soda. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamins and minerals. Eat healthy fats such as those found in nuts, avocados and fatty fish such as salmon. Also, though not technically a food, drink lots of water. Avoid sugar, processed foods, smoking, and excessive alcohol consumption.
Reduce stress: Unmanaged stress puts your body into Fight or Flight mode. In addition to being a general distraction, excessive stress is very damaging to both body and brain. Take a time out, practice mindfulness meditation, go for a walk, call a friend, exercise, etc.
Sleep: Like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster, sleep can be an elusive creature. It does, however, play a huge role in memory as well as health in general. Not only does a lack of sleep inhibit concentration, but it also interrupts the consolidation of memories. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an adult’s sleep cycle should consist of four stages. The first two stages are light and non-rapid eye movement (NREM). The third is deep NREM. All three of these stages are prep for taking in new information the next day. They also help the brain sort through information acquired from the previous day by filtering and eliminating certain things. The deep NREM sleep stage will further cement these memories, which will continue into rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Emotional memories are processed during REM sleep. In addition, most dreaming occurs during REM sleep, where the thalamus transmits information from all five senses to the cerebral cortex, which interprets and processes information from your memories. Poor sleep has been shown to lower learning by as much as 40%.
Organize information: If there is important or specific information you wish to recall later, outline it by making a note. If it is a large body of information, chunk it. This is a method by which you break down information into small, more easily digested bits and learn in pieces.
Make associations: Information is often more easily remembered if it can be associated with something you already know. Create an image in your mind, such as your childhood home, and mentally place a memory in a room like you would a piece of furniture. As you walk through the house in your mind you can visualize each bit of information.
Say it: Saying a fact or piece of information, such as a person’s name, out loud has been shown to improve long-term memory. “Hi, Bill. Nice to meet you, Bill”-you get the picture. Bill might think you’re nuts, but you’ll never forget his name (nor he, yours).
There are other tips and tricks to improve memory, but the bottom line is that taking care of your overall health is the best starting point. Eat lots of nutritious food and exercise regularly. Get lots of quality sleep and manage your stress. From there, look into organizing information in a way that helps you to break it down into more easily remembered pieces. Use associations or create visual cues such as drawing a map or a picture of something you want to remember. Read your notes out loud or repeat the name of someone you just met to cement the information. Whatever methods you choose to employ, everyone can benefit from an improved memory, so work at it regularly just like you would work your body to stay sharp.
