Memory – Essential Function Of The Brain
Author: Stephen Campbell
The concept of Memory is in the present times the center of research and debate amongst the experts in Cognitive Sciences. This is most probably due to the fact that it is impossible to describe a cognitive, biologic or artefactual system of organization without understanding the true principles behind memory. Two major theories are currently opposing researchers in the domain of Neuroscience. Whereas one school of thought considers long-term memory to be a unified functional system, another school of thought believes that memory is a psychological system that should be broken down further into several specialized subsystems so as to understand it better.
But a fact which remains undeniable are that memory is an essential function of our brain. It is continuously solicited in almost every single activity we perform throughout our daily existence. Some of our daily activities require minimal memory input – for instance, remembering to add sugar to our coffee or remembering to take some prescribed medication. Other activities require heavier memory input, as for example, learning by heart telephone numbers that we would be using regularly. Hence, it is absolutely necessary that we preserve as well as perpetually develop our memory. All in all, we will need our memory for as long as we will live. In fact, our memory can even take us a long way – just think of winners of Who Wants to be a Millionaire! Who wouldn’t want to be a millionaire, after all?
In most cases, a decrease in intellectual performance and memory are mere results of underutilization of the brain. In other words, if you are experiencing mild and temporary memory losses, if you have difficulties in recalling names or in remembering faces, if words don’t come to you so easily, if you have no idea what you had for dinner last night, chances are that your memory is, under normal circumstances, not solicited enough! When used sparsely, the brain regresses.
The monotonous activities and routine occupations that we perform in our daily life mobilize the same cerebral regions. As a result, the other regions fall asleep. Of course, there are other factors which may be causing temporary poor memory and amnesia as well. Examples of such factors are excessive, accumulated stress and tiredness, lack of sleep, and deficiency in amino acids – symptoms of which, unfortunately, a majority of people present – severe depression or emotional shock.
Indeed, intellectual stimulation contributes to preserve capacities of reflection as well as memory. Very often, mental illnesses like amnesia and Alzheimer are associated with old age. In truth, they may not always be directly related to old age itself, but rather to the growing latency of the memory due to underutilization of the brain. It is hence important that you keep your neurons active all the time.
It is true that, since birth, we lose neurons that are not replaced, contrary to the other body cells. However, there is no need to panic. At birth, our grey matter is made up of billions of brain cells. Even if we lose 100 000 of them each day, we will still have enough of them to live autonomously for 120 years. Besides, our brain alters permanently. When some neurons die, others reconstitute themselves and replace the former.
Playing scrabble and crosswords, watching quiz shows on television and trying to play along, or engaging in any other type of intellectual game of logic or strategy, not only effectively keeps the brain cells alive and active but also helps improve their retentive capacity. Those who are retired or whose profession does not require constant intellectual input can also engage in creative activities such as writing songs or poems, or even painting; all of which effectively stimulate the right brain. Indeed, such intellectual activities effectively improve memory as well as develop memory capacity further.
However, more complex methods to activate the memory also exist. Researches in Neuropsychology have resulted in more scientifically accurate techniques to improve memory through stimulation of the brain. Some of these scientific techniques are stimulation of neurons, training to improve photographic memory, as well as memorization techniques. On an ending note, we would like to remind you that the more the brain works, the better it works. Gymnastics of neurons are as beneficial as gymnastics of the body. But of course, there is a big difference between working and overworking!
About the Author:
Stephen C Campbell (Master NLP Practitioner) has published more information on Developing Memory and mastering your life at
http://www.memorydevelopmentmastery.com
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Memory – Essential Function Of The Brain
Exercise Your Brain And Improve Your Memory
Author: Jeff Wilson
Everyone knows that the key to a healthy body is diet and exercise. Many people obsessively work out every day to keep in tip top shape. So, if we’re so concerned with exercising our bodies, why do we often neglect to exercise our minds? Our brains are just like our muscles: use it or lose it. If we don’t do daily activities to help keep our brain in top order, we lose important skills; particularly the skill of remembering. So if you want to remember your mother’s phone number, your grocery list, or where you left your keys; start exercising your brain.
So, how exactly do you exercise your brain? There’s no brain gym you can get a membership to with “memory classes”, but there are things you can do on your own. Here are some things you can try to keep your neurons limber.
* Open a newspaper.
Sure, reading the paper might expand your knowledge, but if you really want to get your brain in shape, turn to the crossword puzzle. You can also try solving other puzzles that require using your language skills. These help you remember things by making you regularly access simple memories (i.e. certain words)
* Try the latest puzzle craze.
Go to a book store, go online, or look in the paper; you’re likely to find Sudoku puzzles. These are number puzzles that are becoming increasingly popular. They help exercise your brain’s deductive reasoning skills. Plus, they’re fun and incredibly addictive.
* Learn something new.
You’ve probably heard people say that learning something new pushes old information out of your brain. This is not only wrong, it’s just plain silly. The capacity of your brain is only determined by how much you want to put in it. Try learning a new skill or how to play a musical instrument. Learning a skill and continue to use it will keep your memory accessing skills limber.
* Books, games and services.
While there aren’t actually gyms you can go to, there are ways to get exercises specifically designed to improve memory. You can find these in book stores, online, and even in video game stores.
While it’s great to exercise your brain cells, don’t skip out on your trips to the gym. Keeping your body in good physical shape will help keep your brain healthy too. While cardio is the best work out to keep you healthy, you can still keep your memory if you can’t perform a strenuous workout. Even a simple walk for an hour a day can help prevent or slow memory loss. So get up and go as much as you can to keep your brain going.
Most people don’t worry about memory loss until they start to notice it slipping away, but the best time to start is while your mind is still sharp. You may not be able to bring your memory back, but you can keep it from fading. Regularly working your mind has even been shown to ward off Alzheimer’s. So if you want to keep your mind sharp, be sure to eat right, get enough rest, and exercise regularly.
About the Author:
Need more free self improvement information? Jeff suggests reading more free self improvement articles today at: http://www.FreeArticles.com.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Exercise Your Brain And Improve Your Memory
Memory Course – I am going to remember to do it
Not long ago, I signed up for a memory course. I wanted to learn some tips for memorization. Primarily I wanted to remember peoples names. Of course, as I started looking around I was overwhelmed with small tips and tricks, pages of theory, and everyone’s expert opinion.
After a few weeks of randomly trying several techniques on various web sites I saw I tiny bit of progress. Well, actually I saw that the techniques could work, but really no significant progress.
The course I actually chose to sign up for has a 59 lesson plan. Each lesson is one or two hours long.
The first lesson actually amazed me. I was able to memorize 3 different lists of 25 objects in a matter of minutes. I really shocked myself! I was super motivated and started the next three lessons. Then life took over and I stopped.
Well, I am deciding today that I will start over and do at least 5 lessons a week for the next several weeks. I’ll write a short entry for each lesson and give you my honest opinion. As you can tell I have high expectations, but I would be happy to just remember a bit better.
OK – on to lesson 1….
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