Life often confronts us with a situation where it is necessary to mobilize all the reserves of the brain. Preparing for the exam session, moving to a new job, the need to learn new skills and remember many faces and names - in these cases, a good memory will come in handy. Unfortunately, under stress, the brain is under tremendous strain and thinks worse. How to improve memory and brain function to overcome a difficult life situation?
Short-term improvement in brain activity
In the event that you perform any mental work - writing an essay, a term paper or preparing for an oral exam - the brain gets tired of an unusually high load. The efficiency of its work is reduced, the perception, memorization and processing of information is deteriorating. Restore performance will help a number of simple tricks.
Breath
It is no secret that oxygen is primarily required for metabolism. Usually a person is engaged in mental work, sitting indoors. And he may not notice that it was stuffy, but he sat motionless for more than one hour. Respiratory exercises will help improve memory and brain function. They will not only saturate the blood with oxygen, but also relieve nervous tension.
- Ventilate the room.
- Stand upright, relax the muscles of your arms and legs, twist your head.
- Take a deep, slow breath through your nose. At the same time, fill the stomach first with air, then the chest.
- Hold your breath for a couple of seconds at the top of the inspiration.
- Exhale slowly through slightly compressed lips. Also exhale all the air from the abdomen first, then from the chest.
- Repeat the cycle 10-20 times. Try to ensure that each subsequent inhalation-exhalation is longer than the previous one in time.
Relaxation
The brain is tired of the monotony of the situation. Psychologists recommend every hour to do a small (5-10 minutes) "switch", changing the occupation. Simple exercise, warm-up for arms and spine will help you to relax. If you work at home, you can turn on some nice music and dance for 5 minutes. If in the office - leave briefly from the office, take a walk to another floor or to the street and back.
Now about smoking. Anyone who is serious about helping their brain should know that nicotine is the most damaging poison to brain vessels. If you are not able to get rid of a bad habit, do not smoke at least while doing mental work. The same goes for alcohol. By drinking alcohol, you kill brain cells and poison it with toxic substances.
Green tea
Products that improve memory, we will consider below in more detail. And now let’s dwell on green tea. This is an affordable way to relieve stress and saturate the body with micronutrients during the working day. A cup of green tea relieves fatigue and stimulates the brain to further work.
Laughter and communication
Normal laughter will help improve memory and brain function. Everyone knows that it prolongs life. In addition, it relieves stress and makes various areas of the brain work. As a result, you relax, blood circulation improves, the focus of excitation in the cerebral cortex calms down. Communication with colleagues and friends also has a good effect on short-term memory .
If memory impairment is long-term, then it is worth taking your health seriously.
Long-term brain improvement
Do not rush to buy drugs for the brain if you find that memory often fails you. First, help your body with non-drug methods.
Expensive memory enhancing vitamins can be found in the simplest foods.
Healthy food
We are what we eat. The brain will not respond to pills if it does not have the necessary building blocks. There are products that improve memory, and there are those that affect it negatively. Fast food, foods high in sugar and other refined carbohydrates, coffee - such food clogs the blood vessels of the brain and slows down its work, significantly worsening memory.
Beneficial substances and vitamins for the brain are found in the following foods.
- Walnut, red fish, mackerel, seeds, legumes, pumpkin, spinach, broccoli. Among other things, they found a high content of omega-3 fatty acids, which are necessary for the transmission of neural impulses to the cerebral cortex, and also contribute to improving blood supply to the brain.
- Nuts - they contain a large amount of magnesium.
- Blueberry.
- Fresh vegetables, such as cauliflower, spinach and broccoli, contain significant amounts of choline. It helps restore neurons and is especially useful for the elderly.
- Grapes, cranberries, berries contain the substance resveratrol, which improves blood supply to the brain.
- Complex carbohydrates provide the necessary energy throughout the day. They are found in whole-wheat bread, oatmeal and other cereals with a high fiber content, in peas, beans and other legumes.
Pharmacy drugs that improve memory, as a rule, contain the same trace elements and vitamins as natural products.
Proper nutrition implies proper water intake. The brain, as a vital organ, suffers less than anyone else from chronic dehydration, but if something is wrong with the body, it is difficult to expect excellent work from it. Drink at least 2 liters of clean water daily.
The best doctor for all diseases
Sleep is very important for the whole organism, but the brain is especially affected by its absence. During sleep, a lot of processes occur in our head aimed at recharging brain activity, improving memory and increasing creativity. It is very important not only the quantity, but also the quality of rest. For full recovery, the brain must reach a deep stage of sleep. Compliance with basic rules will help improve memory and brain function.
- A place to sleep should be convenient and comfortable. The pillow is not too high so that the vessels supplying the head with blood are not pinched.
- Sleep with open window or ventilate the room well at night.
- Sleep in total darkness. Before going to bed, turn off all sources of electromagnetic radiation (TV, phone, computer, and so on) that are in the room.
- Half an hour before bedtime, it is not recommended to watch TV, work on a computer, or read. Do a range of relaxing exercises, take a shower, or take a short walk. You can sort out things, prepare for tomorrow. The main thing is to calm the activity of the brain so that it smoothly goes into sleep in a relaxed state. It is very useful to meditate or do auto-training before going to bed.
- The duration of sleep is individual. For those who do not constantly get enough sleep, at least 8 hours of sleep is recommended. On weekends, allow yourself to rest for 1-2 hours more. But do not sleep too long - it unsettles the body.
Physical Education
In a healthy body healthy mind. This is more true for brain activity. Not without reason many of the great scientists of antiquity in combination were also Olympic champions. Exercise at least three times a week, and do morning exercises daily. Strengthening the vascular system has a very positive effect on improving memory. In addition, during sports, the hormone of pleasure and substances that stimulate the development of new neurons are released.
Meditation
Yoga and meditation are wonderful and commonly available memory enhancers. Everyone can master simple meditation. By the strength of its effect on the functioning of the brain, it is equal to a full sleep.
- Choose a quiet, pleasant place, preferably in nature.
- Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, relax your body muscles.
- Breathe calmly through your nose. Concentrate on inhaling and exhaling, feel how the air moves through the nasal cavity, nasopharynx, fills the lungs.
- Gradually shift your attention to the body, trying to feel all its parts at the same time, as a whole.
- Then you can concentrate first on sounds coming from outside, then on smells. The point is not to think about anything other than the subject of concentration at the time of meditation.
Exercises
All memory training games are based on memorizing something new. Also a great way to strengthen the brain is to learn a foreign language, learn knitting, study a musical instrument or learn culinary recipes. Psychologists recommend the following techniques to improve memory at any age.
- Write a few lines a day with your left hand if you're right-handed.
- Try to walk around the house with your eyes closed, perform simple actions, focusing on other senses.
- Look at the unfamiliar drawing for a few seconds, then turn away and write down or list the details shown on it.
- Take pencils in both hands. Draw different shapes at the same time: for example, the left hand draws a circle, and the right hand draws a square.
Very common games for training memory are puzzles, tasks with matches, solving crosswords. Perfectly develop thinking and train the brain activity of chess.
Do not rush to drink memory pills. Mnemonics will help you remember the required amount of information - a series of techniques that involve figurative thinking.
- If necessary, remember the name and surname, associate them with any way or previously familiar to you people.
- Break long numbers into groups of three to four digits. Numbers can be written in memory with fiery ink or correlated with any object, building a visual image.
- The shopping list is easy to remember by placing items on a well-known route, in a room or in clothing pockets. For example, “put” bread on a sofa, “put” milk on a table, place onions in a flower pot, and so on.
- Remembering new information, correlate it with the knowledge you already know. It is also well remembered that surprises or causes strong emotions: disgust or admiration.
- To consolidate the studied material, repeat it the next day so that there is a “record” in long-term memory.
Vitamins
Some chemicals are very important for memory. Drugs containing omega-3 fatty acids are recommended by doctors to improve brain function. Also favorably affect mental performance:
- B vitamins - B1, B3, B5, B6, B9, B12.
- Vitamin D, E and P (bioflavonoids).
It is advisable to drink vitamin complexes with the addition of omega-3 capsules.
Such vitamins for the brain will play the role of natural stimulants.
Medication
Sometimes exercises and vitamins are indispensable. For serious memory problems, doctors prescribe medications for the brain. Most of them relate to nootropic drugs.
- "Piracetam". Improves the metabolism in the brain.
- Aminalon. It stimulates the absorption of glucose and the removal of metabolic products from the brain, increases resistance to oxygen deficiency.
- Phenibut It stimulates blood circulation and normalizes vascular tone in the cerebral cortex.
These drugs that improve memory are prescribed by a doctor for severe disorders in the brain: strokes, depression, anxiety, with circulatory problems, to restore speech. They can have side effects in the form of nausea, vomiting, convulsions, insomnia, dyspepsia and blood pressure disorders. Therefore, you should not take them without consulting a therapist. In addition, serious memory impairment may require a long examination and inpatient treatment.
For a mild effect on the cerebral cortex, you can drink the amino acid found in green fruits and vegetables.
- "Glycine". Regular intake of this amino acid in tablets reduces irritability, improves performance, and normalizes sleep. It has minimal side effects in the form of individual intolerance (allergies).
Experts say that after thirty years, the perception of new information is significantly impaired, and memory weakens in the period of 40-50 years. In order for thinking to remain clear until old age, one should eat right, load the brain with information or learn new skills. There is a big connection between the activity of the fingers and the work of the cerebral cortex. As you can see from the article, there are many simple exercises for memory. Drugs that improve brain activity should be taken only after consulting a doctor.