How to memorise things better

Memory is the mental registration, retention and recollection of past experiences, sensation or thought. Sometimes we cannot retrieve important information that we stored in our brain. Many people forget things easily. Memory impairment is embarrassing too. With some of the following exercise we can memorise things better.

Brain exercises
Memory is like muscular strength. The more we work out our brain, the better we will be able to process and remember information. Regularly exercising the brain keeps it growing and spurs the development of new nerve connections that can help improve memory.

Mnemonic to improve memory
Mnemonics are clues of any kind that help us remember something, usually by causing us to associate the information we want to remember with a visual image, a sentence, or a word. Common types of mnemonic devices include visual images, sentences, word, acronyms, rhymes and alliteration, joke etc.

Regular exercise
Regular exercise increases oxygen to our brain and reduces the risk for disorders that lead to memory loss, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Some study found that it might enhance the effects of helpful brain chemicals and protect brain cells.

Managing stress
Stress cause release of hormone cortisol that can damage the hippocampus (important memory area of brain). Further, stress makes it difficult to concentrate.

Good sleep habits
Sleep is necessary for memory consolidation. Sleep disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea leave you tired and unable to concentrate during the day.

Not smoking
Smoking heightens the risk of vascular disorders causing stroke and constrict arteries that deliver oxygen to the brain. Indirectly it impairs brain function.

Nutrition
It is found that diet based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats found in fish will provide lots of health benefits along with improving memory. Vitamins B, especially B6, B12, and folic acid protect neurons by breaking down homocysteine, an amino acid that is toxic to nerve cells. They are also involved in making red blood cells, which carry oxygen. Spinach and other dark leafy greens, broccoli, asparagus, strawberries, melons, black beans and other legumes, citrus fruits, soybeans rich in those vitamins.

Antioxidants found in berries, sweet potatoes, red tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, green tea, nuts, seeds, citrus fruits, liver destroy free radicals are highly reactive and can damage brain cells.

Omega-3 fatty acids are concentrated in the brain and are associated with cognitive function. They count as healthy fats, as opposed to saturated fats and trans fats, protecting against inflammation and high cholesterol. Cold-water fish such as salmon, herring, tuna, halibut, mackerel, walnuts and walnut oil rich in omega -3 fatty acids. Iron is also important for staying mentally sharp. It helps create hemoglobin, an iron containing protein in red blood cells, which transport oxygen to the brain. Oxygen in the brain is vital, since it helps to metabolise glucose.

If a child does not receive enough iron, it can impair brain development and lead to deficits in speech, math and reading.

Md Abu Monsur Dinar
Student of BGC Trust University Bangladesh located at Chittagong.
Source: The Daily Star, April 10, 2010