Hey everyone, and welcome to TopThink. Today, we are going to learn about 7 science-proven methods
to boost your memory. Now, let’s begin.
Meditation You live a busy life. Many of your memories get
lost in the problems, choices, and anxieties you face on a daily basis. You have so much on your
mind at any given moment that your brain loses track of important information. So how do you
keep track of everything you want to remember? How do you improve the clarity of your memory?
According to a 2019 study in the journal Brain Sciences, quiet meditation is one of
the most effective ways to improve your working memory. Spend 15 to 20 minutes thinking quietly
to yourself. Find a private space where no one will disturb you and sit with your own thoughts.
This sounds simple, but if you’re not familiar with meditation it can be a unique challenge. It’s
tempting to worry about your problems or rehash everything that happened throughout the day.
Instead, live in the moment and let your mind wander freely. Drift between thoughts and ideas.
Don’t pay special attention to anything. Don’t worry about the outside world.
Don’t think about how much time has passed or if you’re meditating the right way.
These calming, patient moments release stress and provide a much-needed period of clarity
for your mind. If you meditate on a daily basis, you may discover your brain feels more organized.
It helps to think about your brain like your bedroom. If you don’t maintain your room,
it gets messy. It gets crowded with miscellaneous clothes, dishes, and trash.
You steadily lose sight of the important things in your room,
because there’s so much garbage in the way. But what happens when you clean your room?
Bit by bit, you find what you’re looking for. Your brain works the same way. When you meditate,
you’re giving your brain the chance to put everything in its proper place.
And that helps your brain prioritize important memories and recognize mental mistakes.
So give this proven method of boosting your a memory a try. It only requires a few minutes,
but the benefits of meditation help you stay mentally organized day in and day out.
Cup of Coffee We all know coffee supplies a burst of energy.
A cup of coffee contains caffeine, and caffeine is the most popular energy-booster in the world.
But did you know that coffee can also improve your memory?
This comes from a 2014 study in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Researchers gave two groups
of participants a memorization task. Then, they tested each group on the same task later in the
day. They discovered that participants were more enthusiastic and remembered more information when
they drank a cup of coffee. Turns out, that boost of energy helps your brain work faster, make more
connections, and solve more complicated problems. Caffeine isn’t a blanket solution to all
your cognitive needs, but it can have a significant impact on your mental performance.
Eating Berries Here’s another memory
booster that few people use in their daily lives. Some foods are scientifically proven
to increase the power of your memory. Strawberries and blueberries, for example, contain an important
chemical called flavonoids, which delay the gradual aging and decline of your memory.
According to Harvard University, one study from the Annals of Neurology unlocked the secret of
memory boosting berries. In their study, women consumed extra servings of flavonoid-rich berries
on a weekly basis. Over time, these women saw notable improvements to their memories.
All because they ate a few extra berries. But exactly how many berries should you eat to
improve your memory? Don’t worry, you don’t have to scarf down handfuls of strawberries with every
meal. In the same study, participants ate only two or more extra servings of berries each week,
and they still saw significant improvements. So incorporate your favorite berries into your
diet. Whether you like blueberries on your cereal or a bowl of strawberries with sugar,
these flavonoid-rich fruits can nourish your memory for years to come.
Sleep Consolidation
If you want to strengthen your memory, you need a healthy sleep cycle. Many people don’t realize
that your brain stores most of its memories when you’re asleep. During a typical eight-hour cycle,
your brain encodes important memories, discards unnecessary information,
and helps you process new ideas. This complicated process affects
every stage of your sleep cycle. During non-rapid eye movement or NREM cycles,
your brain is preparing to absorb more information by moving important memories to long-term storage.
During your REM cycles sleep, your brain stores sensory and emotional memories.
This perceptual information, whether it’s a sight, a sound, or a feeling, has a significant
impact on the content of your dreams. If you don’t get enough sleep—or keep an
irregular sleep schedule—your brain misses out on those stages of cognitive storage.
When you wake up, you feel cloudy and forgetful, because your brain isn’t prepared for another
day full of perceptual stimuli, strong emotions, and long lists of information.
Sleep deprivation is one of the most common causes of lapses in your memory. The problem
isn’t your brainpower or your recall. It’s your sleep cycle. Your brain isn’t well-rested
or prepared, and that affects your performance. So get a good night’s sleep and keep your sleep
cycle consistent. Because your brain needs all eight of those hours to stay on top of its game.
Create Mnemonics Mnemonics are a flexible and diverse memory tool
that can help you remember just about anything. A mnemonic is a pattern of letters, images, or ideas
that helps you recall more information. These patterns create memorable connections between
simple cues and complex topics. When your brain sees or hears each cue, it recalls a large
concept associated with that specific memory. The most common pattern is a one-word mnemonic.
One-word mnemonics like ROYGBIV, for example, help you remember longer lists of information
in a specific order. In this case, ROYGBIV helps you remember the colors of the rainbow
by assigning each color to one letter within this mnemonic word.
But there are dozens of different kinds of mnemonics. Music mnemonics assign larger topics
to melodies and songs. Sentence mnemonics create longer, often strange-sounding strings of words,
like “Every Good Boy Does Fine,” which helps you remember the musical notes on the treble clef.
If you’re interested in using mnemonics to boost your memory, try a few different patterns
and see which one works for you. Each mnemonic activates a slightly different area of your brain.
When you finally find a pattern that you like, make mnemonics of your own. Because these
shortcuts can make your memory stronger than ever. Reduce your Stress
Stress has a negative influence on all kinds of cognitive metrics.
When you’re stressed out, you simply don’t perform the way you want to. While some
people thrive under pressure, unnecessary stress generally slows your reaction time and clouds
your thinking. But does stress impact your memory? Let’s say you’re stressed about a project at work.
That stress weighs on your mind, creating negative emotions like
frustration, self-doubt, and anxiety. With these emotions hanging over your head,
it can be difficult to focus your attention on memorizing something simple, like a list of words.
But emotional stress isn’t the only reason your memory suffers.
When you’re experiencing excess stress, your brain releases hormones like cortisol,
which impair your memory. One study even found that cortisol gradually shrinks your brain.
Last but not least, stress significantly increases your mental fatigue. You’re prone to
exhaustion and lazy habits, which ultimately damage your ability to retain information.
So what should you do? How do you manage the stress in your life and
keep your memory working the way it should? Luckily, there are plenty of tools you can
use to not only manage your stress but increase your cognitive performance.
And most of them are easier than you think. Breathing technique can help you unravel
after a long day. Engaging with hobbies can take your mind off of work and help you think through
complicated problems. You can also write down your thoughts, which strengthens your memory by placing
those important emotions down on paper. The longer your stress goes unchecked,
the more damage it can do to your brain. So get control of your stress. Find a stress-management
routine that works for you. That way, you can keep your memory in tip-top shape.
Sensory Stimulation There’s a lot of crossover in your brain
between your senses and your memory. When you taste a familiar food or smell a familiar scent,
a wave of memories may come rushing back. Our senses are some of the strongest memory tools
we have. So, if you want to increase your memory, it’s time to use your senses to your advantage.
Anytime you want to remember something, activate one of your five senses.
Attach an image, a smell, or a feeling to that piece of information. Not, each time
you perceive that sensory stimuli, your brain may recall the information you wanted to remember.
Professional memorizers use this trick to retain huge volumes of information. For example,
you might associate a series of playing cards with a string of strong, narrative images. As
you recall those vivid pictures and activate your visual memory, you’re also recalling the
cards attached to each image. Just like that, you’ve memorized a large quantity of numerical
information without memorizing a single number. So get your senses involved. Draw pictures while
you study. Chew flavorful gum. Listen to memorable music. Don’t rely solely on your eyes or ears to
encode all the information you experience on a daily basis. Because your five senses are the
strongest memory tools in your toolbox. Thank you for watching TopThink,
and be sure to subscribe, because more incredible content is on the way.