As you grow older, your physical and mental health deteriorates. While exercise for physical wellness has become prevalent in our society, the same kind of dedication is required for mental health.
As
your age, your cognitive ability undergoes atrophy. You gradually lose your
ability to remember or process things just as you did in your adolescence. The
phenomenon is not just typical to dementia patients; every one of us
experiences a decline in our cognitive reserves.
Brain
training through targeted exercises can improve your mental alertness and even
boost intelligence. The key is to engage in novelty tasks that stimulate your
brain and force it to learn something new.
For example, you might be a competent Sudoku player or a crossword genius, but
doing them every day provides no challenge to your brain muscles. Consequently,
your mental fitness does not extend to boosting your memory.
Research
also shows that older people enrolled in sustained engagements that were novel
and cognitively demanding experienced enhanced memory and improved ability to reason.
Comparatively, the group of people who went about their day as usual or engaged
in activities that required no knowledge acquisition exhibited no remarkable
improvement in episodic memory.
So, we have compiled a list of the best brain exercises that will strengthen your memory:
- Perform Numerical Exercises
You
might have bid farewell to mathematics when you graduated from school, but
numeracy can help you boost your brain health and logical thinking. Math
requires concrete thinking, which develops neural pathways leading to brain
strengthening. It forces you to find patterns and make connections, which
stimulates your brain to perform better.
It is a known fact that people who solve simple arithmetic problems every day can delay their cognitive decline. However, brain exercise only yields results if you reach a conclusion mentally without using a pencil and paper and no calculators. To improve your focus, you can combine your mathematical endeavors with walking or simple household chores
- Focus On People
Something
as simple as paying attention to people around can have lasting cognitive
benefits. The principle of passive memory training includes observation and
recollection.
In
simple words, when you meet someone, observe a few things about that person; if
they have glasses on and what kind, whether they are wearing jewelry or the
color of their shirt. Make a mental note of these observations and try to
recall them out aloud later in the day. You can also create a mental image of
how that person looked and moved. The visualization practice helps you keep
your memory in perfect shape.
Similarly,
be present at the moment and listen to what the other person is saying. Even if
the conversation is not meaningful but random chitchat, try to store the
details and repeat them after a few hours.
The exercise is termed passive because you are not employing any special memory techniques. You are motivating your brain to do something it is naturally designed to do.
- Learn Or Teach A New Skill
As
mentioned above, learning new skills is an incredible way to stimulate your
brain and improve its neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity,
or neural plasticity, is the ability of the neural network of your brain to
alter, grow, and reorganize to make new connections.
While
scientists initially thought that neuroplasticity manifested only in childhood,
the latest research believes otherwise. Compelling data gathered from patients
that suffered a stroke and experienced a loss of behavioral function showed
drastic improvement from sustained therapy. The experiment proved that the
aging brain is capable of neural reorganization.
Therefore,
pick an activity that you find interesting, as it requires dedication and
commitment to learning a new skill. You can learn a foreign language, play a
musical instrument, or photography.
To expand your learning ability, teach what you have learned to another person. This allows you to practice your skills and make sure that you are not making any mistakes.
- Solve Riddles And Brain-Teasing Questions
According
to research, another way to improve your memory and promote neural pathways is
to solve riddles and brain-teasing problems. The mind trick
games boost components of your brain responsible for logical reasoning and
challenge your mind to evolve and delay cognitive decline.
Moreover, solving riddles involve pattern recognition and nonlinear thinking that forces your brain to function outside the box and reach a conclusion in unusual ways. It is also an interesting and stimulating activity to sharpen your memory.
- Map Out A Place From Memory
If
you have spent years in a town or a neighborhood and routinely venture out for
a walk or chores, you will be inherently familiar with all the roads and
walkways. Tap on this knowledge and try to make a map of your area, including
major streets, landmarks, grocery stores, and restaurants, only from memory.
Likewise, if you visit a new place, draw the route you took to and from that
place, including shops and landmarks. Compare your drawings with an actual map
to see how much you remembered correctly.
While navigating through the streets of your region comes as second nature to you, portraying on paper can be mentally challenging, and this is precisely what you want!
- Meditate
Meditation
has several mental and physical benefits. While it controls your stress,
anxiety, and over-thinking tendencies, it also hones your memory and improves
your processing skills.
Mindful meditation is an incredible way to enhance your focus and attention span as well as increase your mental flexibility by engaging neural pathways.
0 Comments