EXERCISING YOUR MEMORY

Memory is one aspect of brain function that often becomes less efficient with age. This appears to be partly because the memory holds so much more than in younger years and partly because older people can experience problems in transferring information between short-term memory and long-term memory.

The 'memory pill' may be invented one day, but until then your memory can be improved by exercising it regularly. The following exercises may seem tedious, but they can make a real difference.

Remembering Names
Listen carefully to a name when you are introduced to someone or hear it on the telephone. Repeat the name to yourself several times, leaving an increasingly long gap between each repetition. Try to find a familiar 'hook' to fix the name in your memory. Whenever possible, try to associate each 'hook' with a mental image.

Try to create a pattern. This may not always be immediately obvious, but the longer you try, the more likely you are to remember them anyway. Elderly people, in one study, were able to remember up to 40+ or more digits after 30 training sessions. Some people remember telephone numbers better by grouping them in two, for example 34, 67, 68 may be easier than 346768.

Remembering What You Have Read
If you wish to remember something that you have read, think about it for a few minutes, and make a brief mental summary. Think of some questions about the topic and re-read the text again, checking the answers against your questions. Use other parts of your brain by talking aloud about the subject, either to yourself or to someone else, and by writing a brief summary. Repeat the exercise a couple of days later, recalling the subject matter from your memory.

Losing Things And Forgetting Things
Allocate a place to keep things - like keys - that you use every day. Try to make a habit of putting possessions away in their assigned places. If you change these places, such as after tidying a cupboard or drawer, write a list to remind yourself of the new locations. Whenever you go out or leave someone else's house, make a habit of checking that you have everything you need. When you are shopping, make a mental note of the number of items you are carrying. If you lose something, pause for a minute and try to visualize where or when you last used it.

Make Lists
Do not overburden your memory unnecessarily. It is often better to write down a list of what has to be done and cross off items as you do them. Add jobs as you think of them. You are likely to achieve more by doing one at a time, unless it is one of those complex tasks that you have done so often that it is recorded in the memory as a single sequence. When you have an idea, or think of something you want to tell someone, write it down.

Every Little Bit Helps.....

• Try not to get upset when your memory is having a hiccup. Relax! Given time you will often eventually remember what you had forgotten.
• Always eat breakfast. Breakfast boosts the mental function, especially when it contains some protein and fat.
• Exercise regularly, stand and sit erect: these help to boost the blood supply to the brain.