Loss of memory comes with age. All of us starts noticing few changes in our prospective to remember things. You may even miss an appointment because it just slipped out of your mind. Not to worry! Memory deprivation as it is known is a natural phenomenon which occurs with growing age. Memory lapses can occur at any age, but we get upset by them as we get older because we fear they are a sign of dementia, loss of intellectual trait.
Keep Learning
First and foremost, keep learning. A higher level of education is associated with better mental functioning in old age. Experts think that advanced education may help keep memory strong by getting a person into habit of being mentally active. Challenging your brain with mental exercise is supposed to activate processes that aids in maintaining individual brain cells and fosters communication among them. Various people have jobs that keep them mentally active, but following an inclination or learning a new skill can function the same way. Therefore, it is nothing herculean that you need to undergo in order to retain your good old memory.
Use all your senses
The more active your senses are meanwhile your learning something, the more your brain will be involved in retaining memory. In one study, adults were shown a series of emotionally neutral images, each presented along with a smell. They were not asked to remember what they saw. Subsequently, they were shown a set of images, this time without odors, and asked to indicate which one did they see before? They had a phenomenal recall for all odor paired pictures, and specifically those with pleasant smells.
Believe in yourself
There are misconceptions that aging can contribute to fading memory. Middle aged and older learners do worse on memory tasks when they are exposed to negative stereotypes about aging and memory function are less likely to work at maintaining or improving their memory skills and henceforth are more likely to experience significant decline.
Economize your brain use
It is quite apparent that if you do not consume any mental energy remembering the silliest of things, you will be able to concentrate on learning and remembering new and important things. Take advantage of calenders and planners, maps, shopping list to keep routine information accessible. Designate a place at home for your glasses, purse, important keys. Remove clutter from your office or home to lessen distractions. Hence , you can emphasize on new information that you want to remember.
Repeat what you want to know
When you want to recollect something that has just happened, heard or read and forgot. Repeat it aloud. That way, you reinforce the memory or connection. Just in case you have placed one of your belongings somewhere other than the usual spot, tell yourself aloud what you have done. And don’t hesitate to ask for information to be repeated.
Space out
In order to space out what one needs to carry out is repetition. It is the most important learning tool when it’s properly timed. It’s best not to repeat something many times in a short period, let say your cramming for exam. Instead, re study the essentials after increasingly longer duration of time.
