A good memory and a sharp mind are not innate human talents, but abilities that can be developed and trained by both children and adults. Special exercises and methods are available for this purpose, which are aimed at improving brain activity and synchronizing the functioning of the cerebral hemispheres.
Human brain and memory training
Just like the body, the brain needs exercise. Many tasks that used to create new neural connections gradually become routine and reduce the brain's ability to focus and concentrate on new things. This is due to the violation of interhemispheric interaction and the lack of their equivalent development.
A person's desire to learn new things, which creates new neural connections, helps to normalize the functioning of the brain. But the lack of "feeding" the brain slows down the learning process due to the deterioration of memory, lack of quick reaction and creative thinking.
An effective way to restore and improve mental and cognitive abilities is to perform special exercises for training the brain. Daily exercise improves brain activity and, consequently, one's cognitive abilities, including thinking, memory, speech, perception, imagination, and attention.
Profit
What are the benefits of gymnastics for the brain:
- concentration and reaction speed increase;
- memory improves;
- emotional resistance to negative factors increases;
- movement coordination improves;
- you have more energy to complete everyday tasks;
- the hidden abilities of the brain are revealed;
- the quality of sleep improves.
Psychotherapists often prescribe brain exercises to treat neuroses, depression and emotional burnout. Exercise helps to shift from negative thoughts, diverts attention and restores a person's productivity.
Peculiarities
Your brain needs to be trained throughout your life, from infancy to adulthood. Exercise that improves memory and brain activity is basically the same for children and adults, but it has many functions.
In adults
Forgetfulness, poor spatial orientation, and a general decline in performance can be observed in all people over the age of 20. Common causes include bad habits, poor sleep, and irregular work hours that overload the brain with information overload. To normalize brain function and regain the sharpness of your intellect, you need to rethink your lifestyle, be physically active, be able to rest and devote 5 minutes a day to thematic exercises.
Adults can't forget children's brain development methods either - fine motor exercises, learning poems, retelling, etc.
In children
The degree of development of the connections between the hemispheres determines the child's academic performance, proper coordination of movements, communication with peers, speech quality and emotional intelligence. The formation of new neural nodes must begin at the age of 2-3 years, when the child's brain absorbs much more energy than the brain of an adult.
The main and popular way to develop children's brains is through educational games that combine hand-eye coordination, concentration and motor skills. In addition, the equal development of the cerebral hemispheres is favorably influenced by:
- finger gymnastics;
- breathing exercises;
- logarithm;
- listen to music;
- dance;
- reading and retelling what has been read;
- creativity: modeling, drawing, weaving, etc. ;
- self-massage;
- kinesiology exercises;
- didactic games: comparing objects, guessing an object based on a description, etc.
All this contributes to improving the interaction between the hemispheres, which affects the development of healthy self-esteem and the child's success. And the desire to learn new things can become a useful habit for the child, which will help him throughout his life.
How to improve memory
Memory is closely related to other cognitive abilities that also need to be developed. Therefore, its development should be approached comprehensively, by performing special exercises and changing everyday life in other interesting ways, which we will consider later.
Best practices
The sessions must be conducted in a relaxed environment. The duration of the training is 5-20 minutes. It is also important to complicate the exercises by increasing the number of repetitions and adding additional gestures, movements and sounds.
For the brain
The following set of neurogymnastic exercises was developed by American psychologists Paul and Gail Dennison based on educational kinesiology.
Exercise 1: "Brain Buttons"
Exercise helps to "start" the brain and tune in to work.
- Stand straight, well straight.
- With one hand, massage the depressions between the first and second ribs on the left and right under the collarbones. The other hand is placed on the navel, which allows you to focus on the center of gravity.
Exercise 2. "Hooks"
- Take any comfortable starting position: standing, sitting or lying down, cross your ankles.
- Extend your arms forward, palms facing each other, and interlace your fingers.
- Turn your arms inward at chest level with your elbows pointing down.
- Return to the starting position. Repeat 8-10 times.
Exercise 3: "Knee-Elbow"
- Starting position: standing position.
- Lift and bend your left leg at the knee.
- Touch the knee of your left leg with the elbow of your right hand. Then repeat the movement with your right leg and left arm. Do 8-10 repetitions.
Exercise 4: "Elephant"
- Starting position: standing, relaxed. Knees slightly bent.
- Tilt your head toward your shoulder. From this shoulder, extend your arms forward like a trunk and draw a horizontal figure eight starting in the center of your vision, going up and counter-clockwise. Important: the eyes follow the movements of the fingertips.
Do the exercise slowly 3-5 times with your left hand pressed against your left ear and the same number of times with your right hand pressing against your right ear.
Exercise 5 "Mirror drawing"
- Take a marker or pen in both hands.
- Draw mirror-symmetrical numbers, letters, etc. on a piece of paper with both hands at the same time.
Additional exercises to increase the maximum participation of the brain in work:
- "Fist-palm. "Extend both arms in front of you. Clench the fingers of your left hand into a fist, straighten your right hand. Then consistently change the position of your fingers, gradually speeding up the movements.
- "Winner". The fingers of one hand show the "V" movement, the other the "OK" movement. Alternate hands, gradually increasing speed.
- "Horns and legs. "One hand shows the horns, the other the feet (thumb, index and middle finger). Alternate hands, gradually increasing speed.
- On the one hand, connect your thumb with all the other fingers one after the other, starting with the index. Do the same with the other hand, but starting with the little finger. Do the exercise with both hands at the same time.
- "Puzzles". On the one hand, bend all your fingers except the index and middle fingers, on the other hand, except the ring and little fingers. Connect them like puzzles. Change hands, gradually speed up the movements.
To remember
Simple and effective exercises to improve memory:
- Route map.Draw a map of your route to work. Try to remember everything down to the smallest details: the names of streets, metro stations, bus stops, shops that you encountered along the way.
- Alphabet.Quickly find words for each letter of the alphabet.
- Conjurer.This exercise requires a deck of playing cards. Shuffle and remember the order of the first 3-5 cards of the deck. Shuffle the deck and find these cards.
- A copy.Find any image on the Internet or buy a banknote. Study the picture for a minute and draw what you see on a piece of paper from memory. Then compare the drawing with the original to identify the missing details.
- Remember a school poem or learn your favorite songs. It is also excellent for memory training.
- Before going to bed, remember the people and objects around you. If you have attended a lecture, try to reconstruct all the material in your head.
- Take an object. Check it out in detail for a minute. Then turn away from the topic and try to describe it by writing a detailed review.
Other methods
In addition to special exercises, there are other useful ways to activate the brain and improve memory:
- Keep learning new things.The minimal load on the brain and the lack of new information leads to the deterioration of memory and other cognitive abilities. Also, diverting your attention to things unrelated to your work will help you develop stress resistance. The best options are learning foreign languages, online courses, crafts, etc.
- Play mind games, solve crosswords, puzzles. This will help you clear your mind and broaden your horizons.
- Get out of your comfort zone.For example, choose a different way to work, choose a hobby that you were afraid of, actively meet and communicate with people in real life.
- Participate simultaneouslyboth hemispheres. Brush your teeth, eat, open the door, hold the handle with your non-dominant hand.
- Read, write by hand.Reading develops memory, activates imagination and creative thinking. And handwriting is a great way to develop motor skills.
It is equally important to be able to rest. Avoid sleep deprivation and learn to meditate. The brain needs rest and relaxation.
Products for memory and brain development
To keep your brain active, it is important to pay attention to your diet. A healthy daily diet should include proteins, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. You can also add the following brain activity supporting products to your menu:
- Fatty fish.Omega-3 is a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids that affect the active saturation of brain cells with oxygen and nutrients.
- Bitter chocolate.Chocolate with 70% cocoa content slows down age-related mental decline and prevents cognitive impairment.
- Egg. Egg yolks contain choline, which the body uses to create the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for memory and mood.
- Whole grain bread and cereals.Thanks to the vitamin B6 content of cereals, they improve metabolism, fill up with energy and improve blood circulation in the brain.
- Tomato.A source of melatonin, which prevents the aging of brain cells and improves the condition of blood vessels.
In addition, maintaining fluid balance by drinking enough drinking water every day is important for active brain activity.
Prevention
For a clear mind, good memory and active brain function, it is important to:
- Get rid of bad habits.Smoking, alcohol, and taking psychotropic drugs impair blood circulation in the brain, which leads to oxygen starvation and nerve cell death.
- Walk.Daily walks saturate the brain with oxygen and help improve concentration and memory.
- Exercise.Physical activity improves blood circulation, improves memory, motor coordination and improves health.
- Give it to the brainuniform loadand don't forget to rest.
- Practice good sleep hygiene.Sleep at least 7-8 hours. Sleep is necessary for the brain to rest, strengthen the necessary and destroy unnecessary neural connections.
The most important thing is daily training. Only regular exercise will bring the desired results.