How To Train Your Brain For Better Memory And Mental Clarity

This new article will show you everything you need to know about how to train your brain for better memory.

To train the muscles of your body, you regularly go to gym and for your endurance; you either go for hiking or jogging.

However, one should never forget that a human brain is the most important part of the body and to improve the memories, you should always train it well.

Nowadays, the majority of the people don’t get the time to focus on their brain training. Your brain continuously needs training and inspiration.

The moment, you start training your brain, you would be able to:

  • Compared to others, you can learn on a faster note(in all sorts of different skills)
  • You can avoid the embarrassing situations by remembering the name and the face of every individual
  • Avoid diseases that may hit your body as you grow

How To Train Your Brain For Better Memory:

Every human being owns a brain. The Human Brain is simply an amazing organ and is the most complex thing in this creation.

Brain allows us to think, invent and then to create. What allows us to perform these things is the dissimilarity between the animal and human brain.

The big prefrontal cortex area of the human (the part behind our foreheads), is where we visualize, consider and construct.

With the brain, we can write stories, make music, sketch, paint and cover. Just by using our brains, we can do math, learn about places or other people.

Though the skull protects the brain, still by making health choices and good safety, we have to guard it. When engaging in an action that requires extra head protection, wearing a helmet is the most understandable approach.

Before you do anything with your overall intelligence, it is fairly well established in a lot of ways.

You can easily train your brain to exceed its early intellectual potential just like by changing your diet and working hard in the gym to overcome your bad physical genetics.

“The magic of our brain makes it possible for us to do anything that we imagine, but we always take it for granted”.

The brain is pretty realistic and is separated into two hemispheres.

If you know your memory, you will understand more about it and the techniques through which you would be able to improve your memory in a better way.

Here are few examples of your memories that could make up your life’s ongoing experience:

  • The feel of the molasses cookies made by your grandmother
  • The natural smell of an ocean breeze.
  • When your baby cries for the very first time

They give you the logic of self-awareness. These are the memories that make you feel familiar and
comfortable with the neighboring people.

You just need to bind your present with the past and offer an arrangement for the future.

In an attentive way, it is our combined set of memories; our “memory” altogether makes us who we are.

The majority of people often do a discussion about their memories like it was a thing they have got, like a head of good hairs or bad eyes.

However, memories are just not “things” that you could touch; your memories never exist in the same way like the other parts of your body exists (that you could touch).

Memories are just a thought that passes on to the process of remembering.

The initial step in making a memory is also known as “Encoding”. It begins with the perception and is a biological happening that is embedded in the senses.

For example: you may consider the memory as the very first person you fell in love with. Your image organism possibly registers the physical features of the person (whom you meet for the very first time), like the hair and eye color.

Your auditory system could even pick up their laughing sound. Even you could feel the touch of their hands. You most likely noticed the fragrance of their scent or perfume.

“These divided sensations go to the hippocampus completely (a part of the human brain) that integrates these observations like they were happening into one individual experience, your experience of that particular person”.

Experts strongly think that the hippocampus, all along with an additional part of the brain known as “the frontal cortex” is just responsible for examining these numerous sensory contributions and to decide if they are worth remembering or not.

These may become a part of your memory that lasts for a very long period of time if they are worth of remembering.

These several small pieces of the information are saved into different parts of the brain. Unfortunately, how these pieces and bits are identified at later stages and reclaimed to form a solid memory is still unknown.

Though memories start with a perception, these are stored and encoded using the language of chemicals and electricity. Other cells bond with nerve cells at a point known as a “synapse”.

At these synapses all the action in your brain takes place, where electrical pulses moving messages leap across gaps among the cells.

Across the gap the electrical firing of a pulse activates the release of chemical messengers known as “neurotransmitters”.

These neurotransmitters attach themselves to neighboring cells and diffuse across the spaces between cells. Through this process, all of the brain cells form thousands of links, giving a typical brain approximately 100 trillion synapses.

The piece of the brain cells which receives these electric impulses are known as dendrites, feathery tips of brain cells which reaches out to the nearest brain cells.

The connections among the brain cells keep changing all the time and are not set in real time.

Brain cells arrange themselves into groups that specialize in special kinds of information processing by working together in a network. The synapses between the two cells get stronger as one sends signals to another.

When more signals are being sent, the connection between them grows stronger. Thus, with every new experience, your brain rewires its physical structure to some extent.

In fact, how your brain is organized is determined by how you use your brain. This is the flexibility, which scientists say “plasticity” that could help your brain to rewire itself (if ever damaged).

You must pay appropriate attention if you want to properly encode a memory.

Nearly everything you encounter every day is simply filtered out since you cannot pay attention to everything all the time and only some stimuli goes into your conscious awareness.

Reason behind short term memory loss

Memory is considered to be a very complicated process since there are all kinds of ways because of which a human memory may work well or not.

Memory is considered to be the primary factor behind everything we do such as:

  • Remembering somebody’s name or to remember a phone number
  • From remembering information that you need to clear an exam
  • To remember how to walk or how to speak

Memory makes up our repeated experience of life and provides us with a sense of self-awareness.

Hippocampus plays a vital role in the memory and since both sides of the brain are symmetrical, we can find the hippocampus in both the hemispheres.

If either side of the hippocampus is destroyed or damaged, as long as the other side is undamaged, memory function will remain nearly normal.

If both sides of the hippocampus are damaged, it could obstruct the ability to structure new memories, called “anterograde amnesia”.

With your age (as you grow old), functioning of the hippocampus could also drop down.

People may have lost as much as 20 percent of the nerve connections in the hippocampus by the time they reach their 80’s. Fortunately, this neuron loss is not applicable for seniors.

Experts accept as true that you could hold about seven items in short-term memory approximately for 20 to 30 seconds.

However, the majority of the memories (short-term) are forgotten quickly and the ability of storing the short-term memories is quite limited.

By using memory approaches such as “chunking” this capacity can be stretched to some extent. It involves combination related information into slighter “chunks”.

For storing a list of items, the capacity of short-term memory was somewhere between five and nine.

But at the moment, a lot of memory experts agree to the fact that the accurate capacity of short-term memory is more likely nearer to the number four (on a scale of 1 to 10).

You would be able to see this in action for yourself just by trying out this short-term memory experiment.

Spend at least two minutes of time and try to remember a random list of words and then take a blank piece of a paper and try writing down as many words as you can.

Testing yourself on the information really helps you to remember it in a better way. Here is the list of some major reasons why we are not able to remember the information and forget it easily:

Retrieval Failure: One likely explanation of retrieval failure is also known as “the decay theory”. As per this theory, a memory trace is created each time a new theory is formed.

This memory trace starts disappearing and fades as the time passes. If the information is not rehearsed and retrieved, it would be lost.

However, the only problem with this theory is that if the memory have not been remembered or rehearsed are amazingly stable in long-term memory.

Interference: This theory suggests that some of the short-term memories actually interfere and compete with other memories that are stored in the human brain.

Interference is more likely to occur only when the information that was previously stored in memory is very similar to other information.

There searchers have identified two types of interferences, these are:

Retroactive interference: normally occurs when new information gets in the way with your ability to remember previous learned information.

Proactive interference: normally occurs when an old memory makes it more impossible or difficult to remember a new memory.

Failure to store the information: There are times when losing information has more to do with the fact that it never made it into long-term memory in the first place and less to do with forgetting.

Encoding failures sometimes may stop the information from going inside the long-term memory.

Motivated Forgetting: Occasionally, we might vigorously work to forget the memories, particularly those of traumatic, disturbing events or experiences.

The two basic types of motivated forgetting are: repression (an unconscious form of forgetting) and suppression (a conscious form of forgetting).

“How erratic and slow is the growth of a student who cannot even keep in mind what he has learnt”.

On the other hand, people with a good working memory are considered to be more self-assured and optimistic, and more likely to direct a successful and happy life.

Hence, the use of mnemonic devices could improve the memory a lot, especially the recall of long lists of numbers, names etc.

SEE ALSO: How To Improve Critical Thinking Skills: (New In-Depth Guide)

Benefits of an awesome memory

By a good memory we simply mean a perfect and retentive memory that would keep hold of the information and appropriately keep it in mind for us.

There is absolutely no need to reside on the importance of having a good and sharp memory. A bad remembrance is such a handicap in life that everyone understands the benefits of a good memory.

The shortage of concentration and inattention is the primary cause of a bad memory. You never really read a book if at once you easily forget everything about it.

You forget it because your mind was traveling and whatever the author has mentioned or wrote you never really took into your mind, your eyes just passed over the words that were written on the page.

A good memory is necessary for every one almost in every walk of the life such as the businessman, the student, the statesman, the politician and the employee.

For a person who could never remember the faces of those he has met and is not able to recognize his social engagements would never get a success in the social life hence, a good memory is very essential in the social life too.

There are thoughts, events and desires in our life history that we would like to forget.

Our inability to forget things that we just do not want to remember is the only disadvantage of a good memory. You cannot forget by trying to forget, filling our mind with good thoughts is the only way to forget such unpleasant things.

A lot of us believe that an individual is considered to be lucky if he is born with a good memory. We tend to classify people into two sections:

  • Those with a poor memory (who are just not able to recall the things for a long-period of time)
  • Those with a good memory (those who can store the information for a long-period of time)

There are two sorts of memory that identify how we remember and both are essential for learning to occur. These are:

  • Implicit memory: may refer to the things one learns without really thinking about it such as driving a car or breathing.
  • Explicit memory: may refer to one’s ability to deliberately recall particular things like where you last had your car keys or what you had for dinner last night.

We believe that no matter what a person with low memory does, there is no way of improving one’s memory capacity and a person having a poor memory is cursed for a lifetime.

A very little proportion of world’s population has a quite good knowledge of how memory works, why most frequently our memory fails us and at times, how we could remember particular things so well.

There are infinite advantages of having a good memory. To be successful and to be able to learn in life, an accurate and retentive memory is essentially needed.

Having a good memory gives one the capability to remember and learn a great range of things fluctuating from such things as life experiences, people, emotions, relationships, skills that he or she has learned, where that person has parked the car in the parking lot.

How to develop an awesome memory

Business professionals, employees or even the students in this world would love to get a fool-proof memory that they could maintain for a long-period of time.

These tricks, tools and suggestions are sure to have you using your brain to the best of its abilities:

Draw a map of names in your mind.

Repeat their name as soon as someone has been introduced or has introduced him or herself. Try to repeat this process often.

Make an association between the name you just heard and something that is important for you, just like Kim reminds you of your daughter Kim.

Try to picture the person’s name written on their forehead.

You may not be paying attention to the person’s name when you are introduced and the brain is taking in so much new information that so try to listen the names often when meeting new people.

If you have not heard the name correctly or missed to verify the person’s name. This act will help you to keep the name in your memory.

Try to remember the list by writing it down.

In fact the act of writing down something repeatedly serves to set the things that you are trying to remember in your brain.

The Memory Palace is a great visualization method that could help you to remember a list of things. You may also try to link each word from your list in some fashion.

Try to associate the list in a visual image to help remember them all. Always try to carry a notebook with you and whatever you want to remember keep a running list of it.

To give yourself a rest take a break after every 15 or 30 minutes and you will find you have better retention and better focus of the material.

To remember names, if you are in a meeting or any other social place:

Try to make notes of whatever you heard, for that keep a pencil or pen handy with you all the time. If you feel your mind traveling while hearing, stop and regain your focus (1).

Make a sticky note and attach it on the page when you come up with some important information in your hearing so you can easily go back to it.

While hearing stay attentive for the important information you expect running across. Be sure you go back over the notes you have taken during your reading and don’t just forget about them by writing them down.

To help you to remember the information better, try to talk about what you read that creates stronger associations.

The ideal way for your brain to retain and process the information is going to sleep just after reading important information.

No matter what you are trying to remember, use these methods to give your memory a boost:

  • Try to put your wallet, your car keys or any important thing that you frequently misplace in the same place.
  • Taking a nap in the afternoon may actually help your memories getting better.
  • Researchers have revealed that daydreaming inspires various areas of the brain, while performing the routine tasks it helps a lot.
  • Whatever you want to remember try sending yourself an email with the information.
  • Fish oil, Blueberries, Curry, Apples and especially the turmeric in curry dishes, Salmon, Avocado. Avocados, Matcha, Olive oil, Cocoa, Cinnamon, Peppermint, Whole grains are also helpful to increase the memory.

SEE ALSO: Why You Should Read Books Everyday: 30 Benefits Of Reading

Difference between Brain games and training

We are repeatedly asked about the difference between brain games and brain training.

You may see advertisements for “brain training” or “brain games” over and over again and may even question about their utilization.

People often ask you questions like: Do they actually help in improving the brain? And are these things worth your money and time?

There is a huge difference between brain training and brain games. Brain games are like going out to play and are something that you often do just for some fun.

Things like Quizzes, word problems, crossword puzzles and Sudoku are perfect examples of brain games. On the other hand, brain training is more like going to the gym.

It’s a method of exercising the brain to develop the aspects of cognition such as brain speed, attention, memory and focus.

To try and sell people programs that have no benefits for the brain and that have not been proven to work, a lot of people use the term “brain training”.

Unfortunately, not all the brain trainings are created equally.

This is a very fateful means of tricking people wasting their time and purchasing ineffectual products, since these unconfirmed programs have no helpful effects on memory or mental health.

While evaluating the brain training programs (keeping the frauds in your mind) you would wish to use a critical eye.

Through this, you would be able to separate the wheat and the chaff, so you would be able to make out the brain training programs that are actually effective.

A brain training program (2) that is clinically proven does have the power to improve your memory and change the brain.

If you are planning to purchase a clinically proven brain training program then here is the list of few important facts that you may keep in your mind and may ask:

The scientific evidence must give you an idea about the “overview” of the brain benefits:

Some of the brain training programs may be supported clinically, but it’s really important for you to examine the exercises. Another important difference to make while choosing the brain-training program:

  • Are the exercise really proven to create improvements in the memory and brain beyond the exercise and “take a broad view” into other aspects of real life?
  • Are they just proven to improve your presentation on a small sort of task?

The brain training program should really have been backed up clinically:

A lot of companies make scientific claims such as “proven to work” or “based on neuroscience”. However, to back these claims up, there are no real scientific evidences, if you dig deeper.

Scientific studies should be presented officially in scientific journals and should be repeatable, independent and peer-reviewed.

The scientific evidence should have been validated by the experts that are not from the company.

For evaluating a brain training program, another key aspect is to ensure that the program should have been validated by the outsiders as well.

The scientific evidence may indicate a problem, if everything is produced in-house.

You may feel the research is not validated or flawed, if the research findings have not been published in the peer-reviewed academic journals that indicate that the scientific community at large.

Look closely at who is validating and supporting it and where the science is coming from.

While evaluating the brain training programs, if you keep the list of things mentioned above in your mind, chances would be more that you would be able to find a program for you that can really improve your memories and brain.

I want to thank you for taking the time to read my article about how to train your brain for better memory . I sincerely hope its contents have been a good help to you.

Przemkas Mosky started Perfect 24 Hours in 2017. He is a Personal Productivity Specialist, blogger and entrepreneur. He also works as a coach assisting people to increase their motivation, social skills or leadership abilities. Read more here