Improving Memory Using Mnemonic Tools

Improving Memory Using Mnemonic Tools

For those of you who may have never heard of the word, mnemonic means memory aid. It's an adjective related to things that help memory improvement. Teaching tools, if you will.

If you are a movie buff, you may have heard of the one called 'Johnny Mnemonic', a 1995 feature involving a data courier. Keanu Reeves is the star of the film. He carries a large data package, 320 gigabytes in size, in his mind. If he doesn't deliver it from Beijing to Newark, it will kill him. I suppose you could call this forced memory. It wasn't his brain that developed this computer chip, this memory tool. It contains a cure for a nerve syndrome of the future and puts his life in danger.

Some mnemonics would seem to be horrible techniques for the person who would prefer not to remember. However, this may be their only solution to overcoming a tragedy, in order to heal them. So, once more, forced memory is put into effect. The person must relive the mentally or emotionally damaging event to be able to move on with their lives and put the worst of the trauma behind them.

A coach, psychiatrist, hypnotist, counselor, pastor, trusted family member, teacher, or close friend may be needed to help give you moral support for the courage to use mnemonic tools.

Hypnosis has long been used as a mnemonic tool. Memory is a process of reconstruction rather than retrieval. Often the mind must be forced through hypnosis to reconstruct events that caused the person to suffer and attempt to protect themselves by choosing subconsciously to forget. Therefore, hypnosis may at times be a dangerous, however necessary, mnemonic tool.

Hypnosis is also a lucrative field. It is often used to help people stop an unhealthy habit, such as chronic nail-biting, smoking, overeating. It can also be used as a form of pain control. No matter how it is used, it involves the subconscious memory.

Mnemonic tools can be a positive way to overcome small annoyances. Suppose your short-term memory loss is disrupting your life in such a way that you are in a constant state of frustration. Small annoyances can add up to one big problem.
You may have subconsciously used mnemonic tools to learn to avoid certain disturbing memories. Like associating an object with someone who used that object to cause you pain. You decide to avoid use of that object to force yourself to leave the memory in the past. Maybe a dreaded uncle always wore purple, so to avoid having to constantly be reminded of the uncle, you decide to never buy an object the color purple. It may become a habit that you do without really thinking about it.
People have used flash cards, music, games, and repetition as mnemonics. Remember the old saying about tying a string around your finger to recall something important? Or placing a rubber band on your wrist, to pop whenever you are faced with a temptation you are trying to overcome?

Whatever the case may be, mnemonics can be very productive in memory improvement.

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Improving Memory Using Memory Exercises

Improving Memory Using Memory Exercises

If you are a student struggling to study for a big test, you may soon learn that you will need the help of certain tricks to make your study life easier. Many students of all ages benefit from learning memory exercises. Teachers usually try to help their students by suggesting certain exercises that they themselves have used or that they have learned since beginning to teach.

Of course, each person must use whatever appeals to them. What works for one won't necessarily work for another. This lesson has been demonstrated in the simple act of teaching a child to tie a shoe. His concentration may be thrown askew and result in frustration when asked to try a new way to learn. Maybe one parent teaches a different method, or the grandparents disagree on what is best.

Children with learning disabilities must learn constructive methods for improving their memories that are tailored to their own distinct capabilities. A child who struggles may need to associate certain things with the same colors daily to remember. Maybe they have certain shapes that help them remember, or smells. A child who has sight impairment may learn to associate by touch or scent. Grandma may wear the same perfume every day or Grandpa may wear the same cologne or after shave.

There are times when the teachers have a learning method that is different from the parents'. When the child asks the parent for help with homework, an argument may develop because the parent will use a different method to get the same result. Sometimes if the child is taught not to argue with the parent, this could result in a bad mark on the work that is turned in. This is where consistency and cooperation is successful in the parent/teacher relationship.

Have you ever made up a silly, but rude song about someone who offended you? This was a great memory exercise, even though it could be construed as mean. Music is a helpful tool, especially for teaching small children to improve their memories, although it is usually not used in a derogatory way. Comedians make jokes with rude songs, which often results in the audience remembering the comedian simply because the music acted as a tool to cement the person into memory. Maybe you don't even recall the words, but simply the tune, the results are the same.

Rhyming games are a very helpful memory tool. An endless number of people have grown up enjoying the antics of the characters in Dr. Seuss stories! Many of the words don't even make sense and mean nothing in reality. But they served to help a person remember the story because of the rhyming effect.

The key to memory exercises is repetition. You must teach yourself to perform the actions over and over. Like always putting your car keys in your purse so you won't lose them. If you have trouble getting your children to school on time because they spend too much time finding their backpack or shoes, have them learn to place the items in the same place each evening. These little memory tricks are sure to make your boss happy if they get you to work on time each day!

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Improve Memory to Help Your Career Skills

Improve Memory to Help Your Career Skills

Women are known to multitask. It is a talent many are proud of, often performing out of mindless repetition, often learned because of their experience rearing their children, sometimes learned because they grew up in a large family where everyone had to work together to keep the household in order. Is it a wonder that at some point they become overworked and overstressed and forget something important?

In the business world, your career skills depend heavily upon your memory. It could make or break your chance to get that long-awaited and much deserved promotion or maybe the vacation you've earned. One little forgetful mistake and everything could fall apart. No pressure, right?

Learning to take some time for yourself, to give yourself that few minutes of peace and relaxation may be all you need to improve your memory and grab that moment of success. Businesses have learned that successful employee performance relies upon ensuring their employees get their much deserved breaks and that positive enforcement is a key element to moving forward and upward. Some businesses have built-in gyms, daycares, saunas, sandwich machines offering healthier choices.
On another note, improving your memory will make it easier to get through those business meetings, lunch dates, or parties where recalling names is essential to success. Calling an important person by the wrong name could be devastating to your career.

Some banks have practiced rewarding the customer with a dollar if their teller doesn't greet them by name. It is, of course, a temporary advertising gimmick. It does make for better customer service relations to hear one addressed as more than a ma'm or a sir. The customer feels more appreciated and may make an effort to be more pleasant when the teller seems more aware of them as a person rather than a nameless face.

Any job you choose will suffer if you don't make the effort to remember the important aspects of that job. If you are unconcerned and think you can get by with the minimum of effort and attempt to substitute where it is unacceptable, it could cause you to be fired. Forgetting courtesy, forgetting to clean up a mess you made, forgetting to return things to their proper places, forgetting to wash your uniforms, forgetting to bring the right tools for the job, forgetting the due date of a project......all are critical for overall performance ratings and job security. Your boss and your co-workers need to know they can count on you to remember and to put forth effort.

It makes for better relations between you and your fellow employees, too, when you can remember personal things about them. Birthdays, the special events in their family life (such as little Charlie or little Susie having a big recital at school), their favorite candy, or perhaps their favorite musical artist, all could bring kudos for you should you require their support on a special project or need a favor or want their positive input when you get a performance review. Not to mention, remembering these little things will bring happiness to others and should help you be a better person for making the effort to care.

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How to Memorize

How to Memorize

To memorize is to store information in your brain for reuse later. The definition of memory is the power or act of remembering. The definition of remembering is to recall, to bring back to mind by an effort.

Some people are able to memorize things temporarily and then forget them when they are no longer of use. Many times this is the case with a person who may study just for the sake of passing a test containing information they don't feel is of particular importance, yet they are required to know it anyway for a job or to pass to the next level of a class or school.
Preschoolers must make the effort to memorize the alphabet, to recognize colors, to write their names. This type of information is of importance in their daily lives as they go through each year of school. Often an older child will have to memorize the multiplication tables or all the states in the United States.

Use of flash cards is a well-known way to memorize. If you are studying a foreign language, you can use the flash cards to write one interpretation on one side, and the other version of the word on the other side. Children's books often use the flash method to tell a story that will help the child memorize. Pop-ups are a fun way to learn. Many books will use pictures of animals, toys, or even food to help the child memorize the name of a word and its proper usage.

Have you ever taught tricks to a dog? It must memorize the steps to the trick in the process of learning what you want. Teaching a parrot to talk requires the parrot to memorize the words you choose for it to learn. Sometimes an animal can memorize the path home or a smell of certain people. Maybe you need to learn some tricks, like recalling names at a party!
To remember combinations, middle school students must memorize the numbers that will open their locks. They also have to memorize their school ID numbers to go through the line in the cafeteria for billing to their lunch accounts.

Sometimes people have to make phone calls and don't have pen and paper ready. They may have to temporarily memorize the number given them by an operator assistant.

If you have children, you may have asked them to memorize things like their phone numbers and addresses in case they get lost. Their teachers may even require this at the beginning of their school year in the younger grades of education.
There are a vast number of books written on the process to improve memory. Word games were invented for such a use. Even crossword puzzles require extensive use of the memory. Studies have been done for years on ways to trick your mind to memorize. Playing with people's names can help you memorize them. Make a rhyming game in your mind with the name. Rhyming stories are a fun way to memorize. Or you could try associating the name with a color. Whatever your choice to improve your memory, it can only benefit you to succeed!

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Science and Memory Connect

How Do Science and Memory Connect?

One way science and memory connect is through the side effects of a medication that may cause memory loss. Another way is through trying to improve memory.

Take Alzheimer's for example. It is now a well recognized disease that has been under much scientific study. In this disease, memory loss begins when the entorhinal cortex, an area of brain involved in building new memories, loses neurons faster then they are being replaced. The human brain was once thought to have all the brain cells possible at birth. Now science has uncovered the fact that human and primate brains can generate new nerve cells (neurons) after birth. These nerve cells are made in the cerebral cortex throughout the life span. The number of neurons stays fairly constant, but the ones lost in each area are replaced anew. If the production of new ones can't keep up with those dying or being removed, the brain function begins to decline. Science has found that when the number is reduced by one-third, the short term memory begins to fail, hence Alzheimer's.

It is thought that certain antioxidants have the ability to significantly delay the effects of Alzheimer's. In people under the age of 80, the chance of developing this disease could be reduced by 50 percent by taking low doses (200 to 400 mg) of ibuprofen for two or more years. There are also certain activity programs that can delay the progression of the disease. Scientists believe the progression can be delayed by regular exercise.

Lifestyle behaviors must be altered to age in a healthy way. This healthy aging includes retaining healthy memory function. The way one eats, sleeps, drinks, smokes, lacks adequate physical and mental exercise, and allows an overabundance of stress on a regular, long-lasting basis all affect good health.

Illegal use of drugs has long been known to affect memory function. It kills brain cells, as does the long-term overuse of alcohol. Two prescription drugs that have had memory loss as side effects are Prozac and Zoloft. The patients' symptoms would improve as far as the reason they were put on these drugs, but once memory loss began to develop, the patients would have to be taken off them.

The process of knowing and perceiving is called cognition. Alzheimer's and disorders related to it all have one thing in common: cognitive impairment. As long as only one symptom exists, the diseases are distinct from each other. If not treated early enough and effectively, other brain areas begin to be affected and the symptoms make it hard to diagnose which disease is present.

One disease similar to Alzheimer's disease is dementia. There are different types of dementia. There is Parkinson's Dementia, Frontal-Temporal Lobe Dementia, Vascular Dementia, Subcortical Vascular Dementia, dementia due to head injury, and dementia from cancer and cancer treatment.

One thing is certain, regardless of your reason for memory loss, science and advanced technology are making it easier every day to single out and treat the problem.

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Finding the Best Video Game System

Best Video Game System Finding the Best Video Game System

Technology never ceases to amaze everyone with the great developments being done every single day. The expansion of technology is far beyond the ability pf the mind to imagine. Comparing the past decade to now, there are a lot of developments and improvements in terms of technology, that would have seemed impossible then. Before, cellular phones existed only for the sake of communication, but today these tools can even be used for other things like photo capturing, music playing, voice recording, etc.

The most anticipated invention that was ever invented by kids and kids at heart is the video game. There are also so many versions of games that can be found in the market. The desire of the people to have something to do during leisure time prompted other people to conceptualize and finally invent indoor electronic games. Video game keeps on innovating and its peripherals and other devices used in these games are also being developed and improved as time goes by.

Video game systems are the hardware devices that are being used to play the games. Video games systems are also known as video game consoles. Consoles, basically, are compatible with any other game that manufacturers come up to widen their market. However, because of the heavy demand of consumers in the market, console makers and software or game programmers tie up to come up with a perfect combination for their products to sell. There are consoles though that is universal in the sense that it can play at least all programmed games available in the market.

In the past years, plenty of game system developers introduced their own video game systems. These systems have different specifications and have unique abilities in the aspect of computer gaming. Plus, every maker has their own distinct abilities and design that they apply to their product.

Because of this enormity of factors to consider, gamers and consumers are left with only one question in their mind: What will I buy? And what is the best for me? For many, these questions are so hard to answer especially if they do not have enough idea of the video game systems available. So, answering these kinds of questions does not just require asking or talking to other people but as well as having your own personal research.

There are considerations to take in choosing the best video game console for you. A game console can never be regarded as the best by any other person except by yourself. Products like video game systems are not directly related to what you want and what you are satisfied with and not by what they can give you, although the specification of a certain device is a big factor for your satisfaction. To help you in choosing the best video game, here are some things to do in finding and choosing the best video game system:

• Know what you want first. As stated above, what satisfies you is something that only you can answer. The video game system that you must choose must be something you like and according to how you know your self and your desires, and not just because it is something that your friend has. Your friend might have different expectations in a video game system but it helps if you see theirs first to know if you like it.

• Take the endeavor seriously. Choosing a video game system is just like choosing what car you would want to drive. Check everything, whether your prospect video game system can really give you the best output, like in the audio, the resolution of the video, the game pad, etc.

• Search for video game consoles in the Internet. There are plenty of product makers that post their products on the Internet.

• Consider those video game systems that are made by known console makers around the world. This will not just give you the best quality there is, but it can also help you adjust whenever these companies make improvements with their products. In gaming, compatibility is an important factor to consider.

• Think about what other things would you like your video game system to do for you. Does it offer add-on peripherals? Game pads must also be comfortable to handle.

Best video game systems can be made best only if your expectations are fully met. Choosing such a device is primarily dependent on characteristics that your video game system must possess.

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Herbs to Improve Your Memory

Herbs to Improve Your Memory

Does it sound bizarre? Using herbs to improve memory have long been practiced not only by those in the United States, but in other countries as well. The American Indians, Orientals, Egyptians, and Greeks have all used herbs to enhance the mind.
Spicy foods are said to increase the cognitive functions of your brain, and there are several spicy herbs available.

Have you ever heard of turmeric? Maybe curry?Well, turmeric is an ingredient in curry. Curcumin is an ingredient in turmeric, which in turn works to improve your memory. It reduces the effects of diseases like Alzheimer's disease. Ginger is another herb, containing zingerone, which defends the neurons of the brain to improve memory. Cinnamon is a brain activity booster; simply smelling it enhances cognitive function and lifts the mood. All these wonderful spices can be found in your local grocery store, usually on the isle with the basic cooking ingredients such as flour and sugar.

Health food stores abound in the United States. They've become more popular for the youth of today alone. Health food stores can also benefit adult shoppers. They offer things like ginkgo biloba, touted as the best herb to improve blood flow to the brain. Suggested use is 80 mg, 3 times a day.

Another herb found in health food stores which increases memory and guards against senility is gotu kola. It has a calming effect. Suggested use is 1/2 teaspoon in warm water 3 times a day.

Siberian Ginseng can help the body adapt to stress, helps promote a strong, balanced nervous system, and gives a mild energy boost. Suggested use is 250 mg, 2 times a day.

Before partaking in the benefits of any of these suggested herbs, please do your research and make sure they won't have a negative interaction with any medications you are currently taking. The idea is to improve your memory, not further damage your health in another way.

Herbs don't just serve to improve your memory by oral ingestion. A popular way to stimulate your brain these days is by aromatherapy. Some herbs can be heated in either water or as an ingredient in a candle, maybe even as an ingredient for use with a potpourri burner placed on a cloth as an essential oil to inhale, or simply burned as incense. Aromatherapy can be done as a low-cost addition to your steps towards good mental health. It clears the mind, helps you relax, sharpens your ability to focus, and improves your mood. Two essential oils to use in aromatherapy to help improve memory are rosemary and basil. Although, anything that is pleasant to your nose will help you calm your thinking so that you can focus more clearly and feel uplifted in spirit.

An important thing to consider is whether you would rather slow down your lifestyle now and begin to take proper care of your mind and body, or whether you'd rather suffer more later as you've aged and have more trouble undoing the effects of your neglect. It's never too late to adapt a positive outlook and take charge of yourself!



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Healthy Body Healthy Mind

Healthy Body Healthy Mind

The reliability of memory is still a question as in most cases it is distorted by suggestions. The certainty of memory depends on the encryption it had on the mind of individual and the duration too. As we mentioned earlier that diminishing memory is a result of neurons malfunction, there are three ways that can help us identify factors that can stimulate or memory. We should figure out ways to stop neurons from dying and stimulate growth of new neurons and by getting to have the existing neurons function efficiently. Memory i.e is chemical compound known as Ampakines enhances neurons functioning. Other ways generic ways to improve memory is to start taking memory training and practicing games such as cross words, brainteasers and other memory exercises. Apart from them consuming healthy diet rich in Omega 3 fats and antioxidants also helps. Five small meal patterns should be followed as it prevents blood sugar from lowering i.e the primary source of energy to the brain. Jogging and brisk walks helps in blood circulation and have been proved to reduce the risk of Alzheimer disease. Getting proper sleep and stress reduction helps curtailing the production of cortisol in our body that harms memory and is known to shrink memory center in brain.

Regular practice helps us give a jog to our memory that is as fruitful as the physical jogging. We should let our brain run thru as many facts it retains and associate each with some picture, color or number to make it easier for recall. But accuracy of recall depends on proper functioning of three aspect of brain that part that form, stores and receives memory. At times dreams are made of distorted memories we usually club our experiences with a particular memory creating a new situation altogether.

People who have suffered head injuries or suffer any kind of pain otherwise tend to be more forgetful according to one of the studies. The study goes on to suggest that chronic pain leads to brain shrinkage and degradation of neurons. People with emotional distress and chronic pain are more susceptible to brain atrophy. Varying pains have varying effects on brain and affects different regions in our brain. Such conditions can be improved and memory can be improvised by realistic psychotherapy and medication.

It is often observed that we remember traumatic events better than happier moments. It is associated with a certain type of protein produced in our brain while we go thru that experience and makes it embedded in the long-term memory zone of our brain. These proteins help in strengthening the connection in neurons acting as a catalyst in memory storage. This study is being used now to improve memory conditions by treating our brain with the same kind of protein to make our memory everlasting. Another study goes on to prove that zinc helps to improve memory especially in children. This study has been used at the grass root level by more health drink and medical supplement manufacturers who target their zinc fortified drink, cereal and nutritional supplements to adolescents.

There are ayurvedic cures in the market that claim to guarantee similar results like "Memocare" the product is a mix of herbs that promises to reduce stress and anxiety. It also promises to accelerate brain function and improve memory. There are hosts of other companies too offering similar promises like Brain quicken that claims to be effective in one hour but it mainly targets to improve short-term memory. Its constituents are a complex mix of nutrients and other propriety constituents.

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