IMPROVE
MEMORY
The storage in sensory memory and short-term
memory generally have a strictly limited capacity and duration, which means
that information is available for a certain period of time, but is not retained
indefinitely. By contrast, long-term memory can store much larger quantities
of information for potentially unlimited duration (sometimes a whole life span).
For example, given a random seven-digit number, we may remember it for only
a few seconds before forgetting, suggesting it was stored in our short-term
memory. On the other hand, we can remember telephone numbers for many years
through repetition; this information is said to be stored in long-term memory.
While short-term memory encodes information acoustically, long-term memory encodes
it semantically: Baddeley (1966)[2] discovered that after 20 minutes, test subjects
had the greatest difficulty recalling a collection of words that had similar
meanings (e.g. big, large, great, huge).
Short-term
memory is supported by transient patterns of neuronal communication, dependent
on regions of the frontal lobe (especially dorsolateral prefrontal cortex)
and the parietal lobe. Long-term memories, on the other hand, are maintained
by more stable and permanent changes in neural connections widely spread throughout
the brain. The hippocampus is essential to the consolidation of information
from short-term to long-term memory, although it does not seem to store information
itself. Rather, it may be involved in changing neural connections for a period
of three months or more after the initial learning.One of the primary functions
of sleep is improving consolidation of information, as it can be shown that
memory depends on getting sufficient sleep between training and test, and
that the hippocampus replays activity from the current day while sleeping.
The
best way to improve memory seems to be to increase the supply of oxygen to the
brain, which may be accomplished with aerobic exercises; walking for three hours
each week suffices, as does swimming or bicycle riding.Such
aerobic exercises have helped elderly people switch between mental tasks, concentrate
better, and improve short-term memory. Exercise increases the number of connections
between neurons, which is responsible for improved memory. The International
Longevity Center released in 2001 a report which includes in pages 14-16 recommendations
for keeping the mind in good functionality until advanced age. Some of the recommendations
are to stay intellectually active through learning, training or reading, to
keep physically active so to promote blood irrigation to the brain, to socialize,
to reduce stress, to keep sleep time regular, to avoid depression or emotional
instability and to observe good nutrition. (1)
source
: wikipedia
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