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Scientific Ways to Improve Your Memory

Improving your brain's capabilities, in many ways, is the same as trying to improve your body's physical capabilities. If you were preparing for a physical competition, you would exercise, diet and practice repeatedly until you achieved the results you wanted. If you drill your mind with mental exercises and keep a good diet, your brain's ability to adapt and improve will shock and amaze you.

  1. Get Plenty of Sleep

    • Get seven to eight hours of sleep every night, and your memory will increase, as a full sleep cycle helps the brain move your short-term memory into long term. During sleep there is added activity in the hippocampus, the memory center of the brain, making recollection easier and faster.

    Eat Well

    • You may have heard the term "brain food" before, referring to foods designed to boost brain power and recollection. These foods are not as mysterious as they sound. A diet based on fruit, vegetables, whole grains and a small quantity of healthy fats will improve your memory and boost brainpower. Also, red wine is rich in resveratrol, which boosts blood flow in the brain. Drink it in moderation and it will reduce your risk of Alzheimer's disease. You may have already heard that a steady supply of Omega-3 is also great for maintaining a healthy brain.

    Mentally Exercise Often

    • On your journey to adulthood, you've developed neural pathways that allow you to solve problems quickly, process information and perform tasks over and over again. Most of this happens with very little mental effort, so you have to introduce new problems, tasks and information to build strength in your brain and form new neural pathways. Try out some brain exercising activities that you've never done or do rarely. Try a crossword puzzle or daily Sudoku. Attempt to solve a Rubiks Cube. Play scrabble or chess. As long as it's something new that breaks your routine and challenges your mental capacity, then it's going to help your memory improve.

    Increase Your Social Interaction

    • Meaningful relationships with other people are what motivates us to be better and improve. Memories are more likely to stay in your mind when you are motivated to hold onto them. Happy or noteworthy memories with other people are those you will want to remember, so you'll be unlikely to forget them. A study from the Harvard School Public Health revealed that those with an active social life had the slowest rate of memory decline.

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