How to Improve Memory & Language Skills for Infants and the Elderly

At birth, infants have most of the brain cells in place. During the first three years in life, their brain will make connections and all the new experiences leave traces in their brains. An infant learns to speak and their ability to remember things develops. According to the Franklin Institute, our brain is capable of rewiring, and even in old age a person can grow new neurons. The process of neuroplasticity enables the brain to grow new neural connections throughout life, which is a fairly recent concept, in that scientists once believed that the number of brain cells was fixed at birth, and that as brain cells died off with aging, functionality would be permanently lost. These new neural connections can compensate for lost functionality, such as injury or aging. It is important to challenge your brain and to continue to learn new things, and elderly people can develop new skills and maintain their level of previously existing skills.

Instructions

Improving Language and Memory in Infants

• 1

  Infants are curious and like to explore the world.

  Talk and engage in conversations with infants. An infant learns to use language by engaging in little conversations with their parents, grandparents and caregivers. Personal interaction with language is vital for development of a wide range of language skills.

• 2

  Share photos and stories. Looking at photos of things that has happened the last couple of days promotes the development of memory in infants. Hearing someone talking about recent events helps to jog the memory. Infants have limited language skills and cannot describe events. Yet seeing photos and hearing the same story helps to establish memories.

• 3

  Listen to music and sing. Infants can learn new words and listening to the same music helps to promote the development of recognition memory. Recognition memory is the ability to recognize previously encountered events in your life.

• 4

  Play with language. Engaging in little babbling activities with an infant is a wonderful way to teach him about turn-taking and to promote the development of language skills. Use poems and nursery rhymes to encourage a love for language.

• 5

  Be physically active. Physical exercise promotes learning since it increase the blood flow in the brain. This promotes the development and maintenance of memory skills in infants.

• 6

  Playing memory games is a fun way to exercise memory. Play simple memory games with infants where you choose a little toy and hide it in your hand. Let your infant choose which hand the toy is in. Hiding games where you cover toys under a blanket is a fun way to promote memory skill. Most infants do not look for things so you need to help them by removing the blanket.

Improving Language and Memory in the Elderly

• 7

  Fresh air and exercise help maintain memory skills.

  Join clubs and meet up with friends. Elderly people can maintain their language skills by actively using their language skills. Learning a new language is a great way to meet people and to improve language skills.

• 8

  Create a scrapbook with photos and little notes. Scrapbooks and photo albums help elderly people to rebuild memories and maintain their memory skills. It is also good to actively use memory by trying to remember details about previous events and activities. Write down the names of people in the photos. This helps elderly to remember acquaintances' names.

• 9

  Use music activities with songs and tunes that elderly people used to listen to when they were younger. Elderly people often remember the text to songs and things that happened when they listened to the particular song.

• 10

  Solve crosswords and language puzzles.These activities are a great way to maintain language skills and to learn new words.

• 11

  Daily physical activity promotes the development and maintenance of memory skills in elderly. The exercise level does not have to be vigorous. Substantial benefits can occur with a moderate amount of activity such as a daily walk.

• 12

  Play memory games that involves different types of memory skills. Traditional memory games where you match two cards promotes short-term memory. Checkers and chess also helps with short-term memory skills. Trivia games involves long-term memory skills. There are also a wide range of online memory games where elderly people can practice a wide range of memory skills.