Hello, dear readers of the Medicine and Health blog. You came to this page for a simple reason: you want to learn how to strengthen your memory, which often fails, especially if you are over 50. The article is extensive, you will find a lot of useful tips here
The problem of memory, or more precisely, its decline, worries many, especially retirees. I know this first hand. It’s rare that an elderly person who comes to me for a consultation, regardless of the main complaint, does not note that “something has happened” to his memory.
Many people come for this very reason, to find out how to strengthen memory and attention. So I decided that it would be nice to discuss this problem with you, my dear readers, especially since I can offer you delicious recipes that have already helped many to alleviate their condition to some extent.
What and how does a person remember?
This is an amazing thing - memory! Some words are stored in memory until the last breath. The first and most important, basic word “mother” is imprinted most deeply. Mom’s smile, caring, tired hands - I remember.
I not only remember my husband’s affectionate look, I not only hear his voice. The first doll, the first teacher - I remember. I also remember some meaningless episodes, scenes, pictures, smells. But I can’t remember what once seemed important—the dates that marked fateful turns in life. It flew out completely.
A.P. described these properties of memory very subtly. Chekhov.
“It happens that cranes flash on the horizon. A weak wind will carry their plaintive cry, and a minute later, no matter how greedily you peer into the blue distance, you will not see a dot, you will not hear a sound - just like people with their faces and speeches flash through life and drown in our past, not leaving nothing more than insignificant traces of memory."
Many people, especially those over 50, are characterized by a violation of the so-called short-term memory - for current, recent and upcoming events. A person does not remember not only the name of the film that he watched yesterday on TV, but also the plot, cannot remember who to call on the phone, and at the right moment forgets his phone number.
Elderly people at doctor’s appointments always ask: “How to strengthen memory and attention?”
And who among us has not experienced the chilling cold when, having left the house and finding ourselves at a considerable distance from it, doubts suddenly arise: did you lock the door, or turn off the iron or gas?
And the worst thing is that sometimes I really forgot. It is not for nothing that it is said that the memory of old people is like writing on sand, in contrast to the memory of children, which is like writing on stone.
Practice meditation and proper breathing
Meditation is actively promoted these days as a panacea for various ills. It really can bring you real benefits and pleasure.
First, meditation can speed up your heart rate, thereby increasing blood flow to the brain and enriching it with oxygen. Secondly, this practice will help you relax and concentrate, which has a surprisingly beneficial effect on your mental abilities and overall well-being.
Most meditation techniques involve deep breathing, which also helps improve memory and relieve stress. In just a few minutes a day, you will improve your health, gain a positive attitude and feel more energetic. Plus, it's free.
An anecdote on the topic of deterioration of short-term memory
Two friends, who were already over 80 years old, decided to visit their friend. Let's call her Tatyana. Tatyana, like her friends, had memory problems. Therefore, before the guests arrived, she wrote herself a note: “Don’t forget to offer the guests tea,” and put this note on the kitchen table. When they drank tea, Tatyana, going into the kitchen to wash the cups, saw her note.
I made tea again and served it to my friends. Entering the kitchen, I saw the note again and made tea again. We drank again. Finally, the guests said goodbye, thanked them and went home. And on the way, one says to the other: “Wow, Tatyana didn’t even treat us to tea!”, to which the other replies: “Did we really visit her?”
As M.Yu. Lermontov said: “All this would be funny if it weren’t so sad.”
Impaired short-term memory or forgetfulness is often accompanied by attention deficit: it is difficult for a person to concentrate, despite the fact that he tries to listen carefully and remember everything. They say about such people: “He looks and is invisible, listens and does not hear*.” How to strengthen the memory of such people?
They find it difficult to complete tasks that they previously handled effortlessly. And if any additional task appears, or, God forbid, several, then this becomes simply an impossible task.
It is clear that such disorders are often accompanied by emotional disturbances, increased irritability, anxiety, fears, and in some even aggressiveness. As a result, a person may develop depression.
On the other hand, older people remember events of long ago very well. This is long term memory. Grandma doesn’t remember her address, but she can describe her wedding dress perfectly, down to the smallest detail.
Older people are especially willing to share memories of past years if they are pleasant. Sometimes things get embellished. After all, everyone wants their life to look more beautiful. So in the past it seems better than it really was.
For an elderly person, an excursion into His past is not just memories. This is a balm, a medicine, and not only for the soul. “Just as a traveler sees a mirage in the desert, so the memory of the past is a joy to old people,” wrote the 19th century French poet Bérenger.
How many of us are so generous as to put aside, at least for half an hour, things that never end, and listen, even for the hundredth time, to the memories of people close and dear to us?
And then discuss, be surprised, praise and put it in the chest of your long-term memory - in the memory of your heart for life. After all, this is so easy for us and so important for the storyteller.
Positive emotions are one of the 3 pillars on which our health rests - both old, young and small.
No need to “go blind” and “change orientation”
It has also been proven that such popular methods of “recharging” memory do not actually work.
“Blind”, that is, from time to time doing familiar actions with your eyes closed. For example, disassembling something on the table, eating, brushing your teeth, or moving around the apartment. Our expert neurologist Anna Gorenkova believes that as a result of this exercise, you will most likely get a “shake-up for the brain” in the form of a hefty lump when you fly blindly into the closet. This will definitely not improve your memory. The sudden “deprivation” of some sense organ drives the brain into a very uncomfortable state (even if it’s a game); stress hormones - cortisol and acetylcholine - begin to be actively produced, which do not improve brain function, but, on the contrary, slow it down.
Also, “changing orientation” does not bring any particular benefit. In the sense - right-handers become left-handed for a while, and left-handers become right-handed. And do ordinary household actions with a non-dominant hand (dial a phone number, switch the remote control, iron clothes). It was previously thought that it strengthened the neural connections between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. But recent research from the University of Sydney has shown that this is useless and, on the contrary, confuses the brain. We are born right-handed or left-handed; this is genetically determined (except for cases when a person is forced to change his “leading” hand due to injury, for example).
“Remember, in Soviet schools it was popular, and then considered a failure and very harmful, to retrain left-handers to be right-handed in schools,” says our expert Anna Gorenkova. — There is evidence that “overeducated” children absorbed information worse, performed worse on logic and spatial thinking tasks, and were more irritable and susceptible to stress compared to “non-overeducated” left-handers.
Ways to improve memory and attention
Is it possible to keep a good memory for life and is it possible to restore or at least significantly improve if it begins to fail? For many decades, it was believed that about 100 thousand neurons per year die off in humans, especially in old age, which explains why we forget many events in our lives.
This is where the popular phrase came from: “Nerve cells do not recover.” In fact, as modern research has shown, healthy neurons do not die, and their performance must and can be restored.
The fact is that some nerve cells “hibernate”, while retaining accumulated knowledge and experience. The more such cells do not work, the more difficult it is to restore their vital functions.
A decrease in memory is inevitable, primarily for those who lead a “gray lifestyle” and are not satisfied with its quality.
“One third of older people retain amazing memory until the last days of their lives and are in no way inferior to young people. Most experience some decline in memory function. And only 12% of older people report a significant deterioration in brain function.”
But the years are not to blame for this. The great people of antiquity knew how to strengthen memory. The ancient Greek playwright Sophocles wrote his most famous works after crossing the 80-year-old mark.
The heyday of the composer Haydn's creative life came after 60 years. And in every person’s life there will probably be a friend or relative who, despite his age, has an excellent memory.
My mother-in-law, at the age of 72, did not have a notebook; she remembered all numbers, names, addresses, both old and new, by heart. The mother of one of my acquaintances, who holds a responsible position, at the age of 89 is his freelance personal secretary.
Every evening she reports to him about who called, what they talked about, reminds him when and where he needs to go, who to meet.
It is important that both of these women, despite their age and illness, took care of their appearance, regardless of whether they were at home, where no one but their own could see them, or whether they were going out somewhere. Both of them constantly read, were interested in events in the country, and loved their children and grandchildren. In a word, they had a goal and interest in life.
Love for life is usually mutual. Respect your body, listen to it, don’t poison it with all sorts of nasty things - and it will serve you faithfully for many years.
Have you ever wondered why there are such a large number of centenarians in the Caucasus? Because there, on the one hand, people of the older generation enjoy special respect and respect. They are considered, consulted, surrounded with warmth and attention.
There, old age is treated not as a time of decline, but as a period of worldly wisdom, spiritual height and rich life experience. On the other hand, such an attitude obliges an old person to constantly work on himself, both mentally and physically, which allows him to overcome age-related difficulties and maintain optimism, self-esteem and dignity until his last days.
Learn something new
Memory is like a car: if you don't use it, you lose it.
To improve your memory and maintain brain performance, learn new things as often as possible. There is no recipe for longevity, but all long-livers have one thing in common (besides a healthy diet): they constantly use their minds. Learn a new dance, a new language, a new game. At the same time, you will also make new friends, and sociability is also very important, but more on that later.
How to strengthen memory and attention at home using folk remedies
- So, the first preventive measure is not to lose interest in life, “to be an eternal student.”
In order for the memory to be better, it must be trained like a muscle. It is no coincidence that there used to be cramming at school. Everyone criticized it and eventually liquidated it. And along with it, a good memory trainer was thrown into the trash. It is very useful to memorize foreign words, learn poems and songs. The more you need to remember, the better your memory will be.
- Then the idea of mental and physical activity.
The great German poet Goethe noted that in old age you need to work with your head much more than in youth. Why do many people age quickly when they retire? They fall out of the disciplinary circle of social activities, when they need to get up early, get themselves in order, travel, or even better - go to work at a brisk pace (if it is not far from home), communicate with employees, make some decisions, complete assigned tasks .
And once you retire, you no longer need to do any of this. Finally, you can “relax both soul and body.” It is this leisure-idleness, and not physical and mental work, that ruins people, reduces health and life expectancy.
How many people are there who, despite the fact that they no longer have to rush to work in the morning, will force themselves to get up early, “bring beauty and health to their face” and hurry out into the air to walk quickly, repeating to themselves or memorizing verses of songs, poems, foreign words on the go?
I think that most would prefer to soak in a warm bed longer and watch TV instead of learning something new. There will always be reasons ("valid") - poor sleep, eyes no longer see so well, joints "creak", bad mood, heavy head...
- Fatigue and stress worsen our memory. Therefore, resting in nature, and generally changing the environment, have a positive effect on the mechanisms of our memory.
- And finally, proper nutrition.
Foods that improve brain function
Can you use it to improve your memory? French scientist Daniel Parrot claims that our brain suffers from poor-quality food no less than our stomach. Our brain needs nutritious, balanced food.
Animal proteins contain all amino acids, including those that the body does not synthesize itself. That's why you need to eat at least a small amount of meat or fish per day.
Proteins are also found in products of plant origin, but their set of amino acids is incomplete. Therefore, vegetarians need a balanced diet to strengthen their memory. The most proteins are in nuts, cereals and legumes, buckwheat, rice, lentils, red and white beans.
Carbohydrates are broken down in the gastrointestinal tract into simple sugars. They are slow and fast. The body needs slow ones all the time. They are the fuel for neurons. We get them from pasta, bread, potatoes, and some fruits.
Fast carbohydrates (sugar, candy, cake, ice cream) instantly saturate the tissues with glucose, which burns just as quickly if there are no new portions.
Hypoglycemia occurs (a decrease in blood sugar below 70-80 mg%), which is manifested by fatigue, dizziness, memory impairment, and headache. Therefore, if possible, it is better to refuse them or consume them in limited quantities. The exception is sweet fruits.
One-third of the structure of the brain consists of fats (lipids), which contain unsaturated fatty acids. If the body has a deficiency or they are of poor quality, memory loss occurs.
In addition, they help reduce blood viscosity, improve blood circulation, including cerebral circulation, and increase the flow of nutrients to brain cells. Enough unsaturated fatty acids are found in fish oil and vegetable oils (linseed, olive, soybean, sunflower, peanut, rapeseed).
Foods containing phosphorus and iodine, such as fish, shrimp, seaweed, and seaweed, have a beneficial effect on memory. Seafood dishes should be on the table at least 3 times a week, and better yet, every day.
Fatty fish of noble breeds (salmon, tuna, mackerel, etc.) should be boiled. You can put tarragon, dill, rosemary, and garlic in the belly. Then cool and add lemon juice.
Fish broth is very healthy. It contains bioactive substances, including gelatin, which thins the blood and, by normalizing blood circulation, helps improve memory. Therefore, the broth should be used either for soup or for jelly.
Due to their high content of microelements, vitamins A and B, dates help restore strength and improve performance . In addition, they contain dopamine, a substance that activates thought processes.
Dried apricots are a real storehouse of substances useful for the blood vessels of the brain: phosphorus, potassium, magnesium. To improve memory, it is recommended to eat 50 g of dried apricots per day.
Even ancient doctors claimed that eating raisins helps suppress anger. Modern research shows that raisins protect nerve cells from exhaustion and can activate memory.
walnuts “a holiday for the brain.” This definition is not accidental - nuts contain lecithin, which helps to better absorb information, and selenium, which improves memory. If you give your child a handful of nuts every day, there will be no trace of absent-mindedness, and new material in class will be easy to remember.
Pastes for improving memory
- This dish will help improve not only memory, but also support the heart and blood vessels, normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, and increase hemoglobin levels in patients with iron deficiency anemia.
Mix dried apricots, raisins and walnuts passed through a meat grinder in equal quantities. Every day you need to eat a few spoons of this mixture.
- This paste is good for seasoning chicken, fish and meat broth.
You can not only decorate broths with it, but also eat it as a separate dish or spread it on bread. Can be used as a sauce for boiled eggs, containing lecithin, which improves brain function.
Pumpkin seeds (200 g), walnuts (200 g), celery (2 medium bunches), garlic (2 medium heads) - grind through a meat grinder or grind in a blender. Add spices to taste (ginger, turmeric, cumin, saffron, basil, thyme, suneli hops), sea salt, lemon juice to taste (about one large one). You can add more pine nuts without chopping. Keep the paste in the refrigerator. Recipes for two dishes that are good for breakfast.
- Soak whole wheat grains overnight. In the morning, cook over low heat until softened. Add salt before the end of cooking. Add raisins, chopped walnuts and honey to taste.
- Sprout or buy sprouted seeds of wheat, oats, peas, beans. Season with salt, add vegetable oil and lemon juice, add lemon zest.
Walnut kernel tincture
- Grind 15-20 walnut kernels, pour in 0.5 liters of vodka and leave in a warm, bright place for 14 days, strain, bottle and refrigerate.
Mind games don't help
It is generally accepted that intellectual exercises, such as solving crosswords or playing chess, help to prolong the youth of the brain and memory. However, according to scientists from the University of Edinburgh, this is not entirely true. After 60 years, it is physical exercise, not mental exercise, that will help stop brain shrinkage and delay the signs of aging. The results of the study were published in the highly respected medical journal Neurology. Data from a tomographic examination of 638 people of retirement age showed that in those who were actively involved in physical education for three years, brain volume decreased more slowly.
Moreover, the exercises should not be grueling and age-appropriate, that is, they should be gentle on the heart and joints. It is enough to walk 2-3 kilometers every day and do a small set of physical education in the morning (with an emphasis on gentle aerobic exercises - that is, related to breathing training - and strengthening muscles).
But examinations of those who did not engage in physical education, preferring only “food for the mind,” showed that intellectual recharging alone, alas, does not slow down the rate of brain shrinkage.
“What happened to you?”
There is a great game for children's memory and brain work. It's called "What Happened to You?" It does not require any cards, pens or other office supplies. You can play it right on the way from kindergarten to home.
You should ask your child simple questions: “What did you eat in the garden?”, “What were your activities?”, “What is the name of the teacher?”, “What was the girl Masha wearing?”, “What toy did the boy Grisha bring with him?”
Such classes should be carried out daily. They simultaneously improve the baby’s memory and speech. At first, most likely, the stories will be confusing, but gradually they will become voluminous and interesting.
What exercises that develop memory can be used for children of different ages?
Memory development occurs differently at different stages of a child’s growth and maturation, and therefore requires various auxiliary exercises. Let's look at the main ways to train memory for several age groups.
Up to 1 year
It would seem, how can one develop memory in such unintelligent children? It turns out that it is very possible and necessary. These are exercises that many parents perform intuitively. For example, it wouldn’t hurt even for infants to talk about various objects and their properties. This could be a cat that says “meow,” a phone that you can use to talk to your grandparents, a table that is shaped like a circle, and so on.
With a child aged 7-8 months, you can already “read” picture books, telling him about what is depicted on their pages. You can ask them to find hidden objects (you just need to hide them very close and literally in front of the baby), and play finger games. All this will lay the foundation for the formation and development of good memory in the subsequent stages of the child’s growing up.
From 1 year to 3 years
At this time, you should tell your child as much as possible about the objects and phenomena around him, explain the meaning of various words, discuss with him the events of the cartoons he watched, and even learn simple rhymes.
This is also the time to start playing more serious memory games. For example, you can show your child a picture, put it away, and then ask the child to remember what was drawn on it. You can place 3-4 objects in front of him, then remove one of them or change their location (of course, after telling the child to turn away), and then ask him to tell you what has changed.
From 3 to 6 years
Preschool children are serious kids, and you can do even more complex training and games with them. For example, you can ask them to remember certain sequences of words and reproduce them. To make the task more exciting and teach your child to memorize by association, you can show him some objects sequentially, then hide them all and ask him to restore the order of what he saw.
A simple exercise with the reproduction of all thematic words will also be very useful. The topic can be anything: food, animals, weather, and so on. To make the training more interesting, you can arrange a kind of competition for the number of words remembered, and repeat it periodically. This will stimulate the child to more actively remember new information.
From 6 to 9-10 years
This, in fact, is the last stage during which it is possible to improve the student’s memory simultaneously with its development, and not after its completion. Try not to miss this opportunity, because subsequently your child’s memory will respond to attempts to develop it much less actively.
Children of primary school age can move from specific subjects and thematic vocabulary to numbers and abstractions. And this is a very important aspect of the development of their thinking abilities. The essence of the exercises remains the same: this is memorizing the sequence of some elements, trying to remember all the appropriate words for any situation (instead of a specific topic, you can, for example, ask the student to choose suitable epithets for the nouns you call). Only these elements can already be numbers, and, for example, epithets can be varied, not just describing the color and shape of objects.
Find item
Place objects on the table, such as a pen, cup, spoon, etc. Have the child look at the arrangement and then turn away. In the meantime, remove one item. And when the baby turns around, ask what is missing on the table.
You can do this training with his toys. Arrange them in a row: bear, dog, car or doll...Approximately 10-15 toys. And then hide one toy. And when the child turns around, ask him what toy is missing and where it was located. And if he answers correctly, ask him to find her.
Learn a poem by heart
Take, for example, the poem “Our Tanya is crying loudly.” Read the first line to your child yourself, and then ask him to repeat it. When the child has repeated, ask him to show with gestures or facial expressions “what did this Tanya do or how did she do it.” Firstly, it’s easier to remember, and secondly, if he forgets, a gesture or facial expression will help him remember.
By the way, you can rhyme literally everything: the multiplication table, grammar rules, some information about animals, etc. Thus, the child will not only train his memory, but also receive useful and necessary information.
