Tag Archives: Skills

Brain Training: It Works (to Improve Mental Skills) and It Doesn’t (to reduce Brain Age) : Brain Training

Article by Alvaro Fernandez

Copyright (c) 2009 SharpBrains

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic and USC Davis have just announced publication of their IMPACT study at the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The press release announces:

– “Of the 487 healthy adults over the age of 65 who participated in a randomized controlled trial, half used the Brain Fitness Program for 40 hours over the course of eight weeks. The Brain Fitness Program consists of six audio exercises done on a computer, and is intended to “retrain the brain to discriminate fine distinctions in sound, and do it in a way that keeps the user engaged,” Zelinski explained.” The other half of participants spent an equal amount of time learning from educational DVDs followed by quizzes.

This is a very interesting study, in that it shows both that brain/ cognitive training works, and that it doesn’t work.

What do I mean?

Well, it is time we move beyond this superficial discussion on it works/ it doesn’t work, and we started discussing Work for Whom? Work for What?

1) It works: the intervention (computerized cognitive training) showed cognitive benefits beyond the control (educational DVDs followed by quizzes). This is significant both in that it shows that people over 65 can improve their mental abilities, and that can be done in scalable ways, thanks to emerging technology tools. Obviously more research needs to be done, but results like these would have been considered impossible not so long ago.

2) It doesn’t work: those cognitive benefits were closely related to the trained auditory areas. The results don’t support grandiose claims that the program “helps rejuvenate one’s brain 10 years” or similar, which we hear all too often.

This is but one study in a rapidly growing area (this one is pretty large, and multi-site, and conducted by independent researchers). The key questions are becoming:

– 1) who may benefit most from improving on specific cognitive domains- auditory processing in this case?,

– 2) how can healthcare professionals support patients from a preventive and brain maintenance point of view (please note the study above had nothing to do with Alzheimer’s Disease, but with the enhancement of cognitive functions)

– 3) how can consumers navigate the growing number of products and claims?

I interviewed USC Davis’ Elizabeth Zelinski, one of the scientists involved in the study, and this is what she said:

– “The program we used, Brain Fitness 2.0, trains auditory processing. The people in the experimental group improved very significantly, which was not that surprising. What was very surprising was that there was also a clear benefit in auditory memory, which wasn’t directly trained. In other words, people who were 75-years-old performed auditory memory tasks as well as average 65-year-olds, so we can say they reversed 10 years of aging for that cognitive ability.”

In short, if you are considering buying some of these new programs, for yourself, your patients, a loved one…you do need to do a bit of homework. Yes, it would be easier if there were more specific and categorical answers…but for the time being there aren’t, apart from the general guidelines to stay active physically and mentally, manage stress levels, have a balanced nutrition.

So, ask yourself, what specific cognitive abilities would you like to work on and improve? what program offers credible evidence that it may help exercise and improve them? for what group of people (age, healthy or clinical problems,…) does the program seem like a better fit?

Alvaro Fernandez is the CEO and Co-Founder of SharpBrains.com, a website that reviews resources for brain fitness and offers brain teasers. SharpBrains has been recognized by Scientific American Mind, Newsweek, The New York Times, and more. Alvaro holds MA in Education and MBA from Stanford University, and teaches The Science of Brain Health at UC-Berkeley Lifelong Learning Institute. You can learn more at http://www.sharpbrains.com/










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Natural Ways to Reduce Memory Loss and Improve Your Memory Skills : Memory Exercises

Article by Valerie Balandra

Do you occasionally have one of those “senior moments” where you walk into a room and then totally blank out on why you went in there, or scramble mentally to remember the name of a person to whom you were just introduced? These small memory lapses happen to everyone – they are simply part of the brain’s constant efforts to sort out, prioritize and file away the information it is constantly receiving.

Minor forgetfulness is a normal part of getting older and generally does not affect your life in any significant way. On the other hand, if lapses in memory start to get in the way of your ability to function normally, there may be some cause for concern. Getting lost in a familiar place or repeating the same sentence several times in a single conversation should raise a red flag signaling that there may be a more serious problem.

However, if you believe you are experiencing significant memory loss, you should not automatically assume that you are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Memory is a complex process involving many different areas of the brain, and there are many different causes of memory loss. Most of these are treatable, and even reversible. It is important to remember that in large part, maintaining healthy brain function is under your own control.

Memory loss can be caused by any of the following conditions:

* Stress, Depression, AnxietyThese common psychological disorders may damage the neural pathways in the affected areas of the brain, leading to confusion and a decreased ability to concentrate.

* Stroke Stroke can cause damage to many different areas of the brain, affecting the ability to process and recall memories.

* Head InjuriesConcussion and other head injuries can cause temporary memory loss.

* Impaired Thyroid FunctionHypo- and hyperthyroidism create hormonal imbalances which may affect memory.

* MedicationsCertain medications can cause dementia-like symptoms. Even some topical analgesics used for arthritis pain can cause memory lapses if the liver is not functioning properly and cannot flush these chemicals out of the body quickly enough.

* Environmental ToxinsCarbon monoxide, heavy metals such as lead and mercury, pesticides, and even the chemicals in certain hobby items can interfere with memory and concentration.

* MenopauseThe hormonal changes which occur during menopause can create temporary disconnects in memory recall.

* Dietary DeficienciesInsufficient levels of the vitamins B1 and B12 may impair cognitive ability.

* Excessive Alcohol Consumption and Drug UseAlcohol and recreational drugs deplete vitamin B1 levels, affecting cognition and memory.

* Natural AgingAging can cause brain function to slow down somewhat. Simply taking a bit longer to call up a memory may be misinterpreted as memory loss.

* Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)MCI may be diagnosed when memory loss moves beyond minor gaffs to more significant lapses like forgetting the names of your grandkids or getting lost in a familiar location. MCI can be a precursor of Azheimer’s disease, but it does not always lead to dementia. While it can be frightening and sometimes disruptive, most seniors with MCI are able to live more-or-less normal lives.

* Alzheimer’s DiseaseAD is the most common form of dementia. It is degenerative disease caused by the formation of protein deposits in the brain.

* Other Types of DementiaSenile dementia can have numerous causes, but the results are generally similar. Patients tend to display inappropriate social behavior, emotional disturbance, loss of communication skills, and a deteriorating ability to make judgments. Dementia can result from vascular blockages, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease.

Now for the good news. Amidst all these threats to long-term mental agility, there are plenty of things you can do to improve your cognition and retain your memory skills into your later years. The benefits of these exercises are enormous, both for your mental and your physical well-being.

* DetoxA detoxification program is highly effective in flushing toxins from the body and improving liver function, ensuring that the body can continue to cleanse itself of harmful chemicals.

* Memory exercises – crossword puzzles, Sudoku, reading, writing, and specifically designed memory games all help to keep neural pathways humming along.

* Exercise is vital for a healthy mind and body. Regular physical activity improves blood flow to the brain and reduces the risk of memory loss.

* Diets rich in whole grains, lean proteins, and fresh organic fruits and vegetables give you the nutrients you need while avoiding toxins from pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.

* Memory supplements are very useful in enhancing memory, even reversing memory loss in many cases.Some effective memory supplements:

– Gingko Biloba;- Ginseng;- Acetyl-L-carnitine;- Omega-3 fatty acids;- Vinpocetine, from the periwinkle plant;- Huperzine A (Chinese club moss);- Phosphatyl choline, found in egg yolks and soy;- Pirecetam, a synthetic memory enhancer.

By taking control now, you are giving yourself every chance at a healthy, fulfilling life. No matter what your age, you will benefit from some simple lifestyle choices and memory enhancing techniques.

For more information on memory loss and effective memory supplements that can help visit www.integrativepsychiatry.net Valerie Balandra NP uses an integrative and functional medicine approach to brain health. For consultations call 941 371-7997.










Short Term Memory : Sharpen Memory Skills to Sharpen the Mind

Article by Stephen Lau

Copyright (c) 2009 Stephen Lau

You don’t have to be forgetful. You don’t have to live with poor memory. Bad memory is not something you were born with and cannot be changed. The good news is that you can sharpen memory skills to sharpen the mind. Yes, you can significantly improve memory through the applications of basic memory tools.

Learn these basic memory tools to sharpen the mind to improve memory.

1. Good memory is a result of relevant mental associations. In mental processing, you associate the unfamiliar with the familiar, thereby enabling you to recall the new information as soon as you associate it with the old information you already know or remember.

2. Visualization is another powerful basic memory tool to help you sharpen the mind. Seeing is believing, and a picture is worth a thousand words. If you can vividly visualize something in your mind’s eye, your memory of that becomes more vivid, and you will retain that memory for longer.

3. Being creative and imaginative is an indispensable asset in good memory. The reason is that with a creative mind, you can come up with mental associations that are totally outrageous. The more absurd your mental associations are, the longer they will stick in your memory. You can learn to become more creative and imaginative through more practice. As long as you can think of something extraordinary, you can create out-of-the-ordinary mental associations that you will not easily forget.

4. The human mind has a great capacity for storage of information. In fact, we have used up only about ten percent of the storage space. To help you remember all types of information as well as to retrieve the stored information, you need to think logically and categorize systematically the information in your mind’s eye. The brain is like a file cabinet, where you put different types of information according to different categories or headings.

When your mind initially receives the information, it goes into your sensory memory, which is fleeting. In other words, the information becomes only short-term memory. If nothing is done about it, it will be forgotten soon. To be able to remember it and therefore be able to recall it later, you need to repeat that information, and that is where all the basic memory tools come into play.

You can associate the new information (short-term) with something you already know; you can visualize what the information will look like in your mind’s eye; you can use your imagination to make the image not only vivid but also absurd so that it will stick in your memory; and you categorize it in your mental file cabinet for subsequent retrieval. All you need is repetition of the information using all the basic memory tools to sharpen memory skills. Repetition holds the key to transfering short-term memory to long-term memory.

However, the process of repeating and remembering may not be as simple and straighforward as you wish: there may be obstacles to hinder the process. These obstacles include distraction, lack of focus, inadequate motivation, and stress.

The will is strong, but the mind is weak. You want to remember the information, but there may be distractions, such as noises around you, your memory of somethng else in the past, or your mental preoccupation with something in the future. If you cannot focus on remembering it, or if you are not motivated to remember it (that is, thinking it is not too important for you), the remembering process, despite the repetition, will not be effective. Worst, if you are under stress, your mind will not be able to utilize efficiently the basic memory tools to sharpen memory skills to sharpen the mind.

To conclude, sharpen memory skills to improve memory. You can do it!

For more information on the wisdom of healthy living, go to Stephen Lau’s website: The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (http://www.healthylivinghealthylifestyle.com). Stephen Lau is a writer and researcher with books and websites on health, Chinese healing, eating disorders, golf, and money matters. Visit his web page: A Healthy Mind.










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Short Term Memory : Increased Memory – How to Get Increased Memory Skills

Article by Todd David

Do you remember when you were a kid, you could recite every line to your favorite song, your most beloved movie scene, and every one of your friends’ phone numbers without hesitation. Unfortunately, your mind aged, along with the rest of your body. As a direct result, your memory skills have faded. Nowadays, you are lucky if you can find your car in the mall parking lot. Fortunately, a number of easy techniques exist to improve your depleting memory skills.

To begin improving your memory, you should start eating the right brain foods to boost your mental skills. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are always the best selections for your body. Colorful produce selections are full of antioxidants that protect your brain cells. Start eating more spinach, broccoli, and romaine lettuce.

Make sure that you get plenty of omega-3 fatty acids. The best source of omega-3 fatty acids is fish, such as tuna, salmon and herring. These fish can also help your brain fight off Alzheimer’s disease. Besides fish, you can always get plenty of omega-3 fatty acids from walnuts, soybeans, cauliflower, cabbage, cloves and mustard seeds.

Do need eat too much saturated fat, or your memory and overall concentration skills may suffer. Research has concluded that high-saturated fat can lead to impaired memory in lab rats. Dark meat is higher in saturated fat than white meat. Butter, cream, cheese, ice cream, sour cream, whole-milk and 2% milk are also high in both saturated fats and cholesterol. Margarine, skim milk and yogurt are healthier alternatives for your memory, as well as your heart and the size of your belly.

Believe it or not, drinking red wine in moderation also helps your memory skills and cognition. If you are a woman, do not drink more than 1 glass a day. Men can enjoy 2 glasses of red wine on a daily basis. Not unlike eating peanuts, grapes and berries, red wine boosts blood flow in the brain, assisting in your memory skills.

Another easy tip to stop forgetting so much is to pay as close attention to important information as possible. Avoid distractions and focus on something for at least 8 seconds to let it soak into your brain. Try to relate any key information to as many senses as you can. Remember the view from the driver’s seat. Were there any distinct smells? Could you hear cars on the street? Jotting down facts on paper also helps your memory to recall the info at a later date.

When it comes to your mental state and memory skills, both human growth hormone and HCG Injections increase focus and memory skills. Research has concluded that the two different hormone therapies have a positive impact on your body’s ability to produce proteins in your brain that help you to concentrate. At the same time, these proteins increase your capacities to store both long term and short-term memories. However, be careful never to rely on either HGH or HCG injections from another country, as foreign nations do not have our Food and Drug Administration to confirm your safety. Also, never trust ineffective HGH or HCG pills, sprays or creams, as they are all useless scams. Once you remember to get a prescription for either HGH Injections, or injections of HCG, you wcan quickly gain the memory of an elephant.

Now that I am middle-aged, I am embarrassed to drive to the mall. Who knows if I will ever be able to find my car in the giant parking lot? It is embarrassing. I tried placing a tennis ball on my antenna to make my car stick out, but everyone is doing that nowadays. The trick is no longer effective. I spoke to my doctor, and he decided to write me a prescription for both HGH Injections, as well as injections of HCG to keep me from forgetting so much information. Thanks Doc!










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Exercises for Short Term Memory Can Supercharge Your Mental Skills

As with any other muscle mass in the body, the brain must be used or worked out often to be held in excellent form. In fact, there are plenty of people who use exercises for short term memory to assist in keeping their own brains sharp. There are more advantages to any very good short term memory than you may think. Precisely what is short term memory? This is the brain’s strategy for keeping information that people accumulate via the five senses every day, like your good friend’s latest contact number, the spot where you placed your keys last night, a recipe which you saw on television, and much more. Short term memory is effortlessly shed, and this is actually a fantastic thing, since the brain processes a lot of data every second. If all of us don’t forget every little thing we have seen, listened to, or smelled, our minds will be a mess of rubbish and unproductive facts. The mind only will keep what you think is very important. However short term memory can also be essential, and by using exercises for short term memory, you’ll be able to improve the quantity of important details that you maintain in mind.

Training with Visual and Picture Games

There are several exceptional exercises for short term memory that can be reconstructed as games, much like the memory flash card game. Those are used with solitary pictures of objects or forms though. Just about any game of the kind can always be transformed into a much more complex activity where you can have fun and exercise your mind while doing so.

For example, you can certainly use a picture you got on holiday, or why not a snap of your pets. Try and commit to memory what you can from the picture, cover it up, and then make a serious effort to put on paper every detail that you recall regarding the image or snapshot. This is a fun and effective way of improving your short term memory capability, and can certainly be played alone or together with relatives and buddies.

Training with Sound Files and Songs

This could be the same as the image games mentioned above, however with sound as opposed to pictures. Songs, or any kind of audio clip recording would certainly do, providing you can replay these to find out if you have got the details right. You’ll be able to finally discover the correct words to that tune which has been running around your head since you first listened to it, for instance. Tune in to a clip and take note of every detail that you pick up after it concludes, be it a song, a talk show, even a play or maybe a radioshow. Perform these exercises for short term memory frequently and you’ll never again need to bother about forgetting what exactly your teacher said concerning the next exam, or annoying your mother or wife by not remembering they told you to obtain a new carton of milk when you go to the store.

We have merely covered a pair of exercises for short term memory, however, these particular techniques can be revised and made into exceptional workouts for your own enjoyment or training. These kinds of exercises can be carried out anytime and wherever anytime you like, for instance waiting for the bus, on a stormy day, and so on. You must know that improving your memory skills can make quite a few daily activities easier and more effective.

One of the most effective ways of improving your memory is to buy Procera AVH. It is a brain power supplement made from safe natural ingredients designed to improve memory function. Alison Benjamin has read extensively about memory loss and suggests that anyone wanting to improve their memory try Procera AVH.

Clive Wearing - The man with no short-term memory

This is an edited version of the BBC documentary ‘Man without a memory’ (www.youtube.com It shows the essence of Clive’s disability (and it’s pretty sad to watch too!). Post-view question to ponder: do you think Clive is happy?
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Short Term Memory

Auditory Memory Exercises Helps Enhance Short Term Memory Skills

Music, addresses, faces, dates – these are a few of the things that a lot of people forget about frequently. If it happens to you more frequently than you’d like, there are a variety of strategies to bolster memory that everyone can always do. One particular strategy could be auditory memory exercises. It isn’t stating that it will not take some energy to improve your overall memory however; the harder you rehearse these exercise routines, the far better at memorizing you’ll get. Before long you’ll be requiring notepads and pencils less, and you’ll be able to remember more than you happen to be accustomed to. Most of these exercise routines could be somewhat entertaining. A number of the ways you can train your memory are mentioned below.

Playing the Radio Can Certainly Help Your Memory

When you’ve got a favourite radio station, you can have fun with the auditory memory exercises by taking note of their day-to-day top ten. Don’t write these down as you hear them, wait a little for every one of the songs to be played out before attempting to jot all of them down in order from the first to last. Initially, even trying to remember all of the titles can be difficult, particularly when they may be songs that you are not acquainted with. But with time, you can actually call to mind every one of the titles, the specific artist, as well as the album the track originates from. There are a variety of radio stations which have contests involving memorizing these types of top ten countdowns. So while gaining better short term memory, why not have fun and win a few bucks while doing so?

Two Brains are Much Better Than One

If you feel you simply can’t finish an auditory memory exercise all on your own, try looking for a companion to do it with you.

Generally, these partner exercises involve your companion detailing a collection of terms, or phrases – perhaps names, address contact information, phone numbers or any type of list – then you need to remember the list and repeat all the items in order. Once more, this process needs practice and time, but before long you’ll be seeing that you’re improving at memorizing details.

In the event you choose to accomplish your auditory memory exercises on your own, you’ll be able to practice with recordings of anything at all from songs to speeches to plays. Listen closely to a song which you’re not acquainted with or one in which you do not know the words and phrases, then try to note down the song lyrics just after. At the beginning, replaying the tune to confirm if you have gotten the words effectively would be common, but before long you will end up doing it less. Try to get to the level where you can listen to a brand new song and write down the lyrics accurately without replaying the record.

Auditory memory exercises are usually handy approaches to improve your short term memory as well as your overall memory skills as they can be performed from anywhere and also at any moment.

One of the most effective ways of improving your memory is to buy Procera AVH. It is a brain power supplement made from safe natural ingredients designed to improve memory function. Alison Benjamin has read extensively about memory loss and suggests that anyone wanting to improve their memory try Procera AVH.

Short Term Memory

Auditory Memory Exercises Helps Enhance Short Term Memory Skills

Music, addresses, faces, dates – these are a few of the things that a lot of people forget about frequently. If it happens to you more frequently than you’d like, there are a variety of strategies to bolster memory that everyone can always do. One particular strategy could be auditory memory exercises. It isn’t stating that it will not take some energy to improve your overall memory however; the harder you rehearse these exercise routines, the far better at memorizing you’ll get. Before long you’ll be requiring notepads and pencils less, and you’ll be able to remember more than you happen to be accustomed to. Most of these exercise routines could be somewhat entertaining. A number of the ways you can train your memory are mentioned below.

Playing the Radio Can Certainly Help Your Memory

When you’ve got a favourite radio station, you can have fun with the auditory memory exercises by taking note of their day-to-day top ten. Don’t write these down as you hear them, wait a little for every one of the songs to be played out before attempting to jot all of them down in order from the first to last. Initially, even trying to remember all of the titles can be difficult, particularly when they may be songs that you are not acquainted with. But with time, you can actually call to mind every one of the titles, the specific artist, as well as the album the track originates from. There are a variety of radio stations which have contests involving memorizing these types of top ten countdowns. So while gaining better short term memory, why not have fun and win a few bucks while doing so?

Two Brains are Much Better Than One

If you feel you simply can’t finish an auditory memory exercise all on your own, try looking for a companion to do it with you.

Generally, these partner exercises involve your companion detailing a collection of terms, or phrases – perhaps names, address contact information, phone numbers or any type of list – then you need to remember the list and repeat all the items in order. Once more, this process needs practice and time, but before long you’ll be seeing that you’re improving at memorizing details.

In the event you choose to accomplish your auditory memory exercises on your own, you’ll be able to practice with recordings of anything at all from songs to speeches to plays. Listen closely to a song which you’re not acquainted with or one in which you do not know the words and phrases, then try to note down the song lyrics just after. At the beginning, replaying the tune to confirm if you have gotten the words effectively would be common, but before long you will end up doing it less. Try to get to the level where you can listen to a brand new song and write down the lyrics accurately without replaying the record.

Auditory memory exercises are usually handy approaches to improve your short term memory as well as your overall memory skills as they can be performed from anywhere and also at any moment.

One of the most effective ways of improving your memory is to buy Procera AVH. It is a brain power supplement made from safe natural ingredients designed to improve memory function. Alison Benjamin has read extensively about memory loss and suggests that anyone wanting to improve their memory try Procera AVH.

Video: Short Term Memory

This clip is perfect for the Psychology Classroom as it takes students through a discussion of how short and long term memory actually work.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

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