Five research-tested ways of improving your memory

It is common to forget things some minutes after an event or after a long period. It all depends on your short term and long term memory. We are not robots to have a perfect memory of storing and retrieving information. At one point, you are likely to forget.

Our memories are varied and complex. We should comprehend how our memory works for us to learn on how to boost it.

Where do we store our information for the long term?

Human memory exists in three parts. There is a space for encoding information, storing, and retrieving. The information must go through a process before its storage. First, you encode the information in the brain then store in various part of the brain. You can retrieve the information when the need arises. The hippocampus of the brain stores short term information while neocortex stores long term information. Information in the hippocampus keeps on weakening over time. That is the reason for the loss of information in the short term memory.

Five research-tested ways to improve your memory.

Thesisgeek.com prepared these five proven ways of boosting your short and long term memory. You can try a combination of the approaches to step up your ability to recall contents you learn or read:

Physical Excessive.

Physical activities, such as running and walking, improve long term memory. Reading while on a light exercise improves one’s ability to recall. Engaging yourself in a simple exercise during encoding improves your ability to retrieve information in the long term memory.

Have enough sleep and take some caffeinated drink

Our brain clears out some memories to strengthen others during sleep. It is necessary to have a quality time of sleep night to freshen up your memory. Having enough sleep helps in discarding unnecessary information. Decongested memory allows easy remembrance.

Do you desire to boost your long term memory? Take some coffee drinks. This must be good news for coffee addicts. Caffeine in coffee drink improves long term consolidation of information in memory. It also positively improves the retrieval of information from memory.

Be attentive.

Encoding information before storage requires concentration. A successful encoding process results in long term storage of the information. Pay exceptional attention to the first encounter of something or event for easy remembrance.

Using questions and Keep on retrieving information from the memory

You can improve your memory by asking yourself some questions. Keep on asking yourself questions about something to gage if you can remember. After reading through your notes, ask yourself some questions and confirm what you can remember. Go back to the notes and find out answers to what you forgot. Doing it over and over again will eventually improve the retaining of information in your long term memory.

Just like you may keep on questioning yourself over and over again, consider doing the same with information retrieval. Practice retrieval of the information from your memory to strengthen retention. This practice is also called space retrieval. Repeat retrieval of information and check what you got wrong until you get it right.

Space your study session.

Spacing out your study session is more important than one-time cramming. Cramming deals with information in a short time memory. It is not the best way to improve memory.

Conclusion

Human memory is limitless. It keeps on expanding. Retaining information for a long time is a process. You need to follow some practice approaches to improve your memory. In the above approach, you need to be attentive to enhance your memory. Include some coffee drink and maintain concentration when studying. You also need to exercise to activate your memory and improve retention. After reading, keep on retrieving and questioning what you have read. Repetitive questioning and retrieving of information will boost your ability to recall.

Since your memory keeps on expanding, make good use of it. You are never too old to forget all you learn!