How To Keep Mentally Alert

June 22, 2009 by John Taylor  
Filed under Improve Memory

Have you recently noticed that your mind tends to wander no matter what you are doing? Do you walk into a room only to forget why you even came in? You are not alone. This sort of absentmindedness plagues a huge percentage of the world’s population. It can be very frustrating, and so you should try to do your best to keep an alert mental state. There are many ways to do this, and if you are not taking advantage of any of them then you should start today. Read on to find out about some of the most common and popular ways to maintain mental alertness.

Exercise is the one that you will hear the most. It is easy to get caught in a rut of going to work and then coming home and relaxing. Instead of sitting in front of the TV all night, why don’t you lift some weights or go for a run? Exercise releases just the right chemicals into your brain to make you more alert, not only during the exercise, but for the rest of the day until you go to sleep. This is why so many people like to start off their days with a good run through the neighborhood. The type of exercise you choose will depend on what options are available to you.

Another way to increase mental alertness is to stimulate your mind at least once per day. It is very healthy to always teach yourself new things. Whether you sit down and read a science fiction book with interesting scientific theories, or you read a college textbook and discover new things about biology, there is everything to be gained from learning new things. Not only do you get to keep the great knowledge, but you also will sustain higher levels of alertness due to the effort that it takes to learn all of those things. So go to the library today and find a book that piques your interest.

A good amount of sleep is crucial to being mentally alert. If you are only getting 5 hours of sleep per night and you are complaining about being forgetful, then you should slap yourself in the face right now. The answer is very obvious. All you need to do is regularly sleep more. If you don’t give your mind enough time to recuperate, then you can expect to see poorer performance. If your job requires you to get up early, then go to bed earlier. If you have too much to do, then all you need to do is plan your days out better so that you get things done more efficiently and leave more time to sleeping.

Ultimately the best thing to do is to combine these three methods to remain as mentally awake as possible. If you start to utilize all 3 of these, you should start seeing improvements in a matter of days. Hopefully you will stop losing things, stop forgetting important dates, and generally stop being so absentminded. If the problem persists, then you should talk to a doctor or a shrink about any stressors that could be causing you to mentally stray away from other areas in your life. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but you shouldn’t ignore the possibility.

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A Healthy Body Is A Healthy Mind and Memory

June 10, 2009 by John Taylor  
Filed under Improve Memory

The reliability of memory is still a question as in most cases it is distorted by suggestions. The certainty of memory depends on the encryption it had on the mind of the individual and the duration. Diminishing memory is the result of neurons malfunction - there are three ways that can help us identify factors that can stimulate our memory. We should figure out ways to stop neurons from dying and stimulate growth of new neurons and by getting the existing neurons to function efficiently. Memory i.e is chemical compound known as Ampakines enhances neurons functioning. Other ways to improve memory is to start taking memory training and practicing games such as cross words, brainteasers and other memory exercises.

Apart from memory training, consuming a healthy diet rich in Omega 3 fats and antioxidants also helps. Five small meal patterns should be followed as it prevents blood sugar from lowering i.e the primary source of energy to the brain. Jogging and brisk walks helps in blood circulation and have been proved to reduce the risk of Alzheimer disease. Getting proper sleep and stress reduction helps curtailing the production of cortisol in our body that harms memory and is known to shrink the memory center in brain.

Regular practice helps us give a jog to our memory that is as fruitful as the physical jogging. We should let our brain run thru as many facts it retains and associate each with some picture, color or number to make it easier for recall. But accuracy of recall depends on proper functioning of three aspects of the brain the part that form, stores and receives memory. At times dreams are made of distorted memories we usually club our experiences with a particular memory creating a new situation altogether.

People who have suffered head injuries or suffer any kind of pain otherwise tend to be more forgetful according to one of the studies. The study goes on to suggest that chronic pain leads to brain shrinkage and degradation of neurons. People with emotional distress and chronic pain are more susceptible to brain atrophy. Varying pains have varying effects on the brain and affects different regions in our brain. Such conditions can be improved and memory can be improvised by realistic psychotherapy and medication.

It is often observed that we remember traumatic events better than happier moments. It is associated with a certain type of protein produced in our brain while we go thru that experience and makes it embedded in the long-term memory zone of our brain. These proteins help in strengthening the connection in neurons acting as a catalyst in memory storage. This study is being used now to improve memory conditions by treating our brain with the same kind of protein to make our memory everlasting. Another study goes on to prove that zinc helps to improve memory especially in children. This study has been used at the grass root level by more health drink and medical supplement manufacturers who target their zinc fortified drink, cereal and nutritional supplements to adolescents.

There are ayurvedic cures in the market that claim to guarantee similar results like “Memocare” the product is a mix of herbs that promises to reduce stress and anxiety. It also promises to accelerate brain function and improve memory. There are hosts of other companies too offering similar promises like Brain quicken that claims to be effective in one hour but it mainly targets to improve short-term memory. Its constituents are a complex mix of nutrients and other propriety constituents.

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