Memory Improvement
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Memory improvement is the act of enhancing one's memory. Memory deficits, age-related memory loss, and people's want to improve their own memory have led to research on how to best help people to improve their memory. Research has also worked to determine what factors influence memory and cognition. Many different techniques to improve memory have been found, including
cognitive training Brain training (also called cognitive training) is a program of regular activities purported to maintain or improve one's cognitive abilities. The phrase “cognitive ability” usually refers to components of fluid intelligence such as executiv ...
,
psychopharmacology Psychopharmacology (from Greek grc, ψῡχή, psȳkhē, breath, life, soul, label=none; grc, φάρμακον, pharmakon, drug, label=none; and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none) is the scientific study of the effects drugs have on m ...
,
diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
,
stress management Stress management is a wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person's level of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of and for the motive of improving everyday functioning. Stress produces num ...
, and
exercise Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic ...
. Each technique has the ability to influence memory in different ways.


Memory function factors


Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity, or brain plasticity, is the ability of Neural circuit, neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. It is when the brain is rewired to function in some way that diffe ...
is the mechanism by which the brain encodes experience, learns new behaviours and relearns lost behaviour if the brain has been damaged.Kleim, JA., & Jones, TA. (2008)
Principles of experience-dependent neural plasticity: implications for rehabilitation after brain damage
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 51, S225-S239.
Experience-dependent neuroplasticity suggests that the brain changes in response to what it experiences.
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
drivers provide a great example of this dynamic. They undergo extensive training for 2–4 years, learning and memorizing street names, layout of streets within the city and the quickest cross-city routes. After studying London taxicab drivers over a period of time, it was found that the
grey matter Grey matter is a major component of the central nervous system, consisting of neuronal cell bodies, neuropil (dendrites and unmyelinated axons), glial cells (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes), synapses, and capillaries. Grey matter is distingui ...
volume increased over time in the posterior
hippocampus The hippocampus (via Latin from Greek , 'seahorse') is a major component of the brain of humans and other vertebrates. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. The hippocampus is part of the limbic system, a ...
, an area in the brain involved heavily in memory. The longer taxi drivers navigated the streets of London, the greater the posterior hippocampal gray matter volume. This suggests a correlation between a healthy person's mental training or exercise and their brains capacity to manage greater volume and more complex information. The increase in volume actually led to a decrease in the taxi drivers' ability to acquire new visuo-spatial information.Maguire, EA., Woollett, K., & Spiers, HJ. (2006)
London taxi drivers and bus drivers
a structural MRI and neuropsychological analysis. ''Hippocampus'', 16, 1091-1101.


Stress

Research has found that chronic and acute stress have adverse effects on memory processing systems. Therefore, it is important to find mechanisms in which one can reduce the amount of stress in their lives when seeking to improve memory. * ''
Chronic stress Chronic stress is the physiological or psychological response induced by a long-term internal or external stressor. The stressor, either physically present or recollected, will produce the same effect and trigger a chronic stress response. There is ...
'' has been shown to have negative impacts on the brain, especially in memory processing systems.Mizoguchi, K., Mitsutoshi, Y., Ishige, A., et al. (2000)
Chronic Stress Induces Impairment of Spatial Working Memory Because of Prefrontal Dopaminergic Dysfunction
The Journal of Neuroscience Vol 20(4) 1568-1574.
The hippocampus is vulnerable to repeated stress due to adrenal steroid stress hormones. Elevated
glucocorticoids Glucocorticoids (or, less commonly, glucocorticosteroids) are a class of corticosteroids, which are a class of steroid hormones. Glucocorticoids are corticosteroids that bind to the glucocorticoid receptor that is present in almost every vertebr ...
, a class of
adrenal The adrenal glands (also known as suprarenal glands) are endocrine glands that produce a variety of hormones including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol. They are found above the kidneys. Each gland has an outer cortex which ...
steroid hormone A steroid hormone is a steroid that acts as a hormone. Steroid hormones can be grouped into two classes: corticosteroids (typically made in the adrenal cortex, hence ''cortico-'') and sex steroids (typically made in the gonads or placenta). Wi ...
s, results in increased
cortisol Cortisol is a steroid hormone, in the glucocorticoid class of hormones. When used as a medication, it is known as hydrocortisone. It is produced in many animals, mainly by the ''zona fasciculata'' of the adrenal cortex in the adrenal gland ...
, a well known stress response hormone in the brain, and glucocorticoids are known to affect memory.McEwen, B.S. (1999)
Stress and Hippocampal Plasticity
Annual Review of Neuroscience. Vol. 22: 105-122.
Prolonged high cortisol levels, as seen in chronic stress, have been shown to result in reduced hippocampal volume as well as deficits in hippocampal-dependent memory, as seen in impaired declarative, episodic, spatial, and contextual memory performance. Chronic, long-term high cortisol levels affect the degree of hippocampal atrophy, resulting in as much as a 14% hippocampal volume reduction and impaired hippocampus-dependent memory when compared to elderly subjects with decreased or moderate cortisol levels.Sapolsky, R. M., Krey, L. C. & McEwen, B. S. (2002) The neuroendocrinology of stress and aging: The glucocorticoid cascade hypothesis. Endo. Rev. 7, 284−301. Relative to other brain regions, the hippocampus has a high concentration of glucocorticoid receptors. An example ''may'' be found in the London taxi drivers, as the anterior hippocampus was hypothesized to decrease in volume as a result of elevated cortisol levels from stress. * '' Acute stress,'' a more common form of stress, results in the release of adrenal steroids resulting in impaired short-term and working memory processes such as
selective attention Attentional control, colloquially referred to as concentration, refers to an individual's capacity to choose what they pay attention to and what they ignore. It is also known as endogenous attention or executive attention. In lay terms, attenti ...
,
memory consolidation Memory consolidation is a category of processes that stabilize a memory trace after its initial acquisition. A memory trace is a change in the nervous system caused by memorizing something. Consolidation is distinguished into two specific processe ...
, as well as long-term potentiation. The human brain has a limited
short-term memory Short-term memory (or "primary" or "active memory") is the capacity for holding a small amount of information in an active, readily available state for a short interval. For example, short-term memory holds a phone number that has just been recit ...
capacity to process information, which results in constant competition between stimuli to become processed.
Cognitive control In cognitive science and neuropsychology, executive functions (collectively referred to as executive function and cognitive control) are a set of cognitive processes that are necessary for the cognitive control of behavior: selecting and succe ...
processes such as selective attention reduce this competition by prioritizing where attentional resources are distributed. Attention is crucial in memory processing and enhances encoding and strength of memory traces.Shiffrin, R.M. (1976). Capacity limitations in information processing, attention, and memory. In W.K. Estes (Ed.), Handbook of learning and cognitive processes (Vol. 4). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. It is therefore important to selectively attend to relevant information and ignore irrelevant information in order to have the greatest success at remembering.Slagter, H.A., Lutz, A., Greischar, L.L., Francis, A.D., Nieuwenhuis, S., Davis, J.M., Davidson, R.J. (2007)
Mental Training Affects Distribution of Limited Brain Resources
PLoS Biol Vol 5(6).
:Animal and human studies provide evidence as they report that acute stress impairs the maintenance of
short-term memory Short-term memory (or "primary" or "active memory") is the capacity for holding a small amount of information in an active, readily available state for a short interval. For example, short-term memory holds a phone number that has just been recit ...
and
working memory Working memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold information temporarily. It is important for reasoning and the guidance of decision-making and behavior. Working memory is often used synonymously with short-term memory, ...
and aggravates
neuropsychiatric Neuropsychiatry or Organic Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that deals with psychiatry as it relates to neurology, in an effort to understand and attribute behavior to the interaction of neurobiology and social psychology factors. Within neurop ...
disorders involved in short-term and working memory such as depression and
schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
. Animal studies with rats have also shown that exposure to acute stress reduces the survival of hippocampal neurons.Tang, Y.Y., Ma, Y. Wang, Y., Fan, Y. Et al. (2007)
Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation
PNAS. vol. 104 no. 43 17152-17156.
:One of the roles of the
central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all par ...
(CNS) is to help adapt to stressful environments. It has been suggested that acute stress may have a protective function for individuals more vulnerable to their own stress hormones. Some individuals, for example, are not able to decrease or habituate their cortisol elevation, which plays a major role in hippocampal atrophy. This over-response of the central nervous system to stress therefore causes maladaptive chronic stress-like effects to memory processing systems.


Strategies


Cognitive training

Discovering that the brain can change as a result of experience has resulted in the development of
cognitive training Brain training (also called cognitive training) is a program of regular activities purported to maintain or improve one's cognitive abilities. The phrase “cognitive ability” usually refers to components of fluid intelligence such as executiv ...
. Cognitive training improves cognitive functioning, which can increase
working memory Working memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold information temporarily. It is important for reasoning and the guidance of decision-making and behavior. Working memory is often used synonymously with short-term memory, ...
capacity and improve cognitive skills and functions in clinical populations with
working memory Working memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold information temporarily. It is important for reasoning and the guidance of decision-making and behavior. Working memory is often used synonymously with short-term memory, ...
deficiencies.Morrison, AB., & Chein, JM. (2010)
Does working memory training work? the promise and challenges of enhancing cognition by training working memory
Psychonomic Society, Inc.
Cognitive training may focus on
attention Attention is the behavioral and cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a discrete aspect of information, whether considered subjective or objective, while ignoring other perceivable information. William James (1890) wrote that "Atte ...
, speed of processing,
neurofeedback Neurofeedback (NFB), also called neurotherapy, is a type of biofeedback that presents real-time feedback from brain activity in order to reinforce healthy brain function through operant conditioning. Typically, electrical activity from the brain i ...
, dual-tasking and
perceptual Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sense, sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous ...
training. Cognitive training has been shown to improve cognitive abilities for up to five years. In one experiment, the goal was to prove that cognitive training would increase the cognitive functions in older adults by using three types of training (memory, reasoning and speed of processing). It was found that improvements in cognitive ability not only was maintained over time but had a positive transfer effect on everyday functioning. Therefore, these results indicate that each type of cognitive training can produce immediate and lasting improvements in each kind of cognitive ability, thus suggesting that training can be beneficial to improving memory.Willis, SL., Tennstedt, SL., Marsiske, M., Ball, K., Elias, J., Koepke, KM., Morris, JN., Rebok, GW., Unverzagt, FW., Stoddard, AM., & Wright, E. (2006)
Long-term effects of cognitive training on everyday functional outcomes in older adults
National Institutes of Health, 296(23), 2805-2814.
Cognitive training in areas other than memory has actually been seen to generalize and transfer to memory systems. For example, the Improvement in Memory with Plasticity-based Adaptive Cognitive Training (IMPACT) study by the
American Geriatrics Society The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a non-profit professional society founded on June 11, 1942, for health care professionals practicing geriatric medicine. Among the founding physicians were Dr. Ignatz Leo Nascher, who coined the term "geri ...
in 2009 demonstrated that cognitive training designed to improve accuracy and speed of the
auditory system The auditory system is the sensory system for the sense of hearing. It includes both the sensory organs (the ears) and the auditory parts of the sensory system. System overview The outer ear funnels sound vibrations to the eardrum, increasin ...
presented improvements in memory and attention system functioning as well as auditory functioning. Two cognitive training methods are: * ''Strategy training'' is used to help individuals remember increasing amounts of information of a particular type. It involves teaching effective approaches to
encoding In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...
,
maintenance Maintenance may refer to: Biological science * Maintenance of an organism * Maintenance respiration Non-technical maintenance * Alimony, also called ''maintenance'' in British English * Champerty and maintenance, two related legal doctrine ...
, and/or
recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning * Recall (memory) * ''Recall'' (Overwatch ...
from working memory. The main goal of strategy training is to increase performance in tasks requiring retention of information. Studies strongly support the claim that the amount of information remembered can be increased by rehearsing out loud, telling a story with stimuli, or using imagery to make stimuli stand out. Strategy training has been used in children with
Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...
and also in older adult populations. * ''Core training'' involves repetition of demanding working memory tasks. Some core training programs involve a combination of several tasks with widely varying stimulus types. The diversity of exercises increase the chance that one of, or some combination of the training tasks, will produce desired training-related gains. A goal of cognitive training is to impact the ease and success of cognitive performance in one's daily life. Core training can reduce the symptoms of
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inap ...
(ADHD) and improve the quality of life involving patients with
multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
,
schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
and also, those who have suffered from
stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
. The manner in which a training study is conducted could affect the outcomes or perspection of the outcomes. Expectancy/effort effects occur when the experimenter subconsciously influences the participants to perform a desired result. One form of expectancy bias relates to
placebo A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general ...
effects, which is the belief that training should have a positive influence on cognition. A
control group In the design of experiments, hypotheses are applied to experimental units in a treatment group. In comparative experiments, members of a control group receive a standard treatment, a placebo, or no treatment at all. There may be more than one tr ...
may help to eliminate this bias because this group would not expect to benefit from the training. Researchers sometimes generalize their results, which can be misleading and incorrect. An example is to generalize findings of a single task and interpret the observed improvements as a broadly defined cognitive ability. The study may result in inconsistency if there are a variety of comparison groups used in working memory training, which is impacted by: training and assessment timeline, assessment conditions, training setting and control group selection. The Five x Five System is a set of memory enhancement tools that are scientifically validated. The system was created by Dr Peter Marshall for research purposes at Royal Holloway, University of London. The system involves 5 groups of 5 tactics designed to maximise storage and recall at each stage of the process of registering, short-term storage, long-term storage, consolidation and retrieval and was designed to test efficacy of including memory training in school curricula. Each section is of equal text length so that it can be taught verbatim in the same amount of time by all competent teachers.


Personal Application & Intellectual Conception

''
Testing Effect The testing effect (also known as retrieval practice, active recall, practice testing, or test-enhanced learning) suggests long-term memory is increased when some of the learning period is devoted to retrieving information from memory. It is differ ...
'' is when most of the learning is allocated to declarative knowledge
long term memory Long-term memory (LTM) is the stage of the Atkinson–Shiffrin memory model in which informative knowledge is held indefinitely. It is defined in contrast to short-term and working memory, which persist for only about 18 to 30 seconds. Long-t ...
is enhanced, this is otherwise known as the testing effect . In order to retrieve information from your memory you must practice doing it.  The more frequent practicing memorizing the more capable and likely you are to remember it later. The development of an effective retrieval structure that makes it easier to access information that has been stored in long-term memory is facilitated by using repeated retrieval practice. Testing effect occurs because of  the development of an adequate retrieval structure. The testing effect is different from re-reading because the information being learned is being practiced and tested which forces the information to be drawn from memory to recall. The testing effect allows for information to be recalled over a longer period as it is used as a self-testing tool and aids in having the ability to recall information in the future. This strategy is effective when using memory recall especially for information that is being tested on and needs to be in long-term memory. ''
Concept Maps A concept map or conceptual diagram is a diagram that depicts suggested relationships between concepts. Concept maps may be used by instructional designers, engineers, technical writers, and others to organize and structure knowledge. A conc ...
'' “are diagrams that link word concepts in a fluid manner to central key concepts.” They center around a main topic or idea, with lines protruding from the center with related information. Other concepts and ideas are then written at the end of each of the lines with new, related information. These related ideas are usually one or two words in length, giving only the essence of what is needed for
memory retrieval Recall in memory refers to the mental process of retrieval of information from the past. Along with encoding and storage, it is one of the three core processes of memory. There are three main types of recall: free recall, cued recall and serial ...
. Related ideas can also be drawn at the ends of the lines. This may be especially useful, given the drawing effect (people remember images better than words). These diagrams are beneficial because they require the creator to link and integrate different ideas, which improve critical thinking and leads to more meaningful learning. Concept maps also help to facilitate the storage of material in long term memory, as well as help to show visually an knowledge gaps that may be present. Concept maps have been shown to improve people's ability to complete novel problem solving tasks. The Drawing Effect is another way to improve memory. Studies show that images are better remembered than words, something that is now known as the picture-superiority effect. Furthermore, another study found that when people are studying vocabulary, they remember more when they draw the definition, in comparison to writing it. This is thought to be because drawing uses 3 different types of memory- elaborative, motor, and pictorial. The benefit of using pictures to enhance memory is even seen at an older age, including in dementia patients.


Techniques to improve memory: visual memory

Method of loci The method of loci is a strategy for memory enhancement, which uses visualizations of familiar spatial environments in order to enhance the recall of information. The method of loci is also known as the memory journey, memory palace, journey m ...
is a technique utilized for
memory recall Recall in memory refers to the mental process of retrieval of information from the past. Along with encoding and storage, it is one of the three core processes of memory. There are three main types of recall: free recall, cued recall and serial ...
when to-be-remembered items are associated with different locations that are well known to the learner. Method of loci is one of the oldest and most effective mnemonics based on visual imagery. The more you exercise your visual memory through using objects to recall information better memory recall you will have. The locations that are utilized when using the method of loci aids in the effectiveness of memory recall. For example, using the location of a driving route to work is more effective than using a room within a home because items in a room can be moved around while a route to work is more constant without items being moved around. There are limitations when using method of loci, it is difficult to recall any given item without working your way through the list sequence, which can be time consuming. Another limitation is that it is not useful when an individual is trying to learn and remember the real world. This mnemonic technique plus others are effective because they allow the learner to apply their own knowledge to enhance their
memory recall Recall in memory refers to the mental process of retrieval of information from the past. Along with encoding and storage, it is one of the three core processes of memory. There are three main types of recall: free recall, cued recall and serial ...
.


Psychopharmacology

Psychopharmacology Psychopharmacology (from Greek grc, ψῡχή, psȳkhē, breath, life, soul, label=none; grc, φάρμακον, pharmakon, drug, label=none; and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none) is the scientific study of the effects drugs have on m ...
is the scientific study of the actions of drugs and their effects on mood,
sensation Sensation (psychology) refers to the processing of the senses by the sensory system. Sensation or sensations may also refer to: In arts and entertainment In literature *Sensation (fiction), a fiction writing mode *Sensation novel, a British ...
,
thought In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, a ...
, and
behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as wel ...
. Evidence that aspects of memory can be improved by action on selective neurotransmitter systems, such as the
cholinergic system Cholinergic agents are compounds which mimic the action of acetylcholine and/or butyrylcholine. In general, the word "choline" describes the various quaternary ammonium salts containing the ''N'',''N'',''N''-trimethylethanolammonium cation. F ...
which releases acetylcholine, has possible therapeutic benefits for patients with cognitive disorders. Findings from studies have indicated that acute administration of
nicotine Nicotine is a natural product, naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and ''Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreational drug use, recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As ...
can improve cognitive performance (particularly tasks that require attention), short-term
episodic memory Episodic memory is the memory of everyday events (such as times, location geography, associated emotions, and other contextual information) that can be explicitly stated or conjured. It is the collection of past personal experiences that occurred ...
and
prospective memory Prospective memory is a form of memory that involves remembering to perform a planned action or recall a planned intention at some future point in time.McDaniel, M. A., & Einstein, G. O. (2007). ''Prospective memory: An overview and synthesis of an ...
task performance. Chronic usage of low-dose nicotine in animals has been found to increase the number of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and improve performance on learning and memory tasks. Short-term nicotine treatment, utilising nicotine skin patches, have shown that it may be possible to improve cognitive performance in a variety of groups such as normal non-smoking adults, Alzheimer's disease patients,
schizophrenics Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
, and adults with
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inap ...
. Similarly, evidence suggests that smoking improves visuospatial working memory impairments in schizophrenic patients, possibly explaining the high rate of tobacco smoking found in people with schizophrenia.


Diet

Food and memory may be connected. While no link has been isolated to prove a direct connection between diet and memory, there are several correlational studies to support the theory that food may affect memory. Some foods may be tied to improving cognitive function. Foods rich in
Omega-3 fatty acid Omega−3 fatty acids, also called Omega-3 oils, ω−3 fatty acids or ''n''−3 fatty acids, are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) characterized by the presence of a double bond, three atoms away from the terminal methyl group in their chem ...
s have shown a correlation with improvements in memory and brain maintenance because they increase the brain’s cell membranes. Foods high in Omega-3s include some fish and seafood, plant oils, seeds, and nuts.  Some of the B vitamins may also be associated with the brain and the decrease in the likelihood of the development of
Alzheimer’s disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...
. Vitamin B6 can be found in high quantities in fish, organ meats like liver, starches, and fruits. It is the combination of these foods and their nutrients that seems to have the greatest impact on the brain. Some diets incorporate many of these foods and are therefore may be considered as a potential diet for helping brain functions like memory. The
Mediterranean diet The Mediterranean diet is a diet inspired by the eating habits of people who live near the Mediterranean Sea. When initially formulated in the 1960s, it drew on the cuisines of Greece, Italy, France and Spain. In decades since, it has also incor ...
is the strongest contender for one of these diets that may be beneficial to the brain, but the data on the connection between memory and diet is not as certain as data on a diet that is known to be good for the heart. Some of the foods that are recommended in the Mediterranean diet are the same as ones already mentioned here such as fish, nuts, oil, fruits, and vegetables. This diet also recommends whole grains (a good source of vitamin E) and limiting the amount of red meat consumed.
Free radicals In chemistry, a radical, also known as a free radical, is an atom, molecule, or ion that has at least one unpaired valence electron. With some exceptions, these unpaired electrons make radicals highly chemically reactive. Many radicals spont ...
are a threat to memory processes because they cause
oxidative stress Oxidative stress reflects an imbalance between the systemic manifestation of reactive oxygen species and a biological system's ability to readily Detoxification, detoxify the reactive intermediates or to repair the resulting damage. Disturbances ...
.
Antioxidant Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricant ...
s combat the effects that free radicals cause. It appears that foods that are high in antioxidants can provide the extra help that is needed in order to combat free radicals. Plant foods have antioxidants and seem to be more effective than their supplemental drug counterparts most likely because of the way the other nutrients contained within the food item combine to work in the body along with the antioxidant. Fruits and vegetables make the list of antioxidants alongside seafood, seeds, nuts, and protein sources like beef and poultry. Vitamin E is an antioxidant, and like Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E can also be found in seeds and nuts, plant oils, and fruits and vegetables. In support of fruits and vegetables and their possible connection to aiding memory, a study found that men who ate more fruits and vegetables over the course of four years performed better on memory tests than the men who did not eat as many servings of fruit and vegetables daily.
Flavonoid Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...
s may also help with preserving memory by protecting neurons in the brain and promoting
regeneration Regeneration may refer to: Science and technology * Regeneration (biology), the ability to recreate lost or damaged cells, tissues, organs and limbs * Regeneration (ecology), the ability of ecosystems to regenerate biomass, using photosynthesis ...
. Some examples of foods with flavonoids are dark colored berries and dark chocolate. While not a true element of diet, chewing on a piece of gum may also help to improve certain elements of episodic and working memory. There is some evidence glucose consumption may have a positive impact on memory performance, though not in young adults.


Stress management

Meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...
, a form of mental training to focus attention, has been shown to increase the control over brain resource distribution, improving both
attention Attention is the behavioral and cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a discrete aspect of information, whether considered subjective or objective, while ignoring other perceivable information. William James (1890) wrote that "Atte ...
and self-regulation. The changes are potentially long-lasting as meditation may have the ability to strengthen neuronal circuits as selective attentional processes improve.Xiong, G.L. and Doraiswamy, M. (2009).
"Does Meditation Enhance Cognition and Brain Plasticity?"
''Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences''. Vol 1172, pages 63-69.
Meditation may also enhance cognitive limited capacity, affecting the way in which stimuli are processed. Meditation practice has also been associated with physical changes in brain structure.
Magnetic resonance imaging Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio wave ...
(MRI) of Buddhist insight meditation practitioners who practiced
mindfulness Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one's attention to the present-moment experience without evaluation, a skill one develops through meditation or other training. Mindfulness derives from ''sati'', a significant element of Hind ...
meditation were found to have an increase in cortical thickness and hippocampus volume compared to the control group. This research provides structural evidence that meditation practice promotes neural plasticity and experience-dependent cortical plasticity.


Exercise

In both human and animal studies,
exercise Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic ...
has been shown to improve cognitive performance on encoding and retrieval tasks.
Morris water maze The Morris water navigation task, also known as the Morris water maze (not to be confused with ''Water maze (neuroscience), water maze''), is a behavioral procedure mostly used with rodents. It is widely used in behavioral neuroscience to study ...
and radial arm water maze studies of
rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...
s found that, when compared to
sedentary Sedentary lifestyle is a lifestyle type, in which one is physically inactive and does little or no physical movement and or exercise. A person living a sedentary lifestyle is often sitting or lying down while engaged in an activity like soci ...
animals, exercised mice showed improved performance traversing the water maze and displayed enhanced memory for the location of an escape platform.Berchtold, N. C., Castello, N., & Cotman, C. W. (2010)
Exercise and time-dependent benefits to learning and memory
''Neuroscience'' 167, 588–597.
Likewise, human studies have shown that cognitive performance is improved due to
physiological Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
arousal, which speeded mental processes and enhanced memory storage and retrieval. Ongoing exercise interventions have been found to favourably impact memory processes in older adults and children. Exercise has been found to positively regulate
hippocampal The hippocampus (via Latin from Greek , 'seahorse') is a major component of the brain of humans and other vertebrates. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. The hippocampus is part of the limbic system, an ...
neurogenesis Neurogenesis is the process by which nervous system cells, the neurons, are produced by neural stem cells (NSCs). It occurs in all species of animals except the porifera (sponges) and placozoans. Types of NSCs include neuroepithelial cells (NECs) ...
, which is considered an explanation for the positive influence of physical activities on memory performance. Hippocampus-dependent learning, for example, can promote the survival of newborn neurons which may serve as a foundation for the formation of new memories. Exercise has been found to increase the level of
brain-derived neurotrophic factor Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), or abrineurin, is a protein found in the and the periphery. that, in humans, is encoded by the ''BDNF'' gene. BDNF is a member of the neurotrophin family of growth factors, which are related to the cano ...
(BDNF) protein in rats, with elevated BDNF levels corresponding with strengthened performance on memory tasks. Data also suggests that BDNF availability at the beginning of
cognitive test Cognitive tests are assessments of the cognitive capabilities of humans and other animals. Tests administered to humans include various forms of IQ tests; those administered to animals include the mirror test (a test of visual self-awareness) and t ...
ing is related to the overall acquisition of a new cognitive task and may be important in determining the strength of recall in memory tasks. A meta-analysis concluded that specifically
resistance training Strength training or resistance training involves the performance of physical exercises that are designed to improve strength and endurance. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate a variety of training te ...
, as compared to cardiovascular exercise, had no measurable effect on working memory. There is some evidence that also shows that the amount of effort put into exercising is positively correlated with the level of cognitive performance after working out both in the short term and long term.


Mental exercise

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
wrote a
treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions."Treat ...
about memory: '' De memoria et reminiscentia''. To improve recollection, he advised that a systematic search should be made and that practice was helpful. He suggested grouping the items to be remembered in threes and then concentrating upon the central member of each triad (group of three). Music playing has recently gained attention as a possible way to promote brain plasticity. Promising results have been found suggesting that learning music can improve various aspects of memory. For instance, children who participated in one year of instrumental musical training showed improved verbal memory, whereas no such improvement was shown in children who discontinued musical training. Similarly, adults with no previous musical training who participated in individualized piano instruction showed significantly improved performance on tasks designed to test attention and working memory compared to a healthy control group. Evidence suggests that the improvements to verbal, working and long-term memory associated to musical training are a result of the enhanced verbal rehearsal mechanisms musicians possess. Another study tested elderly participants in how learning a new activity impacts their memory and mental control. They were divided into 5 groups that each spent 15 hours a week doing one of 5 different scenarios: learning digital photography, learning to quilt, learning both digital photography and how to quilt, socializing with others, or doing solitary activities by themselves. It was found that all groups improved with regard to mental control, however learning a new skill(s) led to improved episodic memory.


Memory aids

Physical memory aids, typically worn on the wrist or finger, can help the user remember something they might otherwise forget. Common aids such as this are used by people with memory loss. Typical memory aids for people with Alzheimer's includes sticky notes and color-coded memory aids. Tying a string around one's finger to remember something important is both a literary device, and an actual practice. One school yearbook from 1849 suggests using either a string tied around a finger or a knot tied in the corner of a handkerchief to remember something important to the student. The oldest documented legend of a string used as a memory aid was in the myth '' Ariadne's thread'', where a thread was presented by Ariadne to her lover Theseus to find his way out of the minotaur's labyrinth. The knot-in-the-handkerchief memory aid was used by German philosopher Martin Heidegger. A memory clamp (also called a "reality clamp") is a generic name for a type of physical memory aid designed be worn on the wrist or finger to help the user remember something they might otherwise forget, and was originally invented by physicist Rick Yukon to create difficult-to-ignore visuals and a deliberately intrusive shape and size. (For example, a child in a car seat, an important meeting, or the need to take one's own medicine.) A well designed memory clamp is designed to be difficult to ignore visually, typically with bright colors and sometimes contrasting base colors. A memory clamp is designed to cause a slight amount of visual discomfort and a slight amount of physical discomfort, so that the user maintains at least partial awareness of the intrusion, and is thus designed to be worn only intermittently, so the user doesn't become accustomed to it. Other memory methods include writing on one's own hand, sending a text message to oneself, or using
sticky notes A Post-it Note (or sticky note) is a small piece of paper with a re-adherable strip of glue on its back, made for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. A low-tack pressure-sensitive adhesive allows the notes to be easily ...
. Wrist-worn, finger-worn and ankle-worn memory aids have apparently been used for hundreds of years.


See also

* Cognitive enhancer * Effect of caffeine on memory *
Emotion and memory Emotion can have a powerful effect on humans and animals. Numerous studies have shown that the most vivid autobiographical memories tend to be of emotional events, which are likely to be recalled more often and with more clarity and detail than ...
*
Music-related memory Musical memory refers to the ability to remember music-related information, such as melodic content and other progressions of tones or pitches. The differences found between linguistic memory and musical memory have led researchers to theorize that ...
*
Sleep and Memory The relationship between sleep and memory has been studied since at least the early 19th century. Memory, the cognitive process of storing and retrieving past experiences, learning and recognition, is a product of brain plasticity, the structural ...
*
Spaced repetition Spaced repetition is an evidence-based learning technique that is usually performed with flashcards. Newly introduced and more difficult flashcards are shown more frequently, while older and less difficult flashcards are shown less frequently in ...
*
Working memory training Working memory training is intended to improve a person's working memory. Working memory is a central intellectual faculty, linked to IQ, ageing, and mental health. It has been claimed that working memory training programs are effective means, bo ...


Notes


References

{{Memory Memory Neuroscience