Memory

Short vs Long Term Memory – Losing it?

We CAN train ourselves to be smarter and improve our memory.

Did you know that even chewing gum to improve memory really works?

Both short term memory and long term memory are very precious to us, but we just don’t realise how much until the day comes when we realise that – it has happened more than once recently – we simply cannot remember things.
Or words – are you searching and searching for that particular word, which is just on the tip of your tongue? Or a loved older relative has told us the same story over and over and over again.
How serious is this and what can we do about it?

“Whatever the mind of man
can conceive and believe,
it can achieve.” - W. Clement Stone

Short Term Memory Definition
Short term memory is the ability to retain and recall recent events or experiences. It is the phase of the memory process in which stimuli that have been recognized and registered, and stored briefly. It is our working memory.
Short term memory can be tested by the memory span of a person to see how many words or numbers they can recall. For example – a random list of words or numbers is read out, one per second, to test recall. Average adults will normally recall 7 numbers or words.

Long Term Memory Definition
Long term memory is the ability to retrieve events, experiences, information, or skills that occurred or were acquired in the distant past. This phase of the memory process is considered to be the permanent storehouse of retained information which may be available for a lifetime.

Memory Training Tools
One resource we do recommend is Mind Tools where you will find resources for improving your memory for remembering names, simple lists – long and short, ordered lists, learning a foreign language, learning for an exam, and even games to improve your memory

Ways to improve memory + aging
We tend to take our memory for granted – until it suddenly it has left home one day. We are all aware of the prevalence for older people to lose their short term memory, but to be able to remember amazing things from 60 years ago. We don’t want to lose our memory as we age.
What are the ways to improve memory and handle aging of our brain? We canvass a few ideas here.
Some are not surprising, but there are also a few unexpected finding:-

• Memory Improvement for Names Forgetting someone’s name can be an embarrassing matter, and worse, in a business context, not good at all. But we often have trouble remembering names. Does your brain leave your body when remembering names? Are you one of those people with a horrid experience with remembering names? There are a few tricks and games to improve your memory.
Read the article Memory Improvement for Names

• How to Improve your Memory Ayurvedic Way
It would be wonderful if there was a magic pill – with no side effect, that we could just take every morning, and voila – our memory is perfect.
Well according to Dr. Pankaj Naram using two simple marma pressure points, and a combination of herbs to promote a perfect memory, can do just that. But be wary of such claims. It seems that Naram is not a doctor, nor has he been formally Ayurvedic trained.

• Memory Improving Herbs as Drugs
Eating foods and herbs to improve memory would be wonderful if they really work. The most favoured herb for memory and brain function is Ginkgo (Ginkgo Biloba).
A post-graduate study by Dr. Charles O. Hershey, and Dr Vinod K. Garg in 2003 had this to say in ‘Post Graduate Medicine – Peer-Reviewed Journal for Primary Care Physicians
(Dr Garg is assistant professor of clinical medicine, department of medicine, and Dr Hershey is professor of medicine and chief, division of general internal medicine, University of Buffalo, State University of New York School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo.)

“Compounds of ginkgo extract are thought to act as free radical scavengers and inhibitors of platelet-activating factor. Ginkgo increases gamma-aminobutyric acid levels and hippocampal muscarinic receptor populations in aged rats.

A recent 24-week, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled, parallel-group multicenter trial involving 214 patients showed no effect of ginkgo on mild to moderate dementia or on age-associated memory impairment. The National Institutes of Health is currently sponsoring a ginkgo trial of 3 1/2 years to study the prevention of Alzheimer's disease in people aged 75 and older who do not have dementia. In a meta-analysis of eight double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trials, ginkgo significantly increased the subjects' pain-free walking distance by a mean of 34 m (111.5 ft).

Recommendations and conclusions: Ginkgo extract might improve mental function in some patients with dementia and improve symptoms of intermittent claudication, but the available evidence suggests that the benefits, if any, are modest. Because the risks associated with ginkgo use, which include seizures, are low and the alternatives few, careful use may be justified pending more definitive trials. Problems with bleeding and interactions with drugs have been reported."

• Chewing gum to improve memory – Journal article tells us
Teachers –despair. UK psychologists led by Andrew Scholey of the University of Northumbria in Newcastle, UK say that “…. results provide the first evidence that chewing gum can improve long-term and working memory."

Yep, it’s true. It’s not the gum per se, but chewing can help to enhance cognitive power and improve memory. Several factors are likely to be the reason – it appears that the act of chewing slightly raises your heartbeat 2 to 3 beats per minute, which increases the oxygen supply to the brain; rhythmic chewing increases attention and makes students more alert and also increases the glucose level which improves alertness.

Mind Tools - Essential skills for an excellent career!