Methods For Enhancing Your Memory
Research has shown that you can hold about seven objects in your short term memory at one time. Once you begin storing more information than this, your brain will begin getting rid of it. This is why it is important to create a list when you are doing such things as shopping.
Many people refer to the human brain as being a computer, but this is not quite accurate. If our brains were computer, memory chips could be easily designed to help improve our memories.
However, our brains are extremely advanced, much more advanced than the most powerful supercomputers on Earth. Trying to improve our memories involve more than just installing a simple chip. To improve your memory, there are things you will need to learn. Before you do this, you must have an understanding of how the human mind operates. At the most basic level, memory can be defined as the mental process for retrieving information that we have either experienced or been taught. There are three steps to memory and these are receiving information, storing it, and being able to recall it. Below I will go over these steps in more detail.
The receiving of information is the first step to learning. The cerebral cortex of the brain will process the information that we obtain through our various senses. This information could come through our vision, hearing, or sense of touch. When information is received, the information will be registered for less than a second in an area of the brain which is known as the sensory memory. If you do not focus your attention on this information for longer than eight seconds, it will not be stored in your long term memory, but will only be placed in your short term memory instead. It will only remain in you short term memory for a short period of time, and then it will be lost.
The next phase is called the storage phase. Short term memory is information the brain stores while you carry out a task. It could be compared to the RAM or random access memory of your computer. Like the computer, once you’re finished completing a task, the information in your short term memory will be lost. As an example, you short term memory works well when you are dialing a telephone number that you have just found. Your short term memory will rarely be able to hold more than seven pieces of information. If you try to store more than this, your brain will delete some of the existing information in your short term memory to make room for new information.
Information which is important will need to be moved from your short term memory into your long term memory. This is similar to taking important information and storing it onto the hard drive of your computer. Your long term memory has virtually unlimited storage, and can hold information for long periods of time. The next stage of the memory process is called recall. Recall is when your brain pulls up information that you’ve stored. This can be likened to searching your computer’s hard drive in order to pull up information.
You will only want to store information into your long term memory which is important. Your social security number, PIN, and phone number are typical things that ill be placed in long term memory. When you need this information, your brain will quickly recall it. When you go to the ATM, your brain will look into your long term memory to retrieve your PIN. However, there will be times when you can’t seem to recall information, even though you know you’ve stored it. What this means is that your brain is having trouble recalling the information. When you get in this situation, you will want to avoid becoming frustrated. Your brain may have to go through years of information in order to pull up the data, and this could take some time.
You’ve probably heard about how your memory will decline when you age. This is true for certain parts of your memory. The reason for this is because there is a reduction of blood flow in our brains as we become advanced in age. In addition to this, there is a reduction of both proteins and oxygen. The exact reason why this happens is currently being researched. Many experts believe that older people have a much more difficult time processing information compared to young people.
