A good memory and a sharp mind are not innate human talents, but skills that can be developed and trained by both children and adults. There are a number of special exercises and methods that are aimed at improving brain activity and synchronizing the function of the cerebral hemispheres.
Training the human brain and memory
Just like the body, the brain also needs training. Many tasks that once served to establish new neural connections gradually become routine, reducing the brain's ability to focus on new things. The reason for this is a violation of interhemispheric interaction and the lack of appropriate development.
A person's desire to learn new things, thereby creating new neural connections, contributes to the normalization of brain function. But the lack of "food" for the brain slows down the learning process due to a deterioration in memory, lack of responsiveness and the ability to think creatively.
An effective way to restore and improve mental and cognitive abilities is to perform special exercises to train the brain. Daily exercise helps improve brain activity and therefore a person's cognitive abilities, which include thinking, memory, language, perception, imagination and attention.
To use
What benefits does gymnastics have for the brain:
- Concentration and reaction speed increase;
- memory improves;
- emotional resistance to negative factors increases;
- coordination of movements improves;
- has more energy to complete everyday tasks;
- hidden abilities of the brain are revealed;
- The quality of sleep improves.
Brain gymnastics is often prescribed by psychotherapists to treat neuroses, depression and emotional burnout. Exercise helps to leave negative thoughts behind, distract oneself and restore a person's productivity.
particularities
You need to train your brain throughout your life, starting in infancy and continuing through adulthood. Gymnastics to improve memory and brain activity is, in principle, the same for children and adults, but has a number of distinctive features.
In adults
Forgetfulness, poor spatial orientation and a general decline in performance can be observed in everyone over the age of 20. Common reasons include bad habits, poor sleep, and irregular work schedules that overload the brain with an abundance of information. To normalize brain function and regain the sharpness of your intellect, you need to reconsider your lifestyle, be physically active, rest and spend 5 minutes a day on thematic exercises.
In addition, adults should not forget about the methods of brain development for children - fine motor exercises, studying poems, retelling, etc.
In children
The degree of development of interhemispheric connections determines the child's academic performance, proper coordination of movements, communication with peers, speech quality and emotional intelligence. The development of new nerve nodes should begin at 2-3 years of age, when a child's brain absorbs much more energy than an adult's brain.
The most important and popular way to develop children's brains is through educational games that combine activities to improve hand-eye coordination, concentration and motor skills. In addition, the uniform development of the cerebral hemispheres is favorably influenced by:
- finger gymnastics;
- breathing exercises;
- logo rhythmic;
- Listen to music;
- Dance;
- reading and retelling what has been read;
- Creativity: modeling, drawing, weaving, etc. ;
- self-massage;
- kinesiological exercises;
- didactic games: comparing objects, guessing an object based on the description, etc.
All this contributes to improving interhemispheric interaction, which affects the formation of healthy self-esteem and the child's success. And the desire to learn new things can become a useful habit for a child that will help him throughout his life.
How to develop memory
Memory is closely related to other cognitive abilities that also need to be developed. Therefore, its development should be approached comprehensively, performing special exercises and changing your daily life in other interesting ways, which we will discuss later.
Best exercises
Classes must take place in a quiet environment. The duration of the training is 5 to 20 minutes. It is also important to complicate the exercises by increasing the number of repetitions and adding additional gestures, movements and sounds.
For the brain
The following set of neurogymnastic exercises was developed by American psychologists Paul and Gail Dennison on the basis of educational kinesiology.
Exercise 1. "Brain Buttons"
Sport helps to "get the brain going" and get in the mood for work.
- Stand straight, back straight.
- With one hand, massage the depressions between the first and second ribs in the area on the left and right under the collarbone. The other hand rests on the navel so that you can concentrate on the center of gravity.
Exercise 2. "Hook"
- Take a comfortable starting position: standing, sitting or lying down, crossing your ankles.
- Extend your arms forward, cross your palms toward each other, and interlace your fingers.
- Rotate your arms inward at chest height so that your elbows point downward.
- Return to the starting position. Repeat 8-10 times.
Exercise 3. "Knee-elbow"
- Starting position: standing.
- Raise and bend your left leg at the knee.
- Touch the elbow of your right hand to the knee of your left leg. Then repeat the movement with your right leg and left arm. Do 8-10 reps.
Exercise 4. "Elephant"
- Starting position: standing, relaxed. Knees slightly bent.
- Tilt your head towards your shoulder. From that shoulder, extend your arm forward like a torso and draw a horizontal figure eight, starting at the center of the field of vision, moving upward and counterclockwise. Important: The eyes follow the movement of the fingertips.
Do the exercise slowly 3-5 times, pressing your left hand to your left ear and the same number of times, pressing your right hand to your right ear.
Exercise 5. "Mirror drawing"
- Take markers or a pen in both hands.
- Using both hands at the same time, draw numbers, letters, etc. in a mirror-symmetrical manner on a piece of paper.
Additional exercises to maximize brain engagement in work:
- "Fistpalm. "Stretch both arms forward. Clench the fingers of your left hand into a fist, straighten your right. Next, consistently change the position of your fingers, gradually accelerating your movements.
- "Winner". The fingers of one hand show the "V" gesture, the other "OK". Switch hands and gradually increase the speed.
- "Horns and legs. "One hand shows the horns, the other shows the legs (thumb, index and middle fingers). Switch hands and gradually increase the speed.
- On the one hand, connect the thumb with all other fingers one after the other, starting with the index finger. Do the same with the other hand, but start with the little finger. Do the exercise with both hands at the same time.
- "Puzzle". On the one hand, bend all fingers except the index and middle fingers, on the other hand – except the ring and little fingers. Connect them like puzzles. Change owners and gradually accelerate the movements.
As reminder
Simple and effective exercises to improve memory:
- Road map.Draw a map of the route you take to work. Try to remember everything down to the smallest detail: names of streets, subway stations, bus stops, shops that you met on the way.
- Alphabet.Quickly find words for each letter of the alphabet.
- Wizard.For this exercise you will need a deck of playing cards. Shuffle it and remember the order of the first 3-5 cards from the deck. Shuffle the deck and find these cards.
- A copy.Find any picture on the Internet or take a banknote with you. Study the picture for a minute and draw what you see from memory on a piece of paper. Then compare the drawing with the original to identify any missing details.
- Remember a school poem or learn your favorite songs. It is also ideal for memory training.
- Before you go to sleep, think about the people and objects that surrounded you. If you have attended a lecture, try to reconstruct all the material in your head.
- Take an item. Look at it in detail for a minute. Then move away from the topic and try to describe it in a detailed review.
Other methods
In addition to special exercises, there are other useful ways to activate the brain and improve memory:
- Constantly learning new things.Minimal load on the brain and a lack of new information lead to a deterioration in memory and other cognitive abilities. Focusing your attention on something unrelated to your work can help you develop stress resistance. The best options are learning foreign languages, online courses, crafts, etc.
- Play mind games, solve crosswords and puzzles. This will help you keep a clear mind and broaden your horizons.
- Get out of your comfort zone.For example, take a different route to work, take up a hobby that you were afraid of, actively meet people in real life and communicate with them.
- Engage at the same timeboth hemispheres of the brain. Brush your teeth, eat, open the door, hold the handle with your non-dominant hand.
- Read, write by hand.Reading trains memory, activates imagination and creative thinking. And handwriting is a great way to develop motor skills.
It is equally important to be able to rest. Avoid lack of sleep and learn to meditate. The brain needs relaxation and rest.
Memory and brain development products
To keep your brain active, it's important to pay attention to your diet. A healthy daily diet should contain proteins, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. You can also include the following products in your diet that support brain activity:
- Fat fish.A source of polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids, which affect the active saturation of brain cells with oxygen and nutrients.
- Bitter chocolate.Chocolate with 70% cocoa slows age-related mental decline and prevents cognitive impairment.
- Eggs. Egg yolks contain choline, which is used by the body to produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for memory and mood.
- Whole grain bread and muesli.Grain stimulates metabolism, provides you with energy and, thanks to its vitamin B6 content, improves blood circulation in the brain.
- Tomatoes.A source of melatonin that prevents aging of brain cells and improves the condition of blood vessels.
To keep your brain active, it is also important to maintain fluid balance by drinking enough drinking water every day.
prevention
For a clear mind, good memory and active brain function it is important:
- Get rid of bad habits.Smoking, alcohol and taking psychotropic substances impair blood flow to the brain, leading to oxygen starvation and the death of neurons.
- Go.Daily walks saturate the brain with oxygen and promote concentration and memory.
- Play a sport.Physical activity improves blood circulation, improves memory, coordination of movements and improves health.
- Give it to the braineven loadand don't forget the rest.
- Maintain good sleep hygiene.Sleep for at least 7-8 hours. Sleep is necessary for the brain to rest, strengthen necessary connections and destroy unnecessary neural connections.
The most important thing is to exercise daily. Only regular exercise leads to the desired result.