A good memory and a sharp mind are not innate human talents, but rather skills that can be developed and trained by both children and adults. For this, there is a special set of exercises and methods aimed at improving brain activity and synchronizing the functioning of the cerebral hemispheres.
Human brain and memory training
Just like the body, the brain also needs to be trained. Many tasks that normally create new neural connections gradually become routine and reduce the brain's ability to focus and concentrate on new things. The reason is a violation of interhemispheric interactions and a lack of equal development.
A person's desire to learn new things, which forms new neural connections, helps to normalize brain function. However, the lack of "food" for the brain slows down the learning process, due to decreased memory, lack of quick reactions and the ability to think creatively.
An effective way to restore and improve mental and cognitive abilities is to do special exercises to train the brain. Daily exercise helps improve brain activity and, consequently, a person's cognitive abilities, which include thinking, memory, speech, perception, imagination and attention.
Profit
What are the benefits of exercise for the brain:
- concentration and reaction speed increase;
- memory increases;
- emotional resistance to negative factors increases;
- coordination of movements improves;
- have more energy to complete daily tasks;
- hidden brain abilities are revealed;
- sleep quality improves.
Brain gymnastics are often prescribed by psychotherapists to treat neurosis, depression and emotional exhaustion. Exercise helps to switch from negative thoughts, distract and restore one's productivity.
Uniqueness
You need to train your brain throughout your life, starting from infancy and continuing into adulthood. In principle, exercise to improve memory and brain activity is the same for both children and adults, but has several advantages.
In adults
Forgetfulness, poor spatial orientation and general decline in performance can be observed in anyone over 20 years of age. Common reasons include bad habits, lack of sleep, and irregular work schedules, which overload the brain with a lot of information. To normalize brain function and restore sharpness of intelligence, you need to reconsider your lifestyle, be physically active, be able to rest and devote 5 minutes a day to thematic exercises.
In addition, adults should not forget about brain development methods for children - practicing fine motor skills, learning poetry, retelling, etc.
In children
The level of development of interhemispheric connections determines a child's academic performance, precise coordination of movements, communication with peers, speech quality and emotional intelligence. The development of new nerve glands should begin at the age of 2-3 years, when a child's brain absorbs more energy than an adult's brain.
The main and popular way to develop the brain in children is through educational games that combine activities to improve hand-eye coordination, concentration and motor skills. In addition, the balanced development of the cerebral hemispheres is influenced by:
- finger gymnastics;
- breathing exercises;
- logorhythmic;
- listening to music;
- dance;
- read and retell 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 helps improve interaction between the hemispheres, which influences 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, doing special exercises and changing your daily life using other interesting ways, which we will discuss later.
Best workout
Classes should be conducted in a calm environment. The duration of the exercise is 5 to 20 minutes. It is also important to complicate the exercise by increasing the number of repetitions, adding additional movements, movements and sounds.
For the brain
The following series of neurogymnastics exercises was developed by American psychologists Paul and Gail Dennison based on educational kinesiology.
Exercise 1. "Brain Buttons"
Exercise helps to "turn on" the brain and adapt it to work.
- Stand straight, back straight.
- One hand massages the indentation between the first and second ribs in the left and right areas below the collarbone. The other hand is placed on the navel, which allows you to focus on the center of gravity.
Exercise 2. "Hook"
- Take a comfortable starting position: standing, sitting or lying, crossing your ankles.
- Extend your arms forward, cross your palms towards each other and clasp your fingers together.
- Rotate your arms inward at chest level so that your elbows point down.
- Return to starting position. Repeat 8-10 times.
Exercise 3. "Knee-elbow"
- Starting position: standing.
- Lift and bend your left leg at the knee.
- With the elbow of your right hand, touch the knee of your left leg. Then repeat the movement with the right leg and left arm. Do 8-10 reps.
Exercise 4. "Elephant"
- Starting position: standing, in a relaxed position. Knees slightly bent.
- Tilt your head towards your shoulder. From this shoulder, extend your arms forward, like a torso, and draw a figure eight horizontally, starting from the center of the visual field, upwards and counterclockwise. Important: the eyes follow the movements of the fingertips.
Do the exercise slowly 3-5 times with your left hand pressed to your left ear and the same number of times with your right hand pressed to your right ear.
Exercise 5. "Mirror image"
- Take a marker or pen in both hands.
- Draw numbers, letters, etc. mirror-symmetrically on a piece of paper with both hands at the same time.
Additional exercises to maximize brain involvement in work:
- "Palms. " Stretch both hands out in front of you. Clench the fingers of your left hand, straighten your right hand. Next, consistently change the position of your fingers, gradually speeding up your movements.
- "Winner". The fingers of one hand show the "V" gesture, the other "OK". Change hands, gradually increasing the speed.
- "Horns and feet. "One hand shows the horns, the other shows the feet (thumb, index and middle fingers). Change hands, gradually increasing the speed.
- On one side, connect the thumb sequentially with all the other fingers, starting with the index finger. Do the same with the other hand, but starting with the little finger. Do the exercise with both hands at the same time.
- "Puzzles". On the one hand, bend all fingers except the index and middle fingers, on the other - except the ring and little fingers. Connect them like a puzzle. Change hands, gradually speed up the movement.
For memory
Simple and effective exercises to improve memory:
- Route map.Draw a map of the route you take to work. Try to remember everything to the smallest detail: names of streets, metro stations, bus stops, shops that you meet along the way.
- Alphabet.Quickly find words for each letter of the alphabet.
- Magician.For this exercise you will need a deck of playing cards. Shuffle and remember the order of the first 3-5 cards of the deck. Shuffle the deck and find these cards.
- Carbon copy.Find any picture on the Internet or take a banknote. Study the picture for a while and draw what you see on a piece of paper from memory. Then check the image against the original to identify missing details.
- Remember school poetry or learn your favorite song. It's also great for training memory.
- Before going to bed, remember the people and objects around you. If you attend a lecture, try to reconstruct all the material in your head.
- Take some objects. Look at it in detail for a minute. Then turn away from the subject and try to explain it by writing a detailed review.
Another method
In addition to special exercises, there are other useful ways to activate the brain and improve memory:
- Constantly learning new things.The minimal load on the brain and the lack of new information causes a decrease in memory and other cognitive abilities. Additionally, shifting your attention to something unrelated to your work helps develop stress resistance. The best options are learning foreign languages, online courses, crafts, etc.
- Play mind games, solve crosswords, puzzles. This will help keep your mind clear and broaden your horizons.
- Get out of your comfort zone.For example, taking a different route to work, pursuing a hobby that you're afraid of, actively meeting and communicating with people in real life.
- Engage simultaneouslyboth 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.
What is no less important is being able to rest. Avoid lack of sleep and learn to meditate. The brain needs relaxation and rest.
Products for memory and brain development
To keep your brain active, it is important to pay attention to your diet. A healthy daily diet should include protein, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. You can also include in your menu the following products that support brain activity:
- Fat fish.Source of Omega-3 polyunsaturated 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.
- Egg. Egg yolks contain choline, which is used by the body to make the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for memory and mood.
- Whole wheat bread and cereal.Cereals improve metabolism, fill you with energy and improve blood circulation in the brain, thanks to the vitamin B6 content in them.
- Tomato.Source of melatonin, which prevents aging of brain cells and improves the condition of blood vessels.
In addition, for active brain activity, it is important to maintain fluid balance by drinking enough water every day.
Prevention
For clear thinking, good memory and active brain function, it is important:
- Get rid of bad habits.Smoking, alcohol and the use of psychotropic substances disrupt blood circulation in the brain, causing oxygen starvation and death of neurons.
- Walk.Daily walks saturate the brain with oxygen and help develop concentration and memory.
- Exercise.Physical activity improves blood circulation, helps improve memory, coordination of movements and improves health.
- Give it to the brainuniform loadand don't forget to rest.
- Maintain good sleep hygiene.Sleep at least 7-8 hours. Sleep is necessary so that the brain can rest, strengthen the necessary things and destroy unnecessary neural connections.
The most important thing is to practice every day. Only regular exercise will give the desired results.