There’s evidence that through lifestyle modification seniors can help preserve their memory. They can also delay the onset and slow the progress of cognitive decline, dementia and Alzheimer’s. Thankfully, there are several memory exercises that you can perform to keep your memory sharp as you grow older.
Practice and Performance
In 2010 and 2011 a young man named Wang Feng won the world memory championship. At only 21-years-old he was able to recall anywhere from 300 – 400 numbers that were spoken to him at a rate of one per second. He could also memorize the sequence of a deck of cards that was shuffled – something he only had 24.21 seconds to look through and memorize. Many people wondered how he was able to do this. Well, the key lies in the fact that he practices every day for 5 – 6 hours. In doing so he uses various methods, one of which was visualization. This “practice and performance” method of memorization dates back to ancient Greece and Rome. While they were able to write down information, the orators who had exceptional memories were highly regarded. There were several techniques that were used by these orators, including:
- Memorizing chunks of information, the size of telephone numbers. These chunks of information can be quickly and easily recalled.
- Telling yourself a story in which people and events represent the information you’re trying to memorize is another technique that makes information easy to remember and retrieve. This technique is like the oral tradition of folk tales and myths. It’s also been proven to work.
- Saying or reading things out loud makes the information easier for you to recall later. While you can do this with the help of another person, you can also do it on your own. In either case, studies show that this works because you’re embedding the information in your memory.
- Using music or rhymes to aid in memorization helps make the brain more adept to storing and recalling information. Research shows the familiarity of these tunes is useful in the memorization process.
- Creating colorful visual images in your head and associating them with people’s and place’s names you need to recall is another memory exercise that works for many people. When you want to link the pieces of information together simply draw a colorful “memory map” consisting of strong images, smells, or textures.
- Filing away memories in your own personal, mental filing system is another great tip. This idea was created by Jill Price, an American who can remember 99.9% of her life’s events. She uses separate “compartments” in her mind to help her increase the power of recall.
- Recalling a familiar route to a place that you really enjoy visiting is very help because you can then place those things you want to remember along the route in specific locations. This works best when you’re working with spatial memories.
Practicing these memory exercises daily, even if you only do something simple, is truly beneficial. By taking the time to continually rehearse those things that you’re trying to memorize you’ll eventually have perfect recall – something that many people say they no longer have because of their senior health. However, truth be told, these memory exercises do get progressively easier with time.
Conclusion
Besides concerning yourself with your memory, another important aspect of senior health to concern yourself with is your hearing. This is something that you should have checked once a year by Countryside Hearing Aid Services. New technology available at Countryside Hearing from Starkey Laboratories actually measures and tracks your daily auditory brain activity while wearing their latest Livio 2400 AI hearing aids. Not only will you be able to hear and understand much better, but they will also help to keep you accountable in regards “brain” exercise. Give them a call today at 727-796-1161. Countryside Hearing Aid Services is family owned since 1979 and is a BBB A+ rated business.
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