Stereotype threat
It happens when a person is in a situation where they are anxious that they may conform to a negative stereotype aimed at his or her social group.
Positive stereotypes, or success on previous memory tasks, can help combat this negativity.
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Research shows that people with more education have a greater cognitive reserve and this works as a protection in the face of mental decline.
But there's a twist to it: educated people tend to get Alzheimer's at a later age but once they get it, they're getting it at a higher load of the disease and appear to decline at a faster rate.
Cognitive activities like crossword puzzles, reading or playing music may delay memory decline among people who eventually developed dementia.
Research shows that involving multiple senses, like the picture of a flower with a floral scent, enhances people's ability to memorize what their senses are taking in.
Research suggests that socializing may help our minds because it encourages people to take better care of themselves, reduces stress and releases beneficial neurohormones, stemming from the emotions usually caused by being with loved ones.
Splitting our attention is more problematic than productive.
We generally have a hard time refocusing when we switch attention between tasks.
This is a learning technique that uses repeated testing over increasing intervals until what you're trying to memorize finally sticks.
You test yourself a lot at first, then less and less over time.
It can reverse the shrinking of the hippocampus, the part of the brain essential to the formation of long-term memory that tends to shrink as we age.
Even just six minutes of exercise post-learning can help boost memory.
Researchers found that consuming foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids (like salmon, walnuts, and soybeans) may help counter sugar's brain drain.
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Books, courses and other traditional forms of learning are effective but they lack the interaction and customization that you can get speaking with a skilled person at length.
A live interaction gives you the ability to learn and build a relationship at the same time.
We consume a lot of disposable information every day. Reading the news, or social media, makes our brains overloaded with irrelevant stuff we don’t need.
This also includes past memories that are no longer serving us. Too much information clouds your judgement and decision making.
- Meditate to improve working memory. Take a pause to empty your mind and to reduce stress.
- Although still debatable, drink coffee to help improve memory consolidation.
- Eat berries for better long-term memory. Berries contain flavanoids, which appear to strengthen connections in the brain.
- Exercise not only to improve memory recall, but also to enhance cognitive abilities.
- Chew gum to make stronger memories. It is proven that it increases activity in the hippocampus. It also increases heart rate which causes more blood to flow in the brain.
- Sleep more to consolidate and easily remember memories.