As you get older, you may worry about your memory. Memory loss occurs with age, even moreso with a degenerative brain disease like Alzheimer's. However, you can do daily brain exercises that improve your memory, and you may be doing them already. The key to keeping your memory at its top performance is to keep your brain active. Testing your brain, which means you rely on your brain instead of a list, can test to see how efficiently your brain is working. In addition, strengthening all your senses can improve your overall memory.
Chunking
"Chunking" is a memory technique that helps increase your working memory storage. Working memory is a specific type of short-term memory that you rely upon to recall phone numbers. The normal span of an adult's working memory is seven items, plus or minus two; however, according to the authors of
"Improving Your Memory," chunking can greatly improve that capacity. To practice chunking, write down a list of numbers. Instead of remembering them as individual numbers, group them together. The more meaningful a chunking is, the longer it will stay in your memory.
Eyes Closed
According to Brainpower.org, eating with your eyes closed can improve your memory. While it sounds like a weird way to improve your memory, it forces your brain to strengthen your other senses. Brainpower.org points out that eating with your eyes closed strengthens your sense of touch, taste and smell. You use touch to move the food to your mouth; taste and smell are used to identify the food.
Shop without a List
Another technique that can be used to improve memory is to go shopping without a list, according to Brainpower.org. By not using a list, you rely upon your memory alone. Brainpower.org recommends that you mentally organize what you need to buy by category. After you are done shopping, compare what you were able to remember to what you forgot.
New Activities
According to Brainpower.org, memory can be improved by introducing new activities into your routine. For example, doing puzzles like Sudoku, require mental focus and memory. Not all new activities need to be puzzles; other examples are card games, reading or writing.
Vocabulary
Increasing your vocabulary by introducing a new word every day can improve your memory, according to Brainpower.org. When you learn a new word, it goes into your short-term memory. Through rehearsal and application, such as using it in conversation and writing, that new word is consolidated into your long-term memory.
