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. For this, there are special sets 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 needs training. Many tasks that used to create new neural connections gradually become routine and reduce the brain's ability to focus on new things. The reason is a violation of interhemispheric interaction and the lack of equivalent development.
A person's desire to learn new things, which forms new neural connections, helps normalize brain function. But the lack of "food" for the brain slows down the learning process, due to deterioration of memory, lack of quick reactions 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 training helps improve brain activity and, therefore, a person's cognitive abilities, including thinking, memory, speech, perception, imagination and attention.
Advantage
What are the benefits of gymnastics 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 daily tasks;
- the hidden capabilities of the brain are revealed;
- sleep quality improves.
Brain gymnastics is often prescribed by psychotherapists to treat neuroses, depression and emotional exhaustion. Exercise helps to let go of negative thoughts, distract oneself and restore a person's productivity.
Special features
You need to train your brain throughout your life, from early childhood to adulthood. In principle, gymnastics aimed at improving memory and brain activity is the same for children and adults, but has a number of features.
In adults
Forgetfulness, poor spatial orientation and a general decrease in performance can be observed in anyone over the age of 20. Common reasons include bad habits, poor sleep, and irregular work schedules, which overload the brain with an abundance of information. To normalize brain functioning and regain the sharpness of your intellect, 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 the methods of brain development of children - exercises for fine motor skills, the study of poetry, storytelling, etc.
In children
The degree of development of interhemispheric connections determines the child's academic performance, good coordination of movements, communication with peers, quality of speech and emotional intelligence. The development of new neural nodes should begin at age 2-3, when a child's brain absorbs much more energy than an adult's.
The main 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 equal development of the cerebral hemispheres is favorably influenced by:
- finger gymnastics;
- breathing exercises;
- logorhythmy;
- listen to music;
- dancing;
- read and retell what has been read;
- creativity: modeling, drawing, weaving, etc. ;
- self-massage;
- kinesiological exercises;
- educational games: comparing objects, guessing an object by description, etc.
All of this contributes to improving interhemispheric interaction, 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 linked 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 consider later.
Best exercises
Classes must take place in a calm environment. The duration of the workout is 5 to 20 minutes. It is also important to complicate the exercises by increasing the number of repetitions, adding additional gestures, movements and sounds.
For the brain
The following set of neurogymnastics exercises was developed by American psychologists Paul and Gail Dennison on the basis of educational kinesiology.
Exercise 1. "Brain buttons"
Exercise helps "kick-start" the brain and get to work.
- Stand up straight with your back straight.
- One hand massages the depressions between the first and second ribs in the area to the left and right below the collarbones. The other hand is placed on the navel, which allows you to concentrate on the center of gravity.
Exercise 2. "Hooks"
- Assume any comfortable starting position: standing, sitting or lying down, with your ankles crossed.
- Extend your arms forward, cross your palms toward each other, and clasp your fingers together.
- Turn your arms inward at chest level so that your elbows point down.
- Return to the starting position. Repeat 8 to 10 times.
Exercise 3. "Knee-elbow"
- Starting position: standing.
- Raise 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 your right leg and left arm. Do 8 to 10 repetitions.
Exercise 4. "Elephant"
- Starting position: standing, in a relaxed position. Knees slightly bent.
- Tilt your head toward your shoulder. From this shoulder, extend your arm forward, like a trunk, and draw a horizontal figure eight, starting from the center of the visual field, upwards and counterclockwise. Important: the eyes follow the movement of the fingertips.
Perform the exercise slowly 3 to 5 times with your left hand pressed against your left ear and the same number of times with your right hand pressed against your right ear.
Exercise 5. "Mirror drawing"
- Take markers or a pen with both hands.
- Draw numbers, letters, etc. symmetrically. on a sheet of paper with both hands at the same time.
Additional exercises to maximize the involvement of the brain in work:
- "Fist-palm. "Extend both arms in front of you. Clench the fingers of your left hand into a fist, straighten your right. Next, systematically change the position of your fingers, gradually speeding up your movements.
- "Winner". The fingers of one hand show the "V" gesture, the other "OK". Alternate hands, gradually increasing speed.
- "Horns and legs. "One hand shows the horns, the other the legs (thumb, index and middle fingers). Alternate hands, gradually increasing speed.
- On the one hand, sequentially connect the thumb with all 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.
- "Riddles". On one hand, bend all fingers except the index and middle fingers, on the other, except the ring and little fingers. Connect them like puzzles. Change hands, gradually speeding up the movements.
For memory
Simple and effective exercises to improve memory:
- The road map.Draw a map of the route you take to get to work. Try to remember everything to the smallest detail: the names of streets, metro stations, bus stops, stores that you encountered along the way.
- Alphabet.Quickly find words for each letter of the alphabet.
- Magician.For this exercise, you will need a deck of cards. Shuffle it and remember the sequence of the first 3-5 cards in the deck. Shuffle the deck and find these cards.
- A carbon copy.Find any picture on the Internet or take a banknote. Study the image for a minute and draw from memory what you see on a piece of paper. Then check the drawing against the original to identify missing details.
- Remember a school poem or learn your favorite songs. It’s also great for memory training.
- Before going to bed, remember the people and objects around you. If you attended a conference, try to reconstruct all the material in your head.
- Take an object. Look at it in detail for a minute. Then turn away from the topic and try to describe it by writing a detailed review.
Other methods
In addition to special exercises, there are other useful ways to activate the brain and improve memory:
- Constantly learn new things.Minimal load on the brain and lack of new information lead to deterioration of memory and other cognitive abilities. Additionally, focusing your attention on something unrelated to your work helps build stress resistance. The best options are learning foreign languages, online courses, crafts, etc.
- Play mind games, solve crosswords, puzzles. This will help you keep your mind clear and broaden your horizons.
- Get out of your comfort zone.For example, take a different route to work, take up a hobby that scared you, actively meet and communicate with people in real life.
- Engage simultaneouslythe two 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.
Products for memory and brain development
To keep your brain active, it is important to monitor your diet. A healthy daily diet should include proteins, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. You can also include the following products in your menu that support brain activity:
- Oily fish.A 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.
- Eggs. Egg yolks contain choline, which is used by the body to create the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for memory and mood.
- Whole grain bread and cereals.Cereals improve metabolism, fill you with energy and improve blood circulation in the brain, thanks to their vitamin B6 content.
- Tomatoes.A source of melatonin, which prevents aging of brain cells and improves the condition of blood vessels.
Additionally, for active brain activity, it is important to maintain fluid balance by drinking enough clean water every day.
Prevention
For a clear mind, good memory and active brain functioning, it is important:
- Get rid of bad habits.Smoking, alcohol and taking psychotropic substances impair blood circulation in the brain, leading to a lack of oxygen and the death of neurons.
- To 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 to the brainuniform loadand don't forget to rest.
- Maintain good sleep hygiene.Get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep. Sleep is necessary for the brain to rest, strengthen necessary neural connections, and destroy unnecessary neural connections.
The most important thing is to practice daily. Only regular exercise will give the desired result.