Brain exercises: how to improve memory in five minutes a day

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 sets of special exercises and methods aimed at improving brain activity and synchronizing the functioning of the brain hemispheres.

Human brain training and memory

Just like the body, the brain needs training. Many tasks involving the creation of new neural connections gradually become routine and the brain's ability to focus and focus on new things decreases. The reason for this is a violation of interhemispheric interaction and the lack of their equivalent development.

A person's desire to learn new things, which forms new neural connections, helps to normalize the functioning of the brain. But the lack of "feeding" for the brain slows down the learning process, due to the deterioration of memory, lack of quick reaction 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 training helps improve brain activity and, in turn, a person's cognitive abilities, including thinking, memory, speech, perception, imagination and attention.

Benefit

What are the benefits of gymnastics for the brain:

• increases concentration and reaction speed;
• improves memory;
• increases in emotional resistance to negative factors;
• improves coordination of movements;
• has more energy to complete daily tasks;
• the hidden abilities of the brain are revealed;
• improves sleep quality.

Psychotherapists often prescribe brain gymnastics to treat neurosis, depression and emotional burnout. Exercise helps to shift from negative thoughts, distract yourself and restore one's productivity.

Peculiarities

You need to train your brain throughout your life, starting in infancy and continuing into adulthood. In principle, gymnastics to improve memory and brain activity is the same for both children and adults, but it has several aspects.

In adults

Forgetfulness, poor spatial orientation and a general decline in performance can occur in everyone over the age of 20. Common causes include bad habits, poor sleep, and irregular work schedules, which overload the brain with information. To normalize the function of the brain and regain the sharpness of your intellect, you need to rethink your lifestyle, be physically active, be able to rest and spend 5 minutes a day on thematic exercises.

Also, adults should not forget brain development methods for children - fine motor skills exercises, studying poetry, retelling, etc.

In children

The degree of development of interhemispheric connections determines the child's academic performance, proper coordination of movements, communication with peers, quality of speech and emotional intelligence. The development of new neural nodes should begin at the age of 2-3 years, when a child's brain absorbs much more energy than an adult's brain.

The biggest and most common 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 equal development of the cerebral hemispheres is favorably influenced by:

• finger gymnastics;
• breathing exercises;
• logorhythmics;
• Listening to music;
• dancing ;
• reading and paraphrasing what has been read;
• creativity: modelling, drawing, weaving, etc. ;
• self-massage;
• kinesiology exercises;
• didactic games: comparing things, measuring something according to description, etc.

All this helps to improve interhemispheric interaction, which affects the formation of healthy self-esteem and the success of the child. And the desire to learn new things can be 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 require development. Therefore, its development should be tackled comprehensively, doing special exercises and changing your daily life using other interesting ways, which we will consider later.

Best exercises

Classes must be held in a quiet environment. The duration of the workout is from 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

American psychologists Paul and Gail Dennison developed the following series of neurogymnastics exercises based on educational kinesiology.

Exercise 1. "Brain Buttons"

Exercise helps the brain "start" and tune into work.

1. Stand up straight, back straight.
2. One hand massages the logs between the first and second ribs in the area to the left and right under the collar bones. The other hand is placed on the navel, allowing you to focus on the center of gravity.

Exercise 2. "Hooks"

1. Take any comfortable starting position: standing, sitting or lying down, crossing your ankles.
2. Stretch your arms forward, crossing your palms towards each other and clasping your fingers.
3. Turn your arms in at chest level so that your elbows point down.
4. Return to the starting position. Do 8-10 times.

Exercise 3. "Knee-elbow"

1. Starting position: standing.
2. Raise and bend your left leg at the knee.
3. 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 8-10 reps.

Exercise 4. "Elephant"

1. Starting position: standing, in a relaxed position. Knee slightly bent.
2. Tilt your head towards your shoulders. From this shoulder, extend your arm forward, like a trunk, and draw a horizontal figure eight, starting from the center of the visual field, up and counter-clockwise. Important: the eyes follow the movement of the fingers.

Do the exercise slowly 3-5 times with your left hand pressed on your left ear and the same number of times with your right hand pressed on your right ear.

Exercise 5. "Mirror drawing"

1. Take markers or a pen in both hands.
2. Mirror - draw numbers, letters, etc. symmetrically. on a piece of paper with both hands at the same time.

Additional exercises to maximize brain involvement in work:

1. "Fist-palm. "Extend both hands in front of you. Clench the fingers of your left hand into a fist, straighten your right. Then, steadily change the position of your fingers, gradually speeding up your movements.
2. "Winner". The fingers of one hand show the "V" gesture, the other "OK". Alternate hands, gradually increasing speed.
3. "Horn and feet. "One hand shows the horns, the other the feet (thumb, index and middle fingers). Alternate hands, gradually increasing speed.
4. On one side, sequentially connect the thumb to all other fingers, starting with the index. Do the same with the other hand, but starting with the little finger. Do the exercise with both hands at the same time.
5. "Puzzle". On one hand, bend all the fingers except the index and middle fingers, on the other - except the ring and little fingers. Connect them like puzzles. Switch hands, gradually speeding up the movements.

To remember

Simple and effective exercises to improve memory:

1. Route map.Draw a map of the route you take to work. Try to remember everything down to the smallest details: street names, metro stations, bus stops, shops you met along the way.
2. Alphabet.Quickly come up with words for each letter of the alphabet.
3. Magical.You will need a deck of playing cards for this exercise. Shuffle it and remember the sequence of the first 3-5 cards from the deck. Shuffle the deck and find these cards.
4. Carbon copy.Find any image on the Internet or take a bank note. Study the picture for a minute and draw from memory what you see on a piece of paper. Then check the drawing against the original to identify any missing details.
5. Remember a school poem or learn your favorite songs. It is also great for memory training.
6. Before you go to sleep, remember the people and things around you. If you attended a lecture, try to recreate the entire content in your head.
7. Take something. Look at it in detail for just a moment. Then turn away from the subject 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:

1. Always learn new things.Minimal load on the brain and lack of new information leads to a decline in memory and other cognitive abilities. Also, simply changing your attention to something unrelated to your work helps to develop resistance to stress. The best options are learning foreign languages, online courses, crafts, etc.
2. Play mind games, solving crosswords, puzzles. This will help keep your mind clear and broaden your perspective.
3. Step out of your comfort zone.For example, take a different route to work, take up a hobby you were afraid of, actively meet people and communicate with them in real life.
4. Tackle simultaneouslythe two hemispheres of the brain. Brush your teeth, eat, open the door, hold the handle with your non-dominant hand.
5. Read, write by hand.Reading trains memory, activates imagination and creative thinking. And handwriting is a great way to develop motor skills.

Equally important is being able to relax. Avoid sleep deprivation and learn to meditate. The brain needs rest and relaxation.

Products for memory and brain development

To keep your brain active, it is important to watch 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:

1. Fatty fish.A source of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which affect the active saturation of brain cells with oxygen and nutrients.
2. Bitter chocolate.Chocolate with 70% cocoa slows down age-related mental decline and prevents cognitive impairment.
3. Eggs. Egg yolks contain choline, which the body uses to create the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for memory and mood.
4. Whole grain breads and cereals.Cereals improve metabolism, fill you with energy and improve blood circulation in the brain, thanks to their vitamin B6 content.
5. Tomatoes.A source of melatonin, which prevents the aging of brain cells and improves the condition of blood vessels.

Also, for active brain activity, it is important to maintain fluid balance by drinking plenty of drinking water every day.

Prevention

For a clear mind, good memory and active brain function it is important:

1. Get rid of bad habits.Smoking, alcohol and psychotropic substances affect blood circulation in the brain, leading to oxygen starvation and neuron death.
2. Walking.Daily walks saturate the brain with oxygen and help develop concentration and memory.
3. Exercise.Physical activity improves blood circulation, helps to improve memory, coordination of movements and improves health.
4. Give to the brainuniform loadand don't forget about rest.
5. Maintain good sleep hygiene.Sleep at least 7-8 hours. Sleep is necessary to relax the brain, strengthen the necessary ones and destroy unnecessary neural connections.

The most important thing is daily training. Only regular practice will bring the desired result.