Brain exercises: How to improve memory in five minutes a day?

A good memory and a sharp mind are not innate human abilities, but skills that can be developed and trained by both children and adults. For this, there are a number of special 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 also needs training. Many tasks that used to be done to create new neural connections become increasingly routine, reducing the brain's ability to focus and concentrate on new things. This is due to the violation of interhemispheric interaction and the lack of their equivalent development.

A person's desire to learn new things helps normalize the functioning of the brain by creating new neural connections. However, the "lack of nutrition" of the brain slows down the learning process due to impaired memory and lack of ability to react quickly and 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 one's cognitive abilities such as thinking, memory, speech, perception, imagination and attention.

Use

What are the benefits of gymnastics for the brain:

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

Brain training is often prescribed by psychotherapists to treat neuroses, depression and emotional exhaustion. Exercise helps get rid of negative thoughts, distract yourself, and restore one's productivity.

Features

You need to train your brain throughout your life, from infancy to adulthood. In principle, gymnastics for improving memory and brain activity is the same for both children and adults, but it has a number of features.

In adults

Forgetfulness, spatial disorientation and general performance decline can be observed in every person over the age of 20. Common causes include bad habits, insufficient sleep, and irregular work schedules that overload the brain with lots of information. To normalize brain function and regain the sharpness of your intelligence, you need to reconsider your lifestyle, be physically active, rest and devote 5 minutes a day to thematic exercises.

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

in children

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

The main and popular way to develop the brain in children is educational games that combine activities aimed at improving hand-eye coordination, concentration and motor skills. In addition, the equal development of the cerebral hemispheres is positively affected by:

• finger gymnastics;
• breathing exercises;
• logorhythmics;
• listen to music;
• dance;
• reading and retelling what has been read;
• creativity: modeling, drawing, weaving, etc. ;
• self-massage;
• kinesiological exercises;
• didactic games: comparing objects, guessing an object by description, etc.

All this helps to improve interhemispheric interaction, which affects 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 improve memory

Memory is closely related to other cognitive abilities that need to be developed. Therefore, its development should be approached comprehensively, performing special exercises and changing your daily life using other interesting ways, which we will consider later.

best exercises

Lessons should be taught in a calm environment. Training duration is between 5 and 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 "turn on" the brain and adapt to work.

1. Stand up straight, your back straight.
2. One hand massages the depressions between the first and second ribs in the left and right area under the collarbones. The other hand is placed on the belly button, allowing you to focus on the center of gravity.

Exercise 2. "Hooks"

1. Take any comfortable starting position: standing, sitting or lying down, with your ankles crossed.
2. Extend your arms forward, cross your palms towards each other and interlace your fingers.
3. Turn your arms inward at chest level with your elbows facing down.
4. Return to starting position. Repeat 8-10 times.

Exercise 3. "Knee-elbow"

1. Starting position: standing.
2. Lift your left leg at the knee and bend it.
3. Touch the knee of your left leg with the elbow of your right hand. Then repeat the movement with your right leg and left arm. Do 8-10 repetitions.

Exercise 4. "Elephant"

1. Starting position: Standing, in a comfortable position. Knees slightly bent.
2. Tilt your head towards your shoulder. From this shoulder, extend your arm forward like the torso and, starting from the center of the field of view, draw a horizontal figure eight upward and counterclockwise. Important: the eyes follow the movement of the fingertips.

Do the exercise slowly 3-5 times, pressing your left hand against your left ear and the same number of times pressing your right hand against your right ear.

Exercise 5. "Drawing a mirror"

1. Take a marker or pencil in each hand.
2. Write numbers, letters, etc. symmetrically on a piece of paper with both hands at the same time. Draw.

Additional exercises to maximize the brain's involvement in work:

1. "Fist-palm. " Extend both arms in front of you. Curl the fingers of your left hand into a fist, straighten your right hand. Then gradually speed up your movements by constantly changing the position of your fingers.
2. "Winning". The fingers of one hand show the "V" sign, and the fingers of the other hand show the "OK" sign. Change hands, gradually increase the speed.
3. "Horns and legs. "One hand shows the horns, the other hand shows the legs (thumb, index finger and middle finger). Change hands, gradually increase the speed.
4. On one hand, connect your thumb to all other fingers in turn, starting from the index finger. Do the same with your other hand, but start with your little finger. Do the exercise with both hands at the same time.
5. "Puzzles". On the one hand, bend all fingers except the index and middle fingers, and on the other hand, bend all fingers except the ring and little fingers. Connect them like a puzzle. Switch hands, gradually speeding up the movements.

for memory

Simple and effective exercises to improve memory:

1. Road map.Draw a map of the route you take to work. Try to remember everything to the smallest detail: the names of streets, metro stations, bus stops, shops that you encountered along the way.
2. Alphabet.Quickly find words for each letter of the alphabet.
3. Wizard.For this exercise you will need a deck of playing cards. Shuffle and remember the order of the first 3-5 cards in the deck. Shuffle the deck and find these cards.
4. A carbon copy.Find any image on the Internet or buy a banknote. Examine the picture for a minute and draw what you see from memory on a piece of paper. Then compare the drawing with the original to identify missing details.
5. Remember a school poem or learn your favorite songs. It is also great for memory training.
6. Before going to bed, remember the people and objects around you. If you attended a lecture, try to reconstruct all the material in your mind.
7. Pick up an object. Look in detail for a minute. Then move away from the topic and try to explain 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. Constantly learn new things.Minimal load on the brain and lack of new information leads to deterioration of memory and other cognitive abilities. Additionally, shifting your attention to something unrelated to your work helps you improve your resilience to stress. The best options are learning foreign languages, online courses, crafts, etc. is.
2. play mind games, solve crosswords, crosswords. This will help you keep your mind open and expand your horizons.
3. Step out of your comfort zone.For example, take a different route to work, take up a hobby you are afraid of, actively meet and communicate with people in real life.
4. Interact simultaneouslyBoth hemispheres of the brain. Brush your teeth, eat, open the door, hold the door handle with your non-dominant hand.
5. Read, write by hand.Reading improves memory, stimulates imagination and creative thinking. And handwriting is a great way to develop motor skills.

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

Products for memory and brain development

It is important to pay attention to your diet to keep your brain active. A healthy daily diet should include proteins, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. You can also include the following products that support brain activity in your menu:

1. Oily fish.It is a source of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which affect the active saturation of brain cells with oxygen and nutrients.
2. Bitter chocolate.70% cocoa chocolate slows down age-related mental decline and prevents cognitive disorders.
3. Eggs. Egg yolk contains choline, which is used by the body to create the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for memory and mood.
4. Whole grain bread and cereals.Thanks to the content of vitamin B6, grains improve metabolism, fill you with energy and improve blood circulation in the brain.
5. Tomatoes.It is a source of melatonin, which prevents the aging of brain cells and improves the condition of blood vessels.

It is also important to maintain fluid balance by drinking enough water every day for active brain activity.

Prevention

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

1. Get rid of bad habits.Smoking, alcohol and taking psychotropic substances disrupt blood circulation in the brain, leading to oxygen starvation and death of neurons.
2. To walk.Daily walks saturate the brain with oxygen and help improve concentration and memory.
3. To exercise.Physical activity improves blood circulation, helps improve memory, coordination of movements and improves health.
4. give it to the brainuniform loadand don't forget to rest.
5. Maintain good sleep hygiene.Sleep at least 7-8 hours. Sleep is necessary for the brain to rest, strengthen the necessary ones and eliminate unnecessary nerve connections.

The most important thing is to train daily. Only regular exercise will give the desired result.