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 cerebral hemispheres.

Human brain and memory training

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 and concentrate on new things. The reason for this is the violation of interhemispheric interaction and their lack of 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 "feed" for the brain slows down the learning process, due to the deterioration of memory, the lack of quick reaction and the ability to think creatively.

An effective way to restore and improve mental and cognitive abilities is to perform special brain training exercises. Daily exercise helps improve brain activity and, consequently, a person's cognitive abilities, which include thinking, memory, speech, perception, imagination and attention.

Avail

What are the benefits of exercise for the brain:

• concentration and reaction speed increases.
• 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 improves.

Brain training is often prescribed by psychotherapists to treat neuroses, depression and emotional exhaustion. Exercise helps shift from negative thoughts, distracts and restores a person's productivity.

Specific features

You must train your brain throughout your life, starting from infancy and continuing into adulthood. At its core, 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, poor spatial orientation and a general decline in performance can be seen 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 the functioning of the brain and regain the sharpness of your mind, you need to review your lifestyle, be physically active, be able to rest and spend 5 minutes a day on thematic exercises.

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

To the 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 main and popular 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;
• logarithmic;
• listening music;
• dance;
• reading and repeating what has been read.
• creativity: modeling, drawing, weaving, etc.
• self-massage;
• kinesiology exercises;
• educational games: compare objects, guess object with description, etc.

All of 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 develop memory

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

The best exercises

Lessons must be conducted in a calm environment. The duration of the training 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

The following set of neurogymnastics exercises was developed by American psychologists Paul and Gail Dennison based on educational kinesiology.

Exercise 1. "Brain Buttons"

Exercise helps to "prime" the brain and tune in to work.

1. Stand up straight, back straight.
2. One hand massages the hollows between the first and second sides in the area left and right below the collarbone. The other hand is placed on the navel, which allows 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 toward each other and clenching your fingers.
3. Turn your arms inward at chest height so that your elbows point down.
4. Return to starting position. Repeat 8-10 times.

Exercise 3. "Knee-elbow"

1. Starting position: standing.
2. Lift 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 repetitions.

Exercise 4. "Elephant"

1. Initial position: standing, in a relaxed position. Knees slightly bent.
2. Tilt your head towards your shoulder. From that shoulder, stretch your arm forward, like a trunk, and draw a horizontal figure eight, starting at the center of the field of vision, up and counterclockwise. Important: the eyes follow the movement of the fingertips.

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

Exercise 5. "Mirror drawing"

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

Additional exercises to maximize brain involvement at work:

1. "Fist-palm". Stretch both arms out 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. "Horns 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 with all the 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.
5. "Puzzle". On the one hand, bend all the fingers except the index and middle finger, on the other - 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. Route map.Map out your route to work. Try to remember everything down to the smallest detail: names of streets, subway stations, bus stops, shops you met along the way.
2. Alphabet.Quickly find words for each letter of the alphabet.
3. Magician.For this exercise you will need a deck of cards. Shuffle it and remember the order 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 banknote. Study the picture for a minute and draw what you see on a piece of paper from memory. Then check the design 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 objects that surrounded you. If you attended a lecture, try to reconstruct all the material in your head.
7. Take an object. Check it out in detail for a minute. Then turn the topic around 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 lead to deterioration of memory and other cognitive abilities. Also, changing your attention to something unrelated to work helps you develop stress resistance. The best options are learning foreign languages, online courses, crafts, etc.
2. Play mind games, solve crosswords, puzzles. This will help keep your mind clear and broaden your horizons.
3. Get out of your comfort zone.For example, take a different route to work, take up a hobby you were afraid of, actively meet and connect with people in real life.
4. Get busy at the same timeboth 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 writing is a great way to develop motor skills.

It is equally important to be able to rest. Avoid sleep deprivation and learn to meditate. The brain needs relaxation and rest.

Products for memory and brain development

To keep your brain active, it's important to watch your diet. A healthy daily diet should include protein, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. You can also include the following products in your menu that support brain activity:

1. Fatty fish.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 age-related mental decline and prevents cognitive impairment.
3. Eggs. Egg yolks contain choline, which is used by the body to create the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for memory and mood.
4. Whole wheat bread and cereals.Cereals improve metabolism, fill you with energy and improve blood circulation in the brain, thanks to their vitamin B6 content.
5. Tomatoes.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 enough 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 taking psychotropic substances impair blood circulation in the brain, leading to oxygen starvation and neuronal death.
2. Take a walk.Daily walks saturate the brain with oxygen and help develop concentration and memory.
3. Excercise.Physical activity improves blood circulation, helps improve memory, coordination of movements and improves health.
4. Give to the brainuniform loadand don't forget to rest.
5. Maintain good sleep hygiene.Sleep at least 7-8 hours. Sleep is necessary to rest the brain, strengthen the necessary and destroy unnecessary nerve connections.

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