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12-31-2015, 09:01 PM
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Concentration -- or atten*tion -- and mem*ory are two cru*cial men*tal skills and are directly related. In fact (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26716734), many mem*ory com*plaints have noth*ing to do with the actual abil*ity to remem*ber things: They come from a fail*ure to focus prop*erly on the task at hand.
For exam*ple, when you don't remem*ber where you parked your car at the mall. It is likely that you did not pay much atten*tion to where you parked the car in the first place, since you were think*ing about what you were going to buy... thus leav*ing your brain with lit*tle oppor*tu*nity to process any infor*ma*tion that could be recalled later to help you find your car.
Another exam*ple: Not remem*ber*ing where we put our glasses...
Focus*ing atten*tion is effort*ful. And as we age it often gets harder and harder to con*cen*trate. But focus*ing our atten*tion on the task at hand is key for bet*ter mem*ory performance... so what can we do to improve con*cen*tra*tion AND memory?
The first gen*eral solu*tion is to opti*mize our brain health and per*for*mance by adher*ing to the main pil*lars of brain fit*ness (http://mybook.to/brainfitness): bal*anced diet, phys*i*cal exer*cise, cog*ni*tive stim*u*la*tion, stress man*age*ment, and social engage*ment. That will help improve a range of cog*ni*tive func*tions, includ*ing con*cen*tra*tion and mem*ory, and to main*tain them in good shape over time.
Addi*tion*ally, you can try these spe*cific tips.
Tips to improve concentration
Prac*tice med*i*ta*tion. Multiple stud*ies (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20164557) have shown that med*i*ta*tion can be a good brain train*ing tool to improve attentional/ con*cen*tra*tion skills.
Be proac*tive, not pas*sive: If talk*ing with some*one, ask ques*tions. If read*ing a book, ask your*self how you would sum*ma*rize what you just read.
Do not mul*ti*task, since this will divide your atten*tion. Atten*tion is lim*ited, so when you try to do sev*eral things at once you con*cen*trate less on each indi*vid*ual task and, worse, you waste some or your lim*ited atten*tion and pro*cess*ing power in switch*ing from one thing to the next and then back (there is a clear "trans*ac*tion cost" when multi-tasking).
Tips to improve memory
Start by improv*ing con*cen*tra*tion
Per*son*ally relate to the infor*ma*tion you are pro*cess*ing. Ask your*self where else you have heard this, whether there is some*thing in your life related to this new piece of infor*ma*tion, how it makes you feel.
Repeat the infor*ma*tion: Come back to it more than one time. This has been found in many stud*ies (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20547887): repeated infor*ma*tion is eas*ier to recall (remem*ber that "cells that fire together wire together"). Spaced retrieval (a method with which a per*son is cued to recall a piece of infor*ma*tion at dif*fer*ent inter*vals) is one of the rare meth*ods that show results even with Alzheimer's patients.
Elab*o*rate on the infor*ma*tion: think about it, build on it. Things that are con*crete and have a clear mean*ing are eas*ier to remem*ber than abstract and vague ones. For instance, try to pic*ture the infor*ma*tion in your head, since pic*tures are eas*ier to mem*o*rize than words.
Putting it all together: Tips to bet*ter remem*ber names
Yes, we all for*get names, and often in the few sec*onds after we hear them. Most of the time this phe*nom*e*non is due to a lack of atten*tion or con*cen*tra*tion. Also, most names have no spe*cific mean*ing and are thus hard to memorize.
Say you are intro*duced to Kim today:
Pay atten*tion to the name: Ask Kim to repeat her name if you have not heard it very well. Make a con*scious effort of try*ing to mem*o*rize the name: Focus on it ("Her name is Kim. I want to remem*ber it.")
Repeat it: Use the name sev*eral times in the con*ver*sa*tion. ("What do you think of this, Kim?") If rel*e*vant, use the person's busi*ness card later on to read her name and reflect, just a few sec*onds, on the con*ver*sa*tion. And pic*ture her face later on in the day as you repeat her name.
Relate and elab*o*rate on the name (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25777138): Do you know some*one else named like this? ("She seems quite happy, like the other Kim I know from the gym.") Or relate the name to pre*vi*ous infor*ma*tion. ("Kim, as in Kim Wilde I used to lis*ten to when I was a kid. Well, she sure doesn't look like Kim Wilde!")
Hope this helps! Have a Happy, Healthy and Sharp 2016!
And, here are a few brain teasers (http://sharpbrains.com/brainteasers/) for some added cognitive stimulation if you want... -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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Concentration -- or atten*tion -- and mem*ory are two cru*cial men*tal skills and are directly related. In fact (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26716734), many mem*ory com*plaints have noth*ing to do with the actual abil*ity to remem*ber things: They come from a fail*ure to focus prop*erly on the task at hand.
For exam*ple, when you don't remem*ber where you parked your car at the mall. It is likely that you did not pay much atten*tion to where you parked the car in the first place, since you were think*ing about what you were going to buy... thus leav*ing your brain with lit*tle oppor*tu*nity to process any infor*ma*tion that could be recalled later to help you find your car.
Another exam*ple: Not remem*ber*ing where we put our glasses...
Focus*ing atten*tion is effort*ful. And as we age it often gets harder and harder to con*cen*trate. But focus*ing our atten*tion on the task at hand is key for bet*ter mem*ory performance... so what can we do to improve con*cen*tra*tion AND memory?
The first gen*eral solu*tion is to opti*mize our brain health and per*for*mance by adher*ing to the main pil*lars of brain fit*ness (http://mybook.to/brainfitness): bal*anced diet, phys*i*cal exer*cise, cog*ni*tive stim*u*la*tion, stress man*age*ment, and social engage*ment. That will help improve a range of cog*ni*tive func*tions, includ*ing con*cen*tra*tion and mem*ory, and to main*tain them in good shape over time.
Addi*tion*ally, you can try these spe*cific tips.
Tips to improve concentration
Prac*tice med*i*ta*tion. Multiple stud*ies (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20164557) have shown that med*i*ta*tion can be a good brain train*ing tool to improve attentional/ con*cen*tra*tion skills.
Be proac*tive, not pas*sive: If talk*ing with some*one, ask ques*tions. If read*ing a book, ask your*self how you would sum*ma*rize what you just read.
Do not mul*ti*task, since this will divide your atten*tion. Atten*tion is lim*ited, so when you try to do sev*eral things at once you con*cen*trate less on each indi*vid*ual task and, worse, you waste some or your lim*ited atten*tion and pro*cess*ing power in switch*ing from one thing to the next and then back (there is a clear "trans*ac*tion cost" when multi-tasking).
Tips to improve memory
Start by improv*ing con*cen*tra*tion
Per*son*ally relate to the infor*ma*tion you are pro*cess*ing. Ask your*self where else you have heard this, whether there is some*thing in your life related to this new piece of infor*ma*tion, how it makes you feel.
Repeat the infor*ma*tion: Come back to it more than one time. This has been found in many stud*ies (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20547887): repeated infor*ma*tion is eas*ier to recall (remem*ber that "cells that fire together wire together"). Spaced retrieval (a method with which a per*son is cued to recall a piece of infor*ma*tion at dif*fer*ent inter*vals) is one of the rare meth*ods that show results even with Alzheimer's patients.
Elab*o*rate on the infor*ma*tion: think about it, build on it. Things that are con*crete and have a clear mean*ing are eas*ier to remem*ber than abstract and vague ones. For instance, try to pic*ture the infor*ma*tion in your head, since pic*tures are eas*ier to mem*o*rize than words.
Putting it all together: Tips to bet*ter remem*ber names
Yes, we all for*get names, and often in the few sec*onds after we hear them. Most of the time this phe*nom*e*non is due to a lack of atten*tion or con*cen*tra*tion. Also, most names have no spe*cific mean*ing and are thus hard to memorize.
Say you are intro*duced to Kim today:
Pay atten*tion to the name: Ask Kim to repeat her name if you have not heard it very well. Make a con*scious effort of try*ing to mem*o*rize the name: Focus on it ("Her name is Kim. I want to remem*ber it.")
Repeat it: Use the name sev*eral times in the con*ver*sa*tion. ("What do you think of this, Kim?") If rel*e*vant, use the person's busi*ness card later on to read her name and reflect, just a few sec*onds, on the con*ver*sa*tion. And pic*ture her face later on in the day as you repeat her name.
Relate and elab*o*rate on the name (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25777138): Do you know some*one else named like this? ("She seems quite happy, like the other Kim I know from the gym.") Or relate the name to pre*vi*ous infor*ma*tion. ("Kim, as in Kim Wilde I used to lis*ten to when I was a kid. Well, she sure doesn't look like Kim Wilde!")
Hope this helps! Have a Happy, Healthy and Sharp 2016!
And, here are a few brain teasers (http://sharpbrains.com/brainteasers/) for some added cognitive stimulation if you want... -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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