Brain Fitness Tips to Improve Attention and Memory in 2016

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Concentration -- or atten*tion -- and mem*ory are two cru*cial men*tal skills and are directly related. In fact, 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: 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

1. Prac*tice med*i*ta*tion. Multiple stud*ies have shown that med*i*ta*tion can be a good brain train*ing tool to improve attentional/ con*cen*tra*tion skills.
   
   
2. 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.
   
   
3. 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

1. Start by improv*ing con*cen*tra*tion
   
   
2. 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.
   
   
3. Repeat the infor*ma*tion: Come back to it more than one time. This has been found in many stud*ies: 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.
   
   
4. 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:

1. 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.")
   
   
2. 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.
   
   
3. Relate and elab*o*rate on the name: 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 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. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.












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