A good memory and a sharp mind are not innate human talents, but rather skills that both children and adults can develop and train. To do this, there are sets of special exercises and methods aimed at improving brain activity and synchronizing the functioning of the cerebral hemispheres.
Training the human brain and memory.
Just 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 on new things. The reason for this is a violation of interhemispheric interaction and the lack of its 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" 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 perform special exercises to train the brain. Daily training helps improve brain activity and, consequently, the person's cognitive abilities, which include thinking, memory, speech, perception, imagination and attention.
Benefit
What are the benefits of gymnastics for the brain?
- increases concentration and reaction rate;
- memory improves;
- increases emotional resistance to negative factors;
- improves coordination of movements;
- you have more energy to complete everyday tasks;
- hidden abilities of the brain are revealed;
- sleep quality improves.
Psychotherapists often prescribe brain gymnastics to treat neuroses, depression and emotional exhaustion. Exercise helps to let go of negative thoughts, distract oneself and restore a person's productivity.
Peculiarities
You need to train your brain throughout your life, starting in childhood and continuing into adulthood. In principle, gymnastics to improve 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 decrease in performance can be observed in all people over 20 years of age. The most common reasons include bad habits, lack of sleep, and irregular work schedules, which overload the brain with abundant information. To normalize brain function and restore the sharpness of your intellect, you need to reconsider your lifestyle, be physically active, be able to rest and devote 5 minutes a day to thematic exercises.
Also, adults should not forget about the methods of children's brain development: fine motor exercises, studying poetry, retelling, etc.
In children
The degree of development of interhemispheric connections determines the child's academic performance, adequate 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 or 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;
- logorhythmic;
- listening to music;
- dance;
- read and retell what has been read;
- creativity: modeling, drawing, knitting, etc. ;
- self-massage;
- kinesiological exercises;
- didactic games: comparing objects, guessing an object by description, etc.
All of this helps to improve interhemispheric interaction, which influences 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.
best exercises
Classes should be held in a quiet environment. The duration of the training is 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 "jump-start" the brain and tune it to work.
- Stand up straight, with your back straight.
- With one hand, massage the depressions between the first and second ribs in the left and right areas below the clavicle. The other hand is placed over the navel, allowing you to focus on the center of gravity.
Exercise 2. "Hooks"
- Take any comfortable starting position: standing, sitting or lying, crossing your ankles.
- Extend your arms forward, crossing your palms toward each other and joining your fingers.
- Turn your arms inward at chest level so that your elbows point downward.
- Return to the starting position. Repeat 8 to 10 times.
Exercise 3. "Knee-elbow"
- Starting position: standing.
- Raise and bend your left leg at the knee.
- 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 to 10 repetitions.
Exercise 4. "Elephant"
- Starting position: standing, in a relaxed position. Knees slightly bent.
- Tilt your head toward your shoulder. From this shoulder, extend your arm forward, like a trunk, and draw a horizontal eight, starting from the center of the visual field, upward and counterclockwise. Important: the eyes follow the movement of the fingertips.
Perform the exercise slowly 3 to 5 times with your left hand pressed against your left ear and the same number of times with your right hand pressed against your right ear.
Exercise 5. "Mirror drawing"
- Hold markers or a pen with both hands.
- Draw numbers, letters, etc. in a mirror shape. on a sheet of paper with both hands at the same time.
Additional exercises to maximize brain engagement at work:
- "Palm-fist. "Extend both arms in front of you. Clench the fingers of your left hand into a fist and straighten your right hand. Next, constantly change the position of your fingers, gradually accelerating your movements.
- "Winner". The fingers of one hand show the "V" gesture, the other "OK". Alternate hands, gradually increasing speed.
- "Horns and legs. "One hand shows the horns and the other the legs (thumb, index and middle finger). Alternate hands, gradually increasing speed.
- On the one hand, 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.
- "Puzzle". On one hand, bend all fingers except the index and middle fingers, on the other - except the ring finger and little finger. Connect them like puzzles. Change hands, gradually accelerating the movements.
For memory
Simple and effective exercises to improve memory:
- Route map.Draw a map of the route you take to work. Try to remember everything down to the smallest detail: street names, subway stations, bus stops, shops that you found along the way.
- Alphabet.Quickly think of words for each letter of the alphabet.
- Magician.For this exercise you will need a deck of cards. Mix it up and remember the sequence of the first 3-5 cards in the deck. Shuffle the deck and find these cards.
- A carbon copy.Find any image on the Internet or grab a ticket. Study the image for a minute and draw from memory what you see on a sheet of paper. Then compare the drawing to the original to identify any missing details.
- Remember a school poem or learn your favorite songs. It is also fantastic for training memory.
- Before going to bed remember the people and objects that surrounded you. If you attended a conference, try to reconstruct all the material in your head.
- Take some object. Look at it in detail for a minute. Then, move away from the topic 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:
- Learn new things constantly.Minimal load on the brain and lack of new information lead to deterioration of memory and other cognitive abilities. Additionally, focusing your attention on something that is not related to your work helps develop resistance to stress. The best options are learning foreign languages, online courses, crafts, etc.
- play mind games, solve crosswords, riddles. This will help you keep your mind clear and broaden your horizons.
- Get out of your comfort zone.For example, take a different route to work, take up a hobby you were afraid of, meet and actively communicate with people in real life.
- Participate simultaneouslyboth hemispheres of the brain. Brush your teeth, eat, open the door, hold the knob with your non-dominant hand.
- 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 rest. Avoid lack of sleep and learn to meditate. The brain needs relaxation and rest.
Products for memory and brain development.
To keep your brain active, it is important to take care of your diet. 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:
- Fatty fish.Source of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which affect the active saturation of brain cells with oxygen and nutrients.
- Bitter chocolate.Chocolate with 70% cocoa slows down age-related mental decline and prevents cognitive decline.
- Eggs. Egg yolks contain choline, which the body uses to create the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, responsible for memory and mood.
- 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.
- Tomatoes.Source of melatonin, which prevents the aging of brain cells and improves the condition of blood vessels.
Additionally, for active brain activity, it is important to maintain fluid balance by drinking enough water every day.
Prevention
To have a clear mind, good memory and active brain function it is important:
- Get rid of bad habits.Smoking, drinking alcohol and consuming psychotropic substances impair blood circulation in the brain, causing lack of oxygen and death of neurons.
- Walk.Daily walks saturate the brain with oxygen and help develop concentration and memory.
- Exercise.Physical activity improves blood circulation, helps improve memory, coordination of movements and improves health.
- Give to the brainuniform loadand don't forget to rest.
- Maintain good sleep hygiene.Sleep at least 7-8 hours. Sleep is necessary for the brain to rest, strengthen the necessary ones, and destroy unnecessary neural connections.
The most important thing is to train daily. Only regular exercise will give the desired result.