5 Essential Lifestyle Changes for Better Memory – Tips from Neuroscientist

Want to keep your memory sharp? A neuroscientist reveals five simple strategies that can give your brain a daily boost. These include good sleep hygiene, practicing mindfulness, regular exercise, engaging in cognitive activities, and improving memory through retrieval.

Neuroscientist and mental wellness coach Rachelle Summers emphasizes the importance of a good night’s sleep, recommending between eight to ten hours each night. Summers explains that it’s during sleep that long-term memories are consolidated.

The contribution of regular physical exercise to brain health cannot be underestimated. Summers particularly encourages aerobic exercise, which promotes blood flow to the brain and improves memory in adults of all ages.

Practicing mindfulness, focusing on the present moment, is another strategy Summers recommends. She notes that mindfulness has been shown to thicken the prefrontal cortex – a brain region associated with attention and memory.

Summers stresses the value of engaging the brain through cognitive activities. Learning a new language or an instrument can stimulate brain health and enhance memory performance by promoting the growth of new neural connections.

Finally, Summers proposes retrieval activities – practicing information recall without the aid of technology– to strengthen connections holding memory in order to improve long-term recall ability.

Vocabulary Insights:

• Neuroscientist (/?nj??r.o??sa??n.t?st/, Noun): A scientist who studies the nervous system and the brain.
• Aerobic exercise (/???ro?.b?k ??ks.?.sa?z/, Noun): Physical activity that increases your heart rate and the flow of oxygen throughout your body, such as walking, running, or swimming.
• Mindfulness (/?ma?nd.f?l.n?s/, Noun): The practice of focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.
• Cognitive activities (/k???n?t?v ?æk.t?v.?.tiz/, Noun): Processes of acquiring and understanding knowledge through thought, experiences, and senses, especially referring to mentally challenging and stimulating activities.
• Retrieval (/r??tri?.v?l/, Noun): The ability to access information when needed, referring to the third stage in the process of storing and remembering information.
• Consolidated (/k?n?s?l.?.de?.t?d/, Verb): Made physically stronger or more solid; in the context of memory, it refers to the process of making memories stable and long-lasting during sleep.
• Underestimated (/??n.d?r??s.t?.me?t/, Verb): Assessed too low; not fully recognizing the value, importance, or extent of something.
• Thicken (/???k.?n/, Verb): Make or become thick or thicker, in this context, referring to the increase in the physical structure of the prefrontal cortex due to mindfulness.
• Prefrontal cortex (/pri??fr?n.t?l ?k??.teks/, Noun): The part of the brain located at the front of the frontal lobe, associated with complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision making, and moderating social behavior.
• Neural connections (/?nj??.r?l k??n?k.??nz/, Noun): The links between neurons in the brain that are the basis for learning and forming new memories.
• Recall (/r??k??l/, Noun): The action or ability to retrieve information from memory.