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 complexes of special exercises and methods aimed at improving brain activity and synchronizing the functioning of the brain 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 and concentrate on new things. The reason for this is a violation of interhemispheric interaction and the lack of their 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 "food" for the brain slows down the learning process, due to deterioration of memory, lack of quick reaction and ability to think creatively.
An effective way to restore and improve mental and cognitive abilities is to perform special brain training exercises. Daily training helps improve brain activity and therefore a person's cognitive abilities, which include thinking, memory, speech, perception, imagination and attention.
advantage
What are the benefits of gymnastics for the brain:
- concentration and reaction rate increase;
- memory improves;
- emotional resistance to negative factors increases;
- coordination of movements improves;
- have more energy to complete daily tasks;
- the hidden abilities of the brain are revealed;
- sleep quality improves.
Brain gymnastics is often prescribed by psychotherapists to treat neuroses, depression and emotional burnout. Exercise helps to switch from negative thoughts, distract and restore a person's productivity.
Peculiarities
You need to train your brain throughout your life, starting from early childhood and continuing into adulthood. In general, gymnastics for improving memory and brain activity is the same for both children and adults, but it has a number of characteristics.
In adults
Forgetfulness, poor spatial orientation and a general decrease in working capacity can be observed in anyone over 20 years of age. Common causes include bad habits, poor sleep, and irregular work schedules that overload the brain with an abundance of information. To normalize the work of the brain and regain the sharpness of your intellect, you need to revise your lifestyle, be physically active, be able to rest and spend 5 minutes a day for thematic exercises.
Also, adults should not forget the methods of developing children's brain - fine motor exercises, studying poetry, retelling, etc.
In children
The degree of development of interhemispheric connections determines the child's academic success, 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 the child's brain absorbs much more energy than the brain of an adult.
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 uniform development of the cerebral hemispheres is favorably influenced by:
- finger gymnastics;
- breathing exercises;
- logarithmic;
- listening to music;
- dancing;
- reading and retelling what was read;
- creativity: modeling, painting, weaving, etc. ;
- self-massage;
- kinesiology exercises;
- didactic games: comparing objects, guessing an object by description, etc.
All this helps to improve the interhemispheric interaction, which affects the formation of a healthy self-esteem and the success of the child. And the desire to learn new things can become a useful habit for the 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 in other interesting ways, which we will consider later.
The best exercises
Classes should be held in a relaxed 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 neurogymnastic exercises was developed by American psychologists Paul and Gail Dennison based on educational kinesiology.
Exercise 1. "Brain Buttons"
Exercise helps to "start" the brain and set it to work.
- Stand straight, back straight.
- One hand massages the depressions between the first and second ribs in the area on the left and right below the collarbones. The other hand is placed on the navel, which allows you to focus on the center of gravity.
Exercise 2. "Hooks"
- Take any comfortable starting position: standing, sitting or lying down, crossing your ankles.
- Extend your arms forward, crossing your palms together and interlacing your fingers.
- Turn your arms inward at chest level so that your elbows point down.
- Return to starting position. Repeat 8-10 times.
Exercise 3. "Knee-elbow"
- Starting position: standing.
- Lift and bend the left leg at the knee.
- With the elbow of your right hand, touch the knee of the left leg. Then repeat the movement with the right leg and left arm. Do 8-10 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 field of vision, up and counter-clockwise. Important: the eyes follow the movement of the fingertips.
Perform the exercise slowly 3-5 times with the left hand pressed to the left ear and as many times with the right hand pressed to the right ear.
Exercise 5. "Mirror drawing"
- Take markers or a pen in both hands.
- Mirror symmetrically draw numbers, letters, etc. on a sheet with both hands at the same time.
Additional exercises for maximum involvement of the brain in work:
- "Fist-palm". Extend both arms in front of you. Squeeze the fingers of your left hand into a fist, straighten the right. Then alternately change the position of your fingers, gradually speeding up your movements.
- "Winner". The fingers of one hand show the "V" gesture, the other - "OK". Alternate hands, gradually increasing the speed.
- "Horns and feet". One hand shows the horns, the other the feet (thumb, index and middle finger). Alternate hands, gradually increasing the speed.
- On one hand, alternately connect the thumb with all the other fingers, starting with the index finger. Do the same with the other hand, but start with the little finger. Do the exercise with both hands at the same time.
- "Puzzles". On one hand, bend all the fingers except for the index and middle fingers, on the other - except for the ring and little fingers. Connect them like puzzles. Switch hands, gradually speeding up the movements.
For memory
Simple and effective exercises to improve memory:
- Map of the route.Draw a map of your route to work. Try to remember everything down to the smallest detail: names of streets, metro stations, bus stops, shops you met along the way.
- Alphabet.Quickly think of words for each letter of the alphabet.
- Wizard.For this exercise you will need a deck of playing cards. Shuffle it and remember the sequence of the first 3-5 cards of the deck. Shuffle the deck and find these cards.
- Carbon copy.Find a random image on the Internet or take a banknote. Look at the picture for a minute and draw what you see on a piece of paper from memory. Then check the drawing against the original to identify missing details.
- Remember a school poem or learn your favorite songs. It is also great for memory training.
- Before you go to bed, remember the people and objects that surround you. If you attended a lecture, try to recall all the material in your head.
- Take some object. Look at it in detail for a minute. Then turn 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:
- Constantly learn new things.Minimal brain load and lack of new information lead to deterioration of memory and other cognitive abilities. Also, switching your attention to something unrelated to your work helps develop stress resistance. The best options are learning foreign languages, online courses, crafts, etc.
- Play mind games, solving crosswords, puzzles. This will help 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've been afraid of, actively meet and interact with people in real life.
- Turn on at the same timethe two hemispheres of the brain. Brush your teeth, eat, open the door, hold the handle with your non-dominant hand.
- Read, write by hand.Reading trains memory, activates imagination and creative thinking. And writing by hand 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.
Memory and brain development products
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 in your menu the following products that support brain activity:
- Fatty fish.A source of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which influence the active saturation of brain cells with oxygen and nutrients.
- Bitter chocolate.Chocolate with 70% cocoa slows age-related mental decline and prevents cognitive impairment.
- eggs. Egg yolks contain choline, which is used by the body to create the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for memory and mood.
- Whole grain bread and cereals.Cereals improve metabolism, give you energy and improve blood circulation in the brain, thanks to the content of vitamin B6.
- tomatoes.A 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:
- Get rid of bad habits.Smoking, alcohol and taking psychotropic substances disrupt blood circulation in the brain, which leads to oxygen starvation and death of neurons.
- A 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 it to the brainuniform loadand don't forget about the rest.
- Maintain good sleep hygiene.Sleep at least 7-8 hours. Sleep is necessary for the brain to rest, strengthen necessary and destroy unnecessary neural connections.
The most important thing is to exercise daily. Only regular exercises will give the desired result.