Techniques for improving memories.

 Summary About Topic:

When talking about memory I wanted to state the importance of memory and how pivotal it is in our daily lives. We use this three syllable word like it is a simple term, but little do we know without memory we could not accomplish many of our daily tasks. And it is not just like only certain individuals use memory, everyone in the entire world uses memory to do some sort of tasks, even animals use it but we will not get into that because that is for a different time. First it is important to define what memory actually is, how we retain information over time and this is also how we learn and practice many of our school, work, and tasks that we do. However, memory is then broken into three general different types: short term memory, sensory memory  and the other being long term memory. Let's talk about sensory memory which is the very sudden and brief recording of the sensory information that we review in the memory system and this can be through any of five senses. Next there is short term memory which is the second type of memory that stores a little longer than the first type usually lasts for about thirty seconds and it stays in our head for a short duration. However, if it is rehearsed then it will stay longer, if not then it would be lost. Lastly there is long term memory and this is probably the most important and this is the type of memory that is usually permanent and does not have any limit of the storage and this is where we harness our skills and knowledge over time as we practice. 

It is very well known that as a person ages they tend to not have the same abilities as they would in their prime and this is really important for memory. Just like how professional bodybuilders workout their muscles to keep their body in tip top shape that is also how memory is as well. Memory is just the same as building muscular strength and even though a person cannot lift weights to improve their memory, they can most certainly work out their mind in various different ways. Although there are many different ways there are something that really hone into making sure the memory that we want to keep in our head stays there and the first way is by practicing the same thing over and over again. This repetition reinforces the connections that we created initially, but now it strengthens the connection between the neurons as if we were working out. Another way to strengthen memory is by trying to learn new things that might be a bit more difficult than other tasks because this keeps our brain constantly working and challenged so that our brain does not dull over time. In addition, another strong way to improve one’s memory is to use all of our five senses to make sure that we identify how our sense of smell to a certain thing might be related to how we perceive it as well. This makes deeper connections, so that we can retain the information for longer. However, there are things that we do unconsciously that also heavily impact our memory and that is known as chunking.  This allows one’s brain to not take everything at once and take it in smaller pieces, so that we can combine the thoughts and information to be more meaningful, rather than it just being miscellaneous information that we might or might not use. Lastly, another way to improve one’s memory is how we manage stress.  This is really a key point because when we stress out our body goes into this phase where nothing goes the way we want it to and then different hormones secrete out which also impair our memory. If we can manage our stress and have a game plan on how to handle certain problems it would limit the secretion of these hormones which can then let us be more productive and not lose our memory in the long run. 

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Reflection About Project:

After doing this project it really helped me understand how memory does indeed play such a crucial role in our lives. As kids our brains are sponges and whatever we see, hear, taste, touch, smell we sort of make a notion about what it is and how someone else reacted to it. If it is something negative we are taught not to do the same thing and that is how we remember that certain things are. I also learned how the different types of memory play a role and we can use each of them to our advantage, but probably the most important type of memory to really harness is the long term memory and try to put mostly everything we learn into that category, so that we can really make sure that we are confident in anything we do. 

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References:

https://www.verywellmind.com/great-ways-to-improve-your-memory-2795356

https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/improve-memory-recall-get-smarter-simple-ways-to-remember-more-neuroscience.html