Here's how. A new study, released this week has found that death rates are increased for people with obesity who are also socially isolated and lonely. A new study finds a type of psychedelic called ibogaine may help people with traumatic brain injury.

In the study 30 male Special Operations Forces…. A Quiz for Teens Are You a Workaholic? How Well Do You Sleep? Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Mental Well-Being. Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD — By Jacquelyn Cafasso — Updated on September 18, Share on Pinterest.

Learn something new. Repeat and retrieve. Try acronyms, abbreviations, and mnemonics. Use all of your senses. Lose the GPS. Keep yourself busy. Stay organized. Sleep on a regular schedule. Avoid bright screens before bed. Eat more of these foods:. Eat less of these foods:. Avoid certain medications.

Get physical. Manage stress. Drink water. Drink coffee. Enjoy nature. Practice yoga. Shed the extra weight. The bottom line. How we reviewed this article: Sources. Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations.

We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Sep 18, Written By Jacquelyn Cafasso. Dec 22, Medically Reviewed By Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD. Share this article. Read this next. The Importance of Mental Fitness. Can Depression Cause Memory Loss? Unpacking the Notion of Love Addiction.

Medically reviewed by Kendra Kubala, PsyD. Toxic Femininity, Explained — Plus, Tips to Overcome This Mindset Toxic femininity, or behavior that aligns with patriarchal beliefs about what women should and shouldn't do, can affect your well-being.

READ MORE. Isolation, Loneliness are Major Mortality Risk Factors for People With Obesity A new study, released this week has found that death rates are increased for people with obesity who are also socially isolated and lonely. Concord grapes are rich in polyphenols, which have the potential to promote brain function.

Watermelon has a high concentration of lycopene, another powerful antioxidant. Watermelon also is a good source of pure water, which benefits brain health. Even a mild case of dehydration can reduce mental energy and impair memory.

Avocados are a fruit rich in monounsaturated fat, which improves memory function by helping improve blood cholesterol levels when eaten in moderation in place of saturated fats. Vegetables Beets are rich in nitrates, a natural compound that can dilate blood vessels, allowing more oxygenated blood to reach the brain.

Dark, leafy greens are known for their antioxidants, such as vitamin C, and have been shown to reduce age-related memory loss. Greens also are rich in folate, which can improve memory by decreasing inflammation and improving blood circulation to the brain.

Whole grains and legumes Cracked wheat, whole-grain couscous, chickpeas, oats, sweet potatoes and black beans are examples of complex carbohydrates. Since brain cells run on glucose derived from carbohydrates and don't store excess glucose, they need a steady supply of it. Complex carbohydrates are a preferred brain food, providing a slow, sustained supply of glucose.

They take longer to metabolize and are high in folate, the memory-boosting B vitamin. Seafood Fatty fishes, such as salmon, trout, mackerel, herring, sardines, pilchards and kippers, are rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

These have been shown to improve memory when eaten one to two times per week. Omega-3 fatty acids don't affect low-density lipoprotein LDL cholesterol and can lower triglycerides.

Shellfish and crustaceans, such as oysters, mussels, clams, crayfish, shrimp and lobster, are good sources of vitamin B12, a nutrient involved in preventing memory loss. Healthier fats Olive oil provides monounsaturated fat, which can help reduce LDL cholesterol levels when used in place of saturated or trans fat.

Extra-virgin olive oil is the least processed type with the highest protective antioxidant compound levels. Nuts, such as walnuts, are a source of omega-3 fatty acids, which lower triglycerides, improve vascular health, help moderate blood pressure and decrease blood clotting.

Herbs or seeds Cocoa seeds are a rich source of flavonoid antioxidants, which are especially important in preventing damage from LDL cholesterol, protecting arterial lining and preventing blood clots. There are many different techniques to improve memory some of which include cognitive training , psychopharmacology , diet , stress management , and exercise.

Each technique can improve memory in different ways. Neuroplasticity is the mechanism by which the brain encodes experience, learns new behaviors, and can relearn behaviors lost due to brain damage. Experience-dependent neuroplasticity suggests that the brain changes in response to experiences.

London taxicab drivers provide a great example of this dynamic. They undergo extensive training for 2—4 years, learning and memorizing street names, layout of streets within the city and the quickest cross-city routes. After studying London taxicab drivers over a period of time, it was found that the grey matter volume increased over time in the posterior hippocampus , an area in the brain involved heavily in memory.

The longer taxi drivers navigated the streets of London, it was found that they had more gray matter volume in their posterior hippocampus. This suggests a correlation between mental training or exercise and the brains capacity to manage greater volume and more complex information.

The increase in volume led to a decrease in the taxi drivers' ability to acquire new visuo-spatial information.

Research has found that chronic and acute stress have adverse effects on memory processing systems. Therefore, it is important to find mechanisms in which one can reduce the amount of stress in their lives when seeking to improve memory. Discovering that the brain can change as a result of experience has resulted in the development of cognitive training.

Cognitive training improves cognitive functioning, which can increase working memory capacity and improve cognitive skills and functions in clinical populations with working memory deficiencies. Cognitive training has been shown to improve cognitive abilities for up to five years. In one experiment, the goal was to prove that cognitive training would increase the cognitive functions in older adults by using three types of training memory, reasoning and speed of processing.

It was found that improvements in cognitive ability not only was maintained over time but had a positive transfer effect on everyday functioning. Therefore, these results indicate that each type of cognitive training can produce immediate and lasting improvements in each kind of cognitive ability, thus suggesting that training can be beneficial to improving memory.

Cognitive training in areas other than memory has actually been seen to generalize and transfer to memory systems. For example, the Improvement in Memory with Plasticity-based Adaptive Cognitive Training IMPACT study by the American Geriatrics Society in demonstrated that cognitive training designed to improve accuracy and speed of the auditory system presented improvements in memory and attention system functioning as well as auditory functioning.

The manner in which a training study is conducted could affect the outcomes or perception of the outcomes. One form of expectancy bias relates to placebo effects, which is the belief that training should have a positive influence on cognition.

A control group may help to eliminate this bias because this group would not expect to benefit from the training. Researchers sometimes generalize their results, which can be misleading and incorrect.

An example is to generalize findings of a single task and interpret the observed improvements as a broadly defined cognitive ability. The study may result in inconsistency if there are a variety of comparison groups used in working memory training, which is impacted by: training and assessment timeline, assessment conditions, training setting and control group selection.

The Five x Five System is a set of memory enhancement tools that are scientifically validated. The system was created by Dr. Peter Marshall for research purposes at Royal Holloway, University of London.

The system involves 5 groups of 5 tactics designed to maximize storage and recall at each stage of the process of registering, short-term storage, long-term storage, consolidation and retrieval and was designed to test efficacy of including memory training in school curricula.

Each section is of equal text length so that it can be taught verbatim in the same amount of time by all competent teachers.

Testing effect is a derivative of generation effect as it involves generating the self-testing material. Moreover, it is known that repeatedly testing yourself enhances encoding, thus improving memory. Taking scheduled breaks, and doing short study sessions has proven to be more helpful for memory compared to one long study session.

It is also known that memory can be improved by getting quality sleep after learning. Encountering previously learned information after a break, helps improve long-term learning as well, not just short-term retention. Illusion of learning should be avoided to achieve best outcomes.

Some learning and studying strategies people use may seem more effective than they actually are. This creates a problem where the individual thinks they know the material, when they don't necessarily. This could be caused by fluency and the familiarity effect.

As people reread the material over and over, it becomes easier to read, creating a sense of fluency. Familiarity effects creates illusion of learning, as when the individual recognizes a word or concept to be familiar, they may interpret that as knowing and understanding the material.

These related ideas are usually one or two words in length, giving only the essence of what is needed for memory retrieval. This may be especially useful, given the drawing effect people remember images better than words.

The Drawing Effect is another way to improve memory. Studies show that images are better remembered than words, something that is now known as the picture-superiority effect.

Method of loci is a technique utilized for memory recall when to-be-remembered items are associated with different locations that are well known to the learner. Psychopharmacology is the scientific study of the actions of drugs and their effects on mood , sensation , thought , and behavior.

Evidence that aspects of memory can be improved by action on selective neurotransmitter systems, such as the cholinergic system which releases acetylcholine, has possible therapeutic benefits for patients with cognitive disorders. Findings from studies have indicated that acute administration of nicotine can improve cognitive performance particularly tasks that require attention , short-term episodic memory and prospective memory task performance.

Chronic usage of low-dose nicotine in animals has been found to increase the number of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors nAChRs and improve performance on learning and memory tasks.

Short-term nicotine treatment, utilizing nicotine skin patches, have shown that it may be possible to improve cognitive performance in a variety of groups such as normal non-smoking adults, Alzheimer's disease patients, schizophrenics , and adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Meditation , a form of mental training to focus attention, [12] has been shown to increase the control over brain resource distribution, improving both attention and self-regulation.

Meditation practice has also been associated with physical changes in brain structure. Magnetic resonance imaging MRI of Buddhist insight meditation practitioners who practiced mindfulness meditation were found to have an increase in cortical thickness and hippocampus volume compared to the control group.

Research illustrates that this technique for stress management can increase memory by doing so, allowing for influence on stress processing pathways in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. In both human and animal studies, exercise has been shown to improve cognitive performance on encoding and retrieval tasks.

Morris water maze and radial arm water maze studies of rodents found that, when compared to sedentary animals, exercised mice showed improved performance traversing the water maze and displayed enhanced memory for the location of an escape platform. Exercise has been found to positively regulate hippocampal neurogenesis , [48] which is considered an explanation for the positive influence of physical activities on memory performance.

Hippocampus-dependent learning, for example, can promote the survival of newborn neurons which may serve as a foundation for the formation of new memories. Data also suggests that BDNF availability at the beginning of cognitive testing is related to the overall acquisition of a new cognitive task and may be important in determining the strength of recall in memory tasks.

A meta-analysis concluded that specifically resistance training , as compared to cardiovascular exercise, had no measurable effect on working memory.

There is some evidence that also shows that the amount of effort put into exercising is positively correlated with the level of cognitive performance after working out both in the short term and long term. Aristotle wrote a treatise about memory: De memoria et reminiscentia.

To improve recollection, he advised that a systematic search should be made and that practice was helpful. He suggested grouping the items to be remembered in threes and then concentrating upon the central member of each triad group of three.

Practicing retrieval creates more long-term and meaningful learning experiences. Mnemonics have been tested since the s as an effective strategy for students. For example, the colors of the spectrum can be remembered with the name ROY G.

BIV Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. Grouping or chunking refers to the process of dividing newly learned information into chunks to produce fewer, larger chunks of information.

The mind palace technique is often used by memory champions. In this ancient technique, you create a visual and complex place to store a set of memories.

For more instructions on how to create memory palaces, watch U. Instead, they relate information to other senses, like colors, tastes, and smells.

This process helps reinforce the neural pathways in your brain. Another common mistake is relying on the GPS every time you drive.

Researchers found in that relying on response techniques — such as GPS — for navigation, shrinks a part of our brain called the hippocampus, which is responsible for spatial memory and moving information from short-term to long-term memory.

Poor hippocampus health is associated with dementia and memory decline. Perhaps use GPS to get there, but use your brain to get back home. Your brain will thank you for the extra challenge.

One study linked busy schedules to better cognitive function. This study, however, was limited by self-reporting. An organized person has an easier time remembering. Checklists are one good tool for organization. Go to bed at the same time every night and get up at the same time each morning.

Try not to break your routine on the weekends. This can greatly improve sleep quality. The blue light emitted by cell phone, TV, and computer screens inhibits the production of melatonin , a hormone that controls your sleep-wake cycle circadian rhythm.

A poorly regulated sleep cycle can really take a toll on sleep quality. Without enough sleep and rest, the neurons in our brain become overworked.

They can no longer coordinate information, making it more difficult to access memories. Roughly an hour before bedtime, turn off your devices and allow your brain to unwind. Diets such as the Mediterranean diet , DASH dietary approaches to stop hypertension , and the MIND diet Mediterranean-DASH intervention for neurodegenerative delay have a few things in common.

Fatty fish are a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s play an important role in building brain and nerve cells. Sugar and fat has been linked to impaired memory.

A recent study in humans found that a diet high in fats and sugars — common in a Western diet — impairs hippocampal memory. However, the study relied on questionnaires and surveys, which may not be as accurate.

Other medications that might affect memory include:. Exercising has been shown to have cognitive benefits. It improves oxygen and nutrient delivery to the body, and helps to create new cells in the brain which are essential for memory storage.

Exercise especially increases the number of cells in the hippocampus. Walking , for example, is a great choice. Stress and depression have even been shown in animal studies to shrink the brain. Check out this article for 16 easy ways to reduce stress and anxiety. Humans are social creatures.

Research shows that a strong support system is vital to our emotional and brain health. One study from found that people with very active social lives had the slowest memory decline.

Just 10 minutes of talking to another person was shown to improve memory. Your brain is made mostly of water. Water acts as a shock absorber for the brain and spinal cord. It helps our brain cells use nutrients.

Plus, brain-training games have been shown to help reduce the risk of dementia in older adults Summary Games that challenge your brain may help you strengthen your memory and may even reduce the risk of dementia.

Consuming large amounts of refined carbohydrates like cakes, cereal, cookies, white rice, and white bread may be damaging to your memory. These foods have a high glycemic index, meaning the body digests these carbohydrates quickly, leading to a spike in blood sugar levels Studies have shown that the Western diet, which is high in refined carbohydrates , is associated with dementia, cognitive decline, and reduced cognitive function One study involving healthy Korean children found that those who consumed more processed carbs like white rice, noodles, and fast food had reduced cognitive capacity, including poorer short-term and working memory Another study demonstrated that adults who consumed ready-to-eat breakfast cereal daily had poorer cognitive function than those who consumed cereal less frequently Summary Like added sugar, refined carbohydrates lead to a spike in blood sugar levels, which can damage your brain over time.

Diets high in refined carbs have been associated with dementia, cognitive decline, and reduced brain function. Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to a host of health issues, including a reduction in cognitive function.

A study that followed older adults for 5 years found that those who had blood levels of vitamin D less than 20 nanograms ng per milliliter mL lost their memory and other cognitive abilities faster than those with normal vitamin D levels Low levels of vitamin D have also been linked to a greater risk of developing dementia Vitamin D deficiency is very common, especially in colder climates and in those with darker skin.

Speak with your doctor about getting a blood test to find out if you need a vitamin D supplement. Summary Vitamin D deficiency is very common, especially in colder climates, and has been associated with age-related cognitive decline and dementia.

If you think you might have low levels of vitamin D, ask your doctor for a blood test. For example, a study of people aged 19 to 93 showed that a single bout of 15 minutes of moderate exercise on a stationary bike led to improved cognitive performance, including memory, across all ages Many studies have shown exercise may increase the secretion of neuroprotective proteins and improve the growth and development of neurons, leading to improved brain health Regular exercise in midlife is also associated with a decreased risk of developing dementia later in life Summary Exercise brings incredible benefits for your whole body, including your brain.

Even moderate exercise for short periods has been shown to improve cognitive performance, including memory, across all age groups. Consuming a diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods may help improve your memory. Antioxidants help lower inflammation in the body by reducing oxidative stress caused by free radicals.

You can consume antioxidants in foods like fruits, vegetables, and teas. A recent review of nine studies with more than 31, people found that those who ate more fruits and vegetables had lower risks of cognitive decline and dementia compared to those who consumed less of these nutritious foods Berries are particularly high in antioxidants like flavonoids and anthocyanins.

Eating them may be an excellent way to prevent memory loss. Summary Anti-inflammatory foods are great for your brain, especially berries and other foods that are high in antioxidants.

Curcumin is a compound found in high concentrations in turmeric root. Studies have found that curcumin reduces oxidative damage and inflammation in the brain and also lowers the quantity of amyloid plaques. These accumulate on neurons and cause cell and tissue death, leading to memory loss Though more human studies are needed on the effects of curcumin on memory, some studies suggest it may be effective at boosting memory and preventing cognitive decline 39 , Summary Curcumin is a potent antioxidant.

Animal studies have shown it reduces inflammation and amyloid plaques in the brain. However, more research in humans is needed. Cocoa is not only delicious but also nutritious, providing a powerful dose of antioxidants called flavonoids.

Research suggests flavonoids are particularly beneficial to the brain. They may help stimulate the growth of blood vessels and neurons and increase blood flow in parts of the brain involved with memory.

A study of 30 healthy people found that those who consumed dark chocolate containing mg of cocoa flavonoids demonstrated better memory compared to those who consumed white chocolate without cocoa flavonoids That will help ensure it contains larger amounts of antioxidants like flavonoids.

Summary Cocoa is high in antioxidants that may help improve memory performance. There are many fun, simple and even delicious ways to improve your memory. Exercising your mind and body, enjoying a quality piece of chocolate and reducing the amount of added sugar in your diet are all excellent techniques.

Try adding a few of these science-backed tips to your daily routine to boost your brain health and keep your memory in top condition. Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

VIEW ALL HISTORY. Research suggests that there are various ways to develop crucial skills related to human intelligence. Explore some of the activities that can boost…. Is it an actual physiological change in the body or more of a placebo effect?

Vitamin IV therapy infuses vitamins directly into the bloodstream. It can also offer the body some extra hydration. One form of expectancy bias relates to placebo effects, which is the belief that training should have a positive influence on cognition. A control group may help to eliminate this bias because this group would not expect to benefit from the training.

Researchers sometimes generalize their results, which can be misleading and incorrect. An example is to generalize findings of a single task and interpret the observed improvements as a broadly defined cognitive ability. The study may result in inconsistency if there are a variety of comparison groups used in working memory training, which is impacted by: training and assessment timeline, assessment conditions, training setting and control group selection.

The Five x Five System is a set of memory enhancement tools that are scientifically validated. The system was created by Dr. Peter Marshall for research purposes at Royal Holloway, University of London.

The system involves 5 groups of 5 tactics designed to maximize storage and recall at each stage of the process of registering, short-term storage, long-term storage, consolidation and retrieval and was designed to test efficacy of including memory training in school curricula. Each section is of equal text length so that it can be taught verbatim in the same amount of time by all competent teachers.

Testing effect is a derivative of generation effect as it involves generating the self-testing material. Moreover, it is known that repeatedly testing yourself enhances encoding, thus improving memory. Taking scheduled breaks, and doing short study sessions has proven to be more helpful for memory compared to one long study session.

It is also known that memory can be improved by getting quality sleep after learning. Encountering previously learned information after a break, helps improve long-term learning as well, not just short-term retention.

Illusion of learning should be avoided to achieve best outcomes. Some learning and studying strategies people use may seem more effective than they actually are.

This creates a problem where the individual thinks they know the material, when they don't necessarily. This could be caused by fluency and the familiarity effect. As people reread the material over and over, it becomes easier to read, creating a sense of fluency.

Familiarity effects creates illusion of learning, as when the individual recognizes a word or concept to be familiar, they may interpret that as knowing and understanding the material. These related ideas are usually one or two words in length, giving only the essence of what is needed for memory retrieval.

This may be especially useful, given the drawing effect people remember images better than words. The Drawing Effect is another way to improve memory. Studies show that images are better remembered than words, something that is now known as the picture-superiority effect. Method of loci is a technique utilized for memory recall when to-be-remembered items are associated with different locations that are well known to the learner.

Psychopharmacology is the scientific study of the actions of drugs and their effects on mood , sensation , thought , and behavior. Evidence that aspects of memory can be improved by action on selective neurotransmitter systems, such as the cholinergic system which releases acetylcholine, has possible therapeutic benefits for patients with cognitive disorders.

Findings from studies have indicated that acute administration of nicotine can improve cognitive performance particularly tasks that require attention , short-term episodic memory and prospective memory task performance.

Chronic usage of low-dose nicotine in animals has been found to increase the number of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors nAChRs and improve performance on learning and memory tasks. Short-term nicotine treatment, utilizing nicotine skin patches, have shown that it may be possible to improve cognitive performance in a variety of groups such as normal non-smoking adults, Alzheimer's disease patients, schizophrenics , and adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Meditation , a form of mental training to focus attention, [12] has been shown to increase the control over brain resource distribution, improving both attention and self-regulation.

Meditation practice has also been associated with physical changes in brain structure. Magnetic resonance imaging MRI of Buddhist insight meditation practitioners who practiced mindfulness meditation were found to have an increase in cortical thickness and hippocampus volume compared to the control group.

Research illustrates that this technique for stress management can increase memory by doing so, allowing for influence on stress processing pathways in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. In both human and animal studies, exercise has been shown to improve cognitive performance on encoding and retrieval tasks.

Morris water maze and radial arm water maze studies of rodents found that, when compared to sedentary animals, exercised mice showed improved performance traversing the water maze and displayed enhanced memory for the location of an escape platform.

Exercise has been found to positively regulate hippocampal neurogenesis , [48] which is considered an explanation for the positive influence of physical activities on memory performance.

Hippocampus-dependent learning, for example, can promote the survival of newborn neurons which may serve as a foundation for the formation of new memories.

Data also suggests that BDNF availability at the beginning of cognitive testing is related to the overall acquisition of a new cognitive task and may be important in determining the strength of recall in memory tasks.

A meta-analysis concluded that specifically resistance training , as compared to cardiovascular exercise, had no measurable effect on working memory. There is some evidence that also shows that the amount of effort put into exercising is positively correlated with the level of cognitive performance after working out both in the short term and long term.

Aristotle wrote a treatise about memory: De memoria et reminiscentia. To improve recollection, he advised that a systematic search should be made and that practice was helpful. He suggested grouping the items to be remembered in threes and then concentrating upon the central member of each triad group of three.

Music playing has recently gained attention as a possible way to promote brain plasticity. Promising results have been found suggesting that learning music can improve various aspects of memory.

For instance, children who participated in one year of instrumental musical training showed improved verbal memory, whereas no such improvement was shown in children who discontinued musical training.

Another study tested elderly participants in how learning a new activity impacts their memory and mental control. It was found that all groups improved with regard to mental control, however learning a new skill s led to improved episodic memory.

Physical memory aids, typically worn on the wrist or finger, can help the user remember something they might otherwise forget. Common aids such as this are used by people with memory loss.

Typical memory aids for people with Alzheimer's includes sticky notes and color-coded memory aids. The knot-in-the-handkerchief memory aid was used by German philosopher Martin Heidegger. A memory clamp also called a "reality clamp" is a generic name for a type of physical memory aid designed be worn on the wrist or finger to help the user remember something they might otherwise forget, and was originally invented by physicist Rick Yukon to create difficult-to-ignore visuals and a deliberately intrusive shape and size.

A well designed memory clamp is designed to be difficult to ignore visually, typically with bright colors and sometimes contrasting base colors. A memory clamp is designed to cause a slight amount of visual discomfort and a slight amount of physical discomfort, so that the user maintains at least partial awareness of the intrusion, and is thus designed to be worn only intermittently, so the user doesn't become accustomed to it.

Other memory methods include writing on one's own hand, sending a text message to oneself, or using sticky notes. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Get shortened URL Download QR code Wikidata item.

Download as PDF Printable version. Act of improving one's memory. This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling.