Memory

A Healthy Body Helps You Have A Healthy Mind

Body Health And Mental Health Connections

They say that if you take several witnesses of an event they will each tell a slightly different story. The reliability of memory is never 100% and it is distorted by suggestion and by our previous experiences. If you have been mugged in the past then a man and a woman arguing and one grabbing the others bag may make it seem obvious to you what is happening. This is based on your previous experience but what if the couple are married? Maybe he is wanting some money from her purse or just the car keys? We make assumptions all the time and sometimes these are completely wrong but it shows how our memory can affect things we interpret today.

Our memories are not always accurate and we sometimes add things to the true memory of what happened to make it all fit together better in our minds. The certainty of memory depends on the way it was encrypted in the mind of the person and how significant an event it was as well as the duration too because a fleeting moment can soon be forgotten. This diminishing of memory is a result of neurons malfunction, or irregular behaviour, and there are ways we can help to identify factors that can stimulate our memory to help it register things that we want to recall. Ideally we should figure out ways to stop neurons from dying and figure out how to stimulate growth of new neurons and get the existing neurons to function more efficiently.

A chemical compound known as Ampakines is said to enhance the behaviour of neurons. Other ways of improving memory include memory training and practice games such as cross words, brainteasers and other memory exercises. Whatever else you do your eating habits may benefit your memory and a healthy diet rich in Omega 3 fats and antioxidants is generally considered to be a valuable assistance to memory functioning.

Smaller meals taken more frequently seems to be beneficial as it prevents blood sugar levels from getting too low and this is the primary source of energy to the brain. Jogging and brisk walking will help get the blood circulating and this is believed to also help reduce the risk of Alzheimer disease. Getting a proper sleep and reducing the amount of stress in your life helps control the production of cortisol in your body which can affect your memory and is known to shrink the memory center in the brain.

Regular mental challenges and practice helps us keep our memory alert and active and it is the equivalent of jogging to boost our physical health. We should let our brain run through all the facts it tries to retain and associate each with an image, a color or a number to make it easier for us to recall. Accuracy of our minds recall depends on the proper functioning of aspects of memory and the brain that store and receives memory. At times dreams are made of distorted memories of experiences of our lives.

People who have suffered head injuries tend to be more forgetful according to one study. This study goes on to suggest that chronic pain can lead to brain shrinkage and degradation of the neurons. People with emotional distress and chronic pain are more susceptible to brain atrophy. Different types of pain may have varying effects on brain and can affect different regions in our brains. If these conditions can be improved our memory may be able to recover with psychotherapy and medication to assist.

We usually remember traumatic events better than we do the happier moments and this is associated with a certain type of protein produced in our brain while we experience events and it becomes embedded in the long-term memory zone of our brain. These proteins help by strengthening the connections in the neurons and act as a catalyst for memory storage. This study is being used now to improve memory conditions by treating our brain with the same kind of protein to make our memories everlasting.

Another study has shown that zinc seems to help to improve memory especially in children. This study has been used by health drink and medical supplement manufacturers to develop and promote their zinc rich drinks, cereals and nutritional supplements to adolescents and older people.