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Memory worsens in 40 years what to do. Memory deterioration. How to improve memory and attention with affordable means

If you ask yourself the question, what will be considered the norm for memory deterioration and loss, then you will never answer it, because for each person there is a threshold. By the way, there is no limit to memory. There is such a thing as super memory, when a person is able to remember even the smallest details of what they saw or heard, everything they had ever dealt with.

In serious publications and official reference books, memory is called, first of all, not only a physiological phenomenon, but also a cultural one, the ability to store and accumulate life experience. It is divided into two categories: short-term and long-term, and their ratio varies significantly for each person. For example, if you are the owner of a long-term memory, then, most likely, remembering the material will not be easy for you, however, after years you will easily reproduce it. If the opposite is true, then you will remember everything you need, literally instantly, but after a week you won’t even remember what you once knew.

Causes of memory impairment.

To make them easier to understand, the causes of memory impairment were divided into several components:

Those associated with brain damage, such as traumatic brain injury, its oncological diseases and;
Associated with the deterioration of the performance of other equally important organs;
Other adverse factors, such as sleep disturbance, constant stress, a sudden transition to a different lifestyle, increased stress on the brain, especially on memory.
Chronic abuse of alcohol, tobacco smoking, sedative drugs and hard drugs.
Changes associated with age.

Treatment of memory impairment in adults.

A person lives and does not even think about memory until he encounters a deterioration in memory, for example, forgetfulness and poor perception of information, a decrease in the volume of perception. Any minor process can put a bullet in your memory.

There are a lot of types of our memory: there are visual, motor, auditory and others. Someone remembers well if he hears the material, and someone if he sees it. It is easier for someone to write and remember, and for someone to imagine. This is how our memory is different.

Our brain is divided into zones, each of which is responsible for some function. For example, for hearing and speech - temporal regions, for vision and spatial perception - occipito-parietal, for movements of the hands and speech apparatus - lower parietal. There is such a disease - astereognosia, which occurs when the lower parietal region is damaged. With its development, a person ceases to feel objects.

It is now scientifically established that hormones play an important role in the processes of our thinking and memory. Estrogen, testosterone and other components improve learning, assimilation of new material, memory development, while oxytocin acts the other way around.

Diseases leading to memory impairment.

Memory problems arise on the basis of various diseases. For example, most often the culprits are traumatic brain injuries, because of which there are constantly complaints of memory impairment, and this depends on the severity of the injury. Also, with craniocerebral injuries, various kinds occur: retrograde and anterograde. At the same time, the victim does not remember how he received this injury, nor what happened before. It happens that all this is accompanied by hallucinations and confabulations, that is, false memories that have settled in the human brain and were invented by him. That is, for example, when asked what he did the day before yesterday, the patient will say that he was at the opera, walked the dog, but in fact he was in the hospital all this time, because he was very sick. Hallucinations are images of something that does not exist.

One of the most common causes of impaired memory functionality is impaired blood circulation in the brain. With vessels, there is a decrease in blood flow to all parts of the brain, which is the main provocateur of development acute violation cerebral circulation. Any of the species develops in the areas of the brain, and therefore the blood flow to it completely stops, which greatly disrupts their functioning.

Similar symptoms of memory impairment also appear with one of the complications of which is vascular damage, their thickening and closure. All these factors further lead to damage not only to the brain, but also to other important organs.

Such well-known diseases as inflammation of the meninges- and inflammation of the substance of the brain - are reflected in the entire work of this organ. And they arise due to damage to the nervous system by various viruses and bacteria. It is good that these diseases are curable with timely treatment to the hospital.

True, this cannot be said about diseases that are inherited, one of which is Alzheimer's disease. Most often, it occurs in elderly people aged 70-80 years and is characterized by a decrease in intelligence and memory loss up to a loss of orientation in the area. It begins imperceptibly, but as soon as you notice that memory is deteriorating and attention has begun to decline, consult a doctor, because it may be just her. A person does not remember recent events, begins to dream of the past, becomes a difficult and selfish person, apathy reigns over him. If he is not provided with the necessary treatment, then he will completely lose his bearings, will not recognize his family, and will not even be able to pronounce what date it is today. According to medical research, it has been established that Alzheimer's is mainly inherited. It is not curable, but if the patient is provided with the necessary treatment and care, then its process will proceed without consequences and complications, quietly and smoothly.

Memory can also deteriorate due to thyroid disease, that is, due to a lack of iodine in the body. A person will have a tendency to be overweight, apathy, depression, irritability and muscle swelling. To avoid this, you need to eat right, eat more iodine-containing foods, seafood, persimmons, sea kale, hard cheese and, of course, dairy products and nuts.

But forgetfulness should not always be equated with memory diseases, because sometimes a person consciously wants and tries to forget the difficult moments of his life, unpleasant and tragic events. This is a kind of human protection, and this should not be scared.

When a person represses unpleasant facts from his memory, this is repression, when he believes that nothing happened, this is denial, and when he takes out his negative emotions on another object, this is substitution, and all these are the main mechanisms for protecting the human mind. For example, after troubles at work, the husband comes home and takes out his irritability and anger on his beloved wife. To consider such cases as memory problems is possible only when it happens constantly, day after day. In addition, forgotten negative emotions that you did not express, but suppressed in yourself, will eventually turn into long-term depression.

Before we start treat memory impairment, you must first understand what disease caused this process. It is advisable to use drugs only as prescribed by a doctor, but no matter how independently.

Physiotherapeutic methods can be used, for example, electrophoresis with the introduction of a glutamic acid preparation through the nose.

For patients with memory impairment, psychological and pedagogical treatment is also successfully used. The teacher helps and teaches the patient to memorize again, while only healthy areas of the brain are involved in the process. For example, if the patient cannot remember the phrases spoken aloud, then if he mentally imagines this image, he will be able to remember at least the whole text. True, this is a very long and laborious process, work on oneself, which involves not only memorizing with the help of other possibilities, but also bringing this technique to automatism, when the patient will no longer think about how to do it.

Severe memory loss- this is not a disease at all, but a warning symptom that indicates that you have another, more serious disease that should be identified and treated. Moreover, it prevents a person from living a full life and separates him from society, worsens adaptive properties and functions.

If you have been diagnosed with memory impairment, then doctors will most likely prescribe you nootropic drugs that you will take. For example, a drug from a new series of drugs belonging to the group of nootropics - Noopept. It contains the most important amino acids for the human body - dipeptides, which, by acting on the neurons of the cerebral cortex, help restore memory and improve concentration. This drug acts on all stages of memory recovery and improvement: on the initial processing of information, its generalization and extraction. It also increases the resistance of the human body to such damaging factors as alcohol, drugs, tobacco, head injuries and various injuries.

On the video: Improving memory and attention. How to restore and improve memory?

Which doctor to contact in case of memory impairment.

If you notice in yourself or your loved ones memory loss symptoms similar to those described above, then you should contact a neuropsychologist or therapist who will conduct special examinations. If you do not want to wait for a doctor's verdict, then you can start acting on your own. It has long been known that the main cause of complaints is not a violation of memory, but the usual lack of due attention, when the information conveyed is remembered fleetingly and is not taken seriously. Such manifestations of inattention are usually characteristic of already elderly people, although, of course, they also occur in young people. To overcome this syndrome, you need to constantly work on yourself and train, focusing your attention on important details, writing down events, keeping a diary and learning how to do mental calculations.

This method is very popular and is described verbatim in the book of an American professor Lawrence Katz. According to him, these techniques activate the work of all parts of the brain, develop memory, attention and creativity.

Here are some of the memory-improving exercises described in the book:

Habitual things should be done with closed eyes, not with open ones;
If you are left-handed, then do everything with your right hand, if you are right-handed, then vice versa, for example, if you wrote, brushed your teeth, stroked, drew with your left hand, then start doing it with your right hand, we assure you, you will immediately feel the result;
Learn Braille, that is, a reading system for the blind, or learn the basics of sign language - this will come in handy;
Type on the keyboard with all fingers of both hands;
Learn some kind of needlework, such as knitting or embroidery;
Speak in unknown languages and learn them as much as possible;
Distinguish coins by touch and determine their value;
Read about things you've never been interested in.
Go to new places, institutions, theaters, parks, meet new people, communicate more.

That's basically all you need to know about the insidious memory impairment, treatment and symptoms of this disease. Follow these rules, know how to improve memory and be healthy!

Presentation on the topic “Disorders of memory and intelligence”

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> Memory deterioration after 40 years in women

Hello dear readers. Sadly, but our body begins to age from the age of 25. And in the fifth decade (don't let this expression scare you), menopause comes and the changes associated with it in a woman's body. One of them is distracted attention, poor memorization of information. Modern medicine offers many pills and drugs to slow down aging, including improving memory. But do you need another item on your drug menu? In this post, we will tell you how to improve memory after 40 years without medication.

There are many factors that affect long-term and short-term memory. In adulthood, it makes sense to talk about several groups of reasons, why the process of memorization and recall worsens:

diseases internal organs;
unfavorable external environment;
chronic intoxication of the body (meaning mainly bad habits - smoking, alcohol, overeating);
lack of sleep;
cell aging.

Heart problems reduce blood flow to the head. As a result, the brain does not have enough power to function normally. The same result gives a metabolic disorder (including obesity). In this case, if you eliminate the disease, the ability to “work your head” normally and extract the necessary information from your consciousness will return. In fact, it's never too late to lose weight - here real story weight loss even after 50 years.

You may be accustomed to dealing with a large amount of data at work, but gradually this information will break your memory. The human brain is daily overloaded with a huge amount of information, which is facilitated by advertising, the Internet, mobile communications and other modern inventions. All this, as well as stress at work and in the family, cause chronic fatigue, which is difficult to get rid of. “In order to rest tomorrow, you need to work better today,” you say to yourself. The intense rhythm of life affects the processes of memorization, and not for the better.

Chronic intoxications over the years are also negative for memories. If you have been smoking or drinking alcohol all your life, your brain cells have atrophied. This is not critical if you quit the addiction.

In addition, with age, the walls of blood vessels in the brain lose their elasticity, and the lumen of the vessel decreases. Such a process is natural, and without initiating factors will not greatly affect memory. But if you add one of the phenomena described above to this, the brain will quickly worsen its work.

In ordinary life, it is better to correct the work of memory, attention and activity of our brain precisely simple methods. We will introduce you to them.

The way to improve memory is to spend time naturally

Go for a walk! Daily festivities in the green part of the city will help you relax, relieve stress and forget about problems. In addition, oxygen, supplied to the brain in sufficient volume, activates thought processes and the work of cells responsible for memory. And if you take up some simple and enjoyable sport (for example, Nordic walking), then not only physical, but also mental processes will accelerate in you.

No time for a good rest in the forest or park? Then choose a long way home from work, look around and think about the pleasant.

There is another factor that strongly influences memories. Our gadgets, be it a smartphone with social networks, a tablet with your favorite game or a laptop.

Firstly, they take our time and take away our attention. Secondly, tons of unnecessary information enters the head through them. For example, you remember how many hours you need to water the beds in the Frenzy Farm or what photo a former colleague put on your profile picture, but the information where the keys were put disappears from your head.

This happens because the "operative" memory of the brain is not infinite, and at the same time it contains things not in order of importance, but those that hit first.

If you don’t poke your nose at gadgets during your lunch break, on the road after a hard day, spending an evening with your family and on weekends, your memory will say “thank you” to you and get your work done.

A gift for memory - quality rest

Nerves "on edge" interfere with remembering new things and remembering the necessary information. Therefore, it is important to take time for personal rest. Aromatherapy, spa treatments, massage are good ways to calm your nerves. Meditation is indispensable for the effective functioning of the brain.

One should not think that this is the lot of the enlightened, and meditation is difficult to learn. The simplest form of meditation is to focus on the sensations in your body or your own breath. Breathe slowly and think "breath-breath-breath" as you do so. 1-2 minutes - and the nerves are calm, and the brain is ready for new great achievements.

In a word, choose the relaxation option you like and devote time to it.

Also in the process of improving memory, it is important proper nutrition. We are not talking about a special diet, it is enough not to eat junk food - fast food, fatty, smoked, sweets and rolls.

brain training

There are many exercises on the Internet to improve memory, supposedly five minutes a day - and brain function will recover and return to full. In fact, when returning to the previous level of memory, it is important to understand two basic things:

the work of the brain and body are connected;
work to improve memorization and recall should go according to plan, the brain must be kept in good shape.

Based on the first point, it is clear that physical activity, whether it is running in the morning and gym or home exercises with a skipping rope help maintain and improve memory. Why? During exercise, you focus on your body and do not think about informational noise. Secondly, sport affects the metabolism and movement of blood in the body, in particular, to the brain.

By the way, our brain is powered by two substances - oxygen and glucose. Physical activity (preferably in the fresh air) helps the brain to be saturated with oxygen and supply, along with increased blood circulation, enough glucose.

Any physical activity has a beneficial effect on memory. The main thing here is regularity.

The development of fine motor skills (fingers and toes), acupuncture activates the work nerve cells. They, like communication channels, help us in memory processes. Therefore, after forty, you can find yourself a new hobby: Lego constructor, modeling, calligraphy. So you stimulate the brain through the nerve endings.

So that the brain does not “relax” and the memory does not become like a sieve, it needs to be trained. At the same time, there are different approaches for short-term and long-term memory.

To preserve and improve short-term memory, participation in intellectual games, scanwords, board games for associations. All that requires extracting a specific fact from an array of memories.

A long-playing memory will be refreshed and restored by a business, for the continuation of which it is necessary to accumulate already studied knowledge. For example, new foreign language, game on musical instruments, reading works of art. To continue reading the book, you have to remember what happened earlier in the story.

An important point in memory exercises is not to get hung up on the goal, but to make the lesson a habit. When you solve crossword puzzles for your own pleasure, the information you need will be found faster than if you start thinking "I'm doing this to make my memory sharper."

Change the environment more often - new impressions and emotions have a positive effect on brain activity.

Art therapy that trains memory

Another curious and effective method- special drawing.

It is known that left-handed people have a better developed left hemisphere (it is responsible for logic and analytical thinking), right-handed people have a better developed one (it is also responsible for creativity and our emotions). Of course, for a fulfilling life, all these factors will be useful to us.

Drawing with both hands will help develop the activity of the hemispheres. To begin with, with your "non-primary" hand, draw something simple - a cloud, a sun, a flower, perhaps even lines or letters. Then make it harder.

This is how we will develop the so-called “motor cortex”, which will “pull up” the parts of the brain with it.

Complicating the process, we can add another hand to the training, i.e. draw them at the same time.

Food for memory

An important point is food. Foods that are rich in Omega-3 acids will help improve memory - these are fatty sea fish, linseed oil.

As a carbohydrate food, it is still better to choose slow carbohydrates that give energy gradually and without sugar surges that are harmful to both the brain and the body. These include cereals, whole-grain pasta and bread, most fruits (with the exception of the sweetest - figs, bananas, grapes, persimmons). Sweet fruits are also possible, but not abusing.

Good foods that contain tryptophan (this is, as it were, a precursor of serotonin, known as the hormone of happiness) are cottage cheese, cheese, and indeed dairy products, poultry meat. By the way, bananas also contribute to the production of serotonin. So it is ideal to combine a banana with kefir / cottage cheese / milk so that carbohydrates from a sweet fruit are not absorbed quickly, and the benefits of a banana for memory and body are fully received.

There are also special substances that are more likely not medicines in the full sense of the word, but they help optimize both metabolism and brain activity. Mainly:

Eleutherococcus, which improves cerebral circulation;
ginseng tincture, which is an adaptogen for all body systems;
lemongrass seed tincture.

These herbs increase stress resistance, improve the functions of the nervous system and mental capacity person.

In a word, proper nutrition, regular intellectual loads and healthy lifestyle life will help prevent memory impairment.

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The causes of memory impairment can be divided into five groups.

1. Brain damage

Everyone knows that memory lives in the brain. But where exactly?
It depends what we are looking for. If long-term memory, then the cortex is responsible for it. But in the hippocampus, located deep in the temporal regions, the mechanisms for transferring information from short-term to long-term memory “sit”. In general, there are a lot of memory centers in the brain, so any damage to this organ can lead to memory impairment. Therefore, the most common causative agents in this group are:
a) traumatic brain injury. Everything is simple here: wherever the blow falls, the probability of its negative impact on any of the memory centers is very high.
b) stroke (cerebrovascular accident). Blood does not flow, the memory centers cease to function fully. Moreover, a study by Dutch scientists from medical center St Radboud has shown that memory can be impaired even if a specific area of memory—usually the temporal lobe—has not been damaged.
c) oncology. A formed neoplasm (even a benign one) puts pressure on adjacent areas of the brain. In addition, cases of metastasis to other parts of the body are not uncommon.
G) infectious diseases (encephalitis, meningitis). Inflammatory processes occurring in the brain adversely affect both individual memory centers and the entire brain as a whole.

2. Diseases of other organs

Memory can also deteriorate as a result of diseases of other organs:
a) Heart disease and heart disease vascular system in general (even if it is "just" an increase in blood pressure). The blood supply to the brain deteriorates, consequently, it ceases to perform its functions fully.
b) Diseases of the internal organs (kidneys, liver, lungs, etc.) We will not dwell on all the organs, we will only talk about the kidneys. US scientists have found that kidney disease is the cause of cognitive decline, incl. deterioration in verbal memory.
The study was based on the measurement of glomerular filtration rate ( GFR - determines the cleansing capacity of the kidneys) and creatinine level ( end product of protein metabolism) in blood. After five years of observation, a pattern was noted: the memory of volunteers deteriorated in direct proportion to the increase in the level of creatinine in the blood and the decrease in the glomerular filtration rate, i.e. with the progression of renal disease.
c) Metabolic disorders. For good brain function, it is necessary that it receives all the necessary substances. As soon as the metabolism of the whole organism is disturbed, the brain begins to experience a shortage in them and redistribute its "resources", and the memory centers are far from the beginning of the "queue".

3. Adverse environmental factors

These factors include:
a) information overload. Each person has his own “limit”, and as soon as the brain receives more information than it can process, it “freezes”. Moreover, the information may not be purposefully received, but “chaotically bombing”: environment is now permeated through with information flows.
b) lack of vitamins. Of course, many vitamins are important for excellent brain function, but group B occupies the primacy. These vitamins:

support the work of the central nervous system;

protect brain cells from stress, overload and premature aging;

participate in oxygen metabolism;

reduce blood clotting;

participate in the synthesis of certain neurotransmitters that trigger nerve impulses between neurons.
And if all this ensures the functioning of the brain as a whole, then the latter is directly related to memory: there is no impulse, there is no brain function, there is no memory.
c) stressful situations. The Universities of Calgary and Exeter proved that stress ( but not easy, namely the ultimate) blocks the physiological processes associated with memory. Despite the fact that the study was conducted on Lymnaea stagnalis snails, the result is quite revealing: having endured a huge amount of irritating factors, the test subjects forgot absolutely everything that they had been taught earlier. In addition, if one stressful moment only lowers the quality of memory, then a “massive” stress attack creates a cumulative effect, and information generally ceases to linger in memory.
d) lack, inferiority of sleep. In a dream, the body, incl. the brain is restored: instead of the dead, new cells grow. Accordingly, the better and longer the sleep, the longer and more effective the recovery is. Otherwise, the brain does not have time to "rest", loses the ability to both remember and recall.
d) junk food. Many food products are stored and prepared in aluminum utensils. Food coloring also contains aluminum. As a result, by consuming products of the "aluminized" industry, a person provides his body with an excess of aluminum, which, by the way, is extremely slowly and difficult to remove. As a result, headaches appear, thinking becomes lethargic, and memory deteriorates.
“Stimulants” like energy and tonic drinks also contribute. Stimulation, of course, gives a short-term effect, but with regular use, the brain becomes “lazy”.

4. Chronic intoxication

Reasons for this group include:
a) smoking. It practically “decomposes” the brain, disrupts the ability to reason, learn, impairs memory. Moreover, not only active, but also passive smoking has a detrimental effect. Scientists from Northumbria University, who conducted a study on three groups of volunteers ( smokers who constantly breathe smoke, rarely come into contact with smoke), proved that normal memory characteristics were observed only in the healthiest group, while in smokers this indicator was reduced by 30% and for passive smokers 25% .
b) alcohol abuse or total refusal from it. University College London experts have proven that drinking more than 36 g of pure alcohol per day leads to early memory deterioration, but drinking up to 20 g of alcohol per day does not provoke such changes. It is also curious that a complete rejection of alcohol is harmful to memory. Thus, the optimal "schedule" of drinking is 2-4 glasses of wine per week.
c) drug addiction. Even with a single dose, drugs can cause irreparable damage to the brain. For example, after a single use of "harmless" ecstasy - the most neurotoxic synthetic drug - the brain's serotonin system is damaged so much that it can never fully recover. Some drugs work even after you stop using them. In any case, these substances disrupt the very system of impulse transmission, interfere with the order of receiving, sending and processing information by nerve cells.
d) heavy metal intoxication (lead, mercury, thallium, copper, manganese).
Lead occupies a leading position among the causes of industrial poisoning, because there are a lot of places for its use: lead smelters, battery production, printing houses, the production of lead paints, leaded gasoline, ceramic products, crystal glass, etc. In addition, there is a threat of lead damage nearby. major highways.

Mercury has three main sources:

Amalgam ( in dental fillings). A medium-sized filling contains 750,000 micrograms of mercury, of which 10 micrograms are released daily. Plus, mercury is released faster if the amalgam is heated to the temperature of hot tea.

Vaccines. Merthiolate - an organic compound of mercury - is present in vaccines against influenza, hepatitis B, DTP and is more dangerous than its vapors.

A fish. The mercury contained in it has already reacted with protective molecules, and does not pose a significant health hazard. But still, you should not overeat tuna.
In addition, potential sources of mercury in the home are thermometers, thermostats, mercury switches, and barometers.
e) drug abuse. Memory impairment is side effect many drugs. If these drugs are abused, a cumulative effect will be created, which is especially pronounced after taking tranquilizers and sedatives.
The list of such pharmaceutical groups also includes antipsychotics, anticholinergics, "heart" drops, barbiturates, anticholinergics, antidepressants, antihistamines.

According to statistics, more than half of the Russian population experience forgetfulness after reaching a certain age threshold.

Undoubtedly, in some people this problem manifests itself earlier, in others later, but both are looking for the causes of the disease and ways to improve memory after 40 years.

Why does memory decline after 40 years

The main reason for the deterioration of memory in people after forty years of age is age-related changes in neurons and neural connections.

The most important factor that affects the process of destruction of brain cells is alcohol consumption.

It has been scientifically proven that with a hangover syndrome that occurs after drinking a large amount of alcohol, brain neurons die off much faster. Therefore, among lovers of strong drinks, by the age of forty, memory deteriorates significantly.

In addition to alcohol, there are other causes of memory impairment, in particular:

smoking, drug and alcohol addiction;
sleep disturbance;
strokes;
stress;
craniocerebral injuries, brain damage received at any age (i.e., an injury received at a young age can affect the state of memory already in adulthood).

Walking outdoors to improve memory

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People over the age of 40 can improve memory by walking in the fresh air. It can be as simple walks in the park or forest, as well as walking with a dog or jogging.

The benefit of walking is that the body is saturated with oxygen. This circumstance is very important for residents of megacities or those who lead a sedentary lifestyle.

With the lifestyle that every second inhabitant of a big city leads, it is impossible to include long walks in the daily schedule. And because of this, the human body is deficient in oxygen.

To avoid such a state, you need to spend at least three hours a day walking. After all, for the proper functioning of brain neurons, they need oxygen.

American scientists conducted a study in which two groups of people took part. One group did gymnastics in the gym, and the other walked for 45 minutes 3 times a week.

A year later, scientists examined people and came to the conclusion that in gymnasts, brain volume decreased by 1.5%, and walkers increased by 2% in areas that are responsible for memory and planning.

Performance increased when walking was combined with mental arithmetic, logical thinking (problem solving), reading, and memory training.

This experiment showed that prolonged exposure to fresh air helps rejuvenate neurons.

It's important to know! Walking in the fresh air helps not only improve memory after 40 years, but also get rid of other health problems. From such as fatigue, drowsiness, irritability.

Increased ventilation of the lungs. Improves the functioning of the digestive and cardiovascular systems.

How to improve memory (after 40): brain training

There are a lot of training for memory in the form of a game. And they are considered the most effective.

You can improve your memory after 40 with the help of exercises such as:

Puzzles. Collecting puzzles is useful, as this process develops logical thinking, concentration and attention;
Board games. Games such as chess and checkers develop logic and attention;
Crosswords. This lesson is useful in that it makes you think about questions, recall long-forgotten terms, etc.;
Drawing up a daily routine. This helps to structure the amount of work that needs to be done and not to forget something important. First, you can write it down on paper, and then only memorize and reproduce it in your head during the day.

When looking for an answer to the question of how to improve memory after 40 years, you should pay attention to kinesiology exercises.

Using the techniques of kinesiology, a person can improve health, optimize the most important mental processes: thinking, attention, memory, perception, imagination, hearing and speech. It also improves mental performance.

The easiest exercise is to use your non-dominant hand.

This means that if a person is right-handed, then he should try to write, draw, eat, brush his teeth, take objects, comb his hair, turn pages with his left hand. And vice versa for lefties.

In the process of training, the work of both hemispheres of the brain is synchronized and the efficiency of its activity as a whole increases significantly.

It can also be mirrored. To do this, you need to take a pencil or pen in both hands, it is better if they are different colors, and draw identical shapes, as if one shape is a reflection of the other.

Figures can be geometric, flat, three-dimensional, simple and complex. But you can also write numbers and even words.

There is also an exercise called “random words”. Its essence is that you need to write down the first words that come to mind and then connect them with a story. At first it will be difficult, but after a few trainings everything will turn out easily.

Kinesiology exercises include mandala drawing. You can draw it yourself and then color it, buy a book with mandalas to color in, or print a picture downloaded from the Internet.

Combination of active and passive rest to improve memory

Problems with remembering information can arise from overexertion. To eliminate this risk factor, you need to learn how to dose work and rest.

Interesting fact! Many well-known and prominent personalities, such as Marietta Shaginyan, A. I. Herzen, V. A. Obruchev and others, preferred to do mental work only in the first half of the day, and in the early morning hours.

But besides work, they could arrange their schedule so that they had time to do everything necessary and not get tired.

The main thing that needs to be observed when resting is the correct ratio of passive and active rest.

Passive rest is a walk in the park, going to a cafe or restaurant, relaxing on the beach. Such a rest will help to relax and recuperate, to think about problems and their solutions.

Active recreation is:

travel to other countries;
mountain climbs;
diving;
skydiving or bungee jumping;
cycling and much more.

This type of recreation will help relieve emotional stress, distract from problems, learn something new.

But if the schedule does not allow you to often include trips to cafes and trips to other countries, then the best option will become an alternation different types mental labor.

And also, following the example of the philosopher Voltaire, to share papers dedicated to different topics in different folders and boxes, that is, to structure.

Reading books to improve memory

Improving your memory after 40 is quite possible, and it's not as difficult as it seems. For this you need to read as much interesting literature as possible.

When reading, the reader follows the plot thought, developing events, the brain remembers information about the characters, feelings, fates of the characters.

But in order for reading to bring a greater effect, after reading a chapter or page, you need to reproduce in memory everything that was discussed in the read text. It improves memory, intelligence, and also develops vocabulary.

Among other things, reading helps relieve emotional stress, relax.

Art therapy for memory training

Art therapy helps to cope with memory disorders associated with stress, depression and overexertion.

Art therapy techniques also help to cope with psychosomatic diseases: phobias, fears, self-doubt, isolation, resentment, aggression towards loved ones.

There are several types of such therapy.

Helps to harmonize the internal state, express emotions. It is indicated for those people who cannot express feelings and emotions through speech, suffering from severe depression and acute psychosis.

When drawing, the right hemisphere is involved, which stores non-verbal memory - the memory of things you have ever seen.

Music therapy

Many people have musical compositions associated with some pleasant memories from life.

The principle is that when listening to melodies associated with moments of life, the brain independently reproduces these moments.

Music helps both improve memory after 40 years and relieve emotional stress.

Imagotherapy

This is a reproduction (retelling) of stories and playing situations from life.

This therapy trains memory by memorizing texts and dialogues, and also helps to gain life experience and behavior patterns in some situations.

Foods that improve memory

For the brain to function properly, it needs oxygen and vitamins C, K, E, group B, Omega-3, and microelements such as phosphorus, selenium, and iodine.

Nutrition also influences how to improve memory after 40 years and its work in general.

These substances contain the following products:

Milk- a source of vitamin B12, which contributes to better assimilation of information. You need to drink 2 glasses a day;
Garlic- accelerates blood circulation, as a result of which the brain receives more oxygen. With the use of two or three cloves of garlic every day, memory improves;
sea kale- a source of iodine, helps maintain a clear mind and in some cases increases IQ;
nuts- a source of B vitamins, E, magnesium and fatty amino acids. Develop thinking and stimulate the brain;
Honey is a source of glucose. The brain feeds only on carbohydrates, that is, glucose. Glucose is also found in dried fruits.

Medications to improve memory

There is a huge variety of drugs that improve memory. They are available with or without a prescription.

The main drugs are:

Preparations from the extract of the leaves of "Ginkgo Biloba". They affect the vascular system of the brain, thin the blood, the drug has an antidepressant effect. Struggling with memory loss, anxiety, sleep disturbance;
Glycine. Preparations containing glycine saturate the medulla with an amino acid. Can be taken to relieve severe mental stress, stress, as well as for sleep disorders;
Preparations with Eleutherococcus extract- tones the body. It is recommended for use to restore mental, physical performance, in case of overwork. Raises blood pressure.

Be careful! Medicines should be taken only after consulting a specialist.

If you follow a diet, do exercises to increase brain activity, take walks, read books and take drugs, then memory improvement is possible at any age.

From this video you will learn how to improve memory after 40 years, what you need to do for this:

In this video, you will find 5 tips to improve your memory:

Memory is an important function of our central nervous system to perceive the information received and store it in some invisible "cells" of the brain in reserve in order to retrieve and use it in the future. Memory is one of the most important abilities of human mental activity, therefore slightest infringement memory burdens him, he breaks out of the usual rhythm of life, suffering himself and annoying those around him.

Memory impairment is most often perceived as one of the many clinical manifestations of some kind of neuropsychic or neurological pathology, although in other cases forgetfulness, absent-mindedness and poor memory are the only signs of a disease that no one pays attention to, believing that a person is such by nature. .

The big mystery is human memory

Memory is a complex process that takes place in the central nervous system and involves the perception, accumulation, retention and reproduction of information received at different periods of time. Most of all, we think about the properties of our memory when we need to learn something new. The result of all the efforts made in the learning process depends on how someone manages to hook, hold, perceive what they see, hear or read, which is important when choosing a profession. From the point of view of biology, memory is short-term and long-term.

Information received in a glimpse or, as they say, “it flew into one ear, flew out of the other” is a short-term memory in which what is seen and heard is postponed for several minutes, but, as a rule, without meaning and content. So, the episode flashed by and disappeared. Short-term memory does not promise anything in advance, which is probably good, because otherwise a person would have to store all the information that he does not need at all.

However, with certain efforts of a person, information that has fallen into the zone of short-term memory, if you keep your eyes on it or listen and delve into it, will go to long-term storage. This also happens against the will of a person, if some episodes are often repeated, have a special emotional significance, or occupy a separate place among other phenomena for various reasons.

Assessing their memory, some people claim that they have a short-term memory, because everything is remembered, assimilated, retold in a couple of days, and then just as quickly forgotten. This often happens when preparing for exams, when information is put aside only for the purpose of reproducing it to decorate a grade book. It should be noted that in such cases, turning back to this topic when it becomes interesting, a person can easily restore seemingly lost knowledge. It is one thing to know and forget, and another to not receive information. And here everything is simple - the acquired knowledge without much human effort was transformed into departments of long-term memory.

Long-term memory analyzes, structures, creates volume and purposefully postpones everything for future use indefinitely. Everything is kept in long-term memory. Memorization mechanisms are very complex, but we are so used to them that we perceive them as natural and simple things. However, we note that for the successful implementation of the learning process, in addition to memory, it is important to have attention, that is, to be able to concentrate on the right subjects.

It is common for a person to forget past events after a while, if they do not periodically extract their knowledge in order to use them, therefore, the inability to remember something is not always to be attributed to memory impairment. Each of us has experienced the feeling when “it is spinning in the head, but it does not come to mind”, but this does not mean that serious disorders have occurred in the memory.

Why do memory lapses happen?

The causes of impaired memory and attention in adults and children may be different. If a child with congenital mental retardation immediately has learning problems, then he will already come to adulthood with these disorders. Children and adults can react differently to the environment: the child's psyche is more tender, so it takes stress harder. In addition, adults have long studied what the child is still trying to master.

Sadly, the trend towards the use of alcoholic beverages and drugs by adolescents, and even by young children left unattended by their parents, has become frightening: cases of poisoning are not so rarely recorded in the reports of law enforcement agencies and medical institutions. But for the child's brain, alcohol is the strongest poison that has an extremely negative effect on memory.

True, some pathological conditions that often cause absent-mindedness and poor memory in adults are usually excluded in children (Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis, osteochondrosis).

Causes of memory impairment in children

Thus, the causes of impaired memory and attention in children can be considered:

Lack of vitamins, anemia;
Asthenia;
Frequent viral infections;
Traumatic brain injury;
Stressful situations (dysfunctional family, despotism of parents, problems in the team that the child attends);
Poor eyesight;
brain tumors;
Mental disorder;
Poisoning, alcohol and drug use;
Congenital pathology, in which mental retardation is programmed (Down's syndrome, etc.) or other (whatever) conditions (lack of vitamins or trace elements, the use of certain drugs, changes in metabolic processes that are not for the better) that contribute to the formation of attention deficit disorder, which, As you know, memory does not improve.

Causes of problems in adults

In adults, the reason that has become a bad memory, absent-mindedness and inability to concentrate for a long time, are various diseases acquired in the process of life:

Stress, psycho-emotional stress, chronic fatigue of both soul and body;
Acute and chronic disorders of cerebral circulation;
Atherosclerosis;
Arterial hypertension;
Encephalopathy;
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine;
Vertebrobasilar insufficiency;
Traumatic brain injury;
Metabolic disorders;
Hormonal imbalance;
GM tumors;
Alzheimer's disease;
Mental disorders (depression, epilepsy, schizophrenia and many others).

Of course, anemia of various origins, lack of trace elements, vegetative-vascular dystonia, diabetes and other numerous somatic pathologies lead to impaired memory and attention, contribute to the appearance of forgetfulness and absent-mindedness.

What are the types of memory disorders? Among them are dysmnesia(hypermnesia, hypomnesia, amnesia) - changes in memory itself, and paramnesia- distortion of memories, to which the patient's personal fantasies are added. By the way, some of them, on the contrary, are considered by others to be rather a phenomenal memory than its violation. True, experts may have a slightly different opinion on this matter.

Phenomenal memory or mental disorder?

Hypermnesia- with such a violation, people remember and perceive quickly, information set aside many years ago for no reason pops up in memory, “rolls”, returns to the past, which does not always cause positive emotions. A person himself does not know why he needs to keep everything in his head, however, he can reproduce some long-past events to the smallest detail. For instance, old man he can easily describe in detail (up to the teacher's clothes) individual lessons at school, retell the literary montage of the pioneer collection, it is not difficult for him to recall other details related to studying at the institute, professional activities or family events.

Hypermnesia, present in a healthy person in the absence of other clinical manifestations, is not considered a disease, rather, on the contrary, this is exactly the case when they talk about phenomenal memory, although from the point of view of psychology, phenomenal memory is a slightly different phenomenon. People with this phenomenon are able to memorize and reproduce huge amounts of information that is not connected with any special meaning. These can be large numbers, sets of individual words, lists of objects, notes. Such a memory is often possessed by great writers, musicians, mathematicians and people of other professions that require genius abilities. Meanwhile, hypermnesia in a healthy person who does not belong to the cohort of geniuses, but has a high intelligence quotient (IQ), is not such a rare occurrence.

As one of the symptoms of pathological conditions, memory impairment in the form of hypermnesia occurs:

With paroxysmal mental disorders ah (epilepsy);
With intoxication with psychoactive substances (psychotropic drugs, narcotic drugs);
In the case of hypomania - a condition similar to mania, but not up to it in terms of the severity of the course. Patients may experience a surge of energy, increased vitality, and ability to work. With hypomania, a violation of memory and attention is often combined (disinhibition, instability, inability to concentrate).

It is obvious that only a specialist can understand such subtleties, distinguish between the norm and pathology. Most of us are average representatives of the human population, to whom "nothing human is alien", but at the same time they do not turn the world upside down. From time to time (not every year and not in every locality) geniuses appear, they are not always immediately noticeable, because often such individuals are considered simply eccentrics. And, finally, (perhaps not often?) among the various pathological conditions there are mental illnesses that require correction and complex treatment.

bad memory

Hypomnesia- this type is usually expressed in two words: "bad memory."

Forgetfulness, absent-mindedness and poor memory are observed with asthenic syndrome, which, in addition to memory problems, is also characterized by other symptoms:

Increased fatigue.
Nervousness, irritability with or without it, bad mood.
Headache.
Meteorological dependence.
Sleepiness during the day and sleeplessness at night.
Changes in blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmias.
Hot flashes and other autonomic disorders.
Chronic fatigue, weakness.

Asthenic syndrome, as a rule, forms another pathology, for example:

Arterial hypertension.
Postponed traumatic brain injury (TBI).
atherosclerotic process.
The initial stage of schizophrenia.

The cause of impaired memory and attention according to the type of hypomnesia can be various depressive states (you can’t count everyone), climacteric syndrome proceeding with an adaptation disorder, organic brain lesions (severe TBI, epilepsy, tumors). In such situations, as a rule, in addition to hypomnesia, the symptoms listed above are also present.

"I remember here - I don't remember here"

At amnesia not the whole memory falls out, but its individual fragments. As an example of this type of amnesia, one would like to recall the film by Alexander Gray "Gentlemen of Fortune" - "I remember here - I don't remember here."

However, not all amnesias look like in the famous motion picture, there are more serious cases when memory is lost significantly and for a long time or forever, therefore, several types of such memory impairments (amnesia) are distinguished:

dissociative amnesia events that caused psychological trauma are erased from memory. Severe stress causes a protective reaction of the body, and it tries to hide situations that a person cannot survive on his own. From the depths of the unconscious, these events can only be obtained by special methods (hypnosis);
retrograde amnesia- a person forgets what happened before the injury (most often this happens after a TBI) - the patient came to his senses, but does not remember who he is and what happened to him;
Anterograde amnesia- before the injury (TTM or a strong psycho-traumatic situation), everything is remembered, and after the injury - a failure;
Fixation amnesia- poor memory for current events (a person forgets what happened today);
total amnesia- all information disappears from memory, including information about one's own "I".

A special type of memory loss that cannot be dealt with is progressive amnesia, which is a progressive loss of memory from the present to the past. The reason for the destruction of memory in such cases is organic atrophy of the brain, which occurs during Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Such patients do not reproduce memory traces well (speech disorders), for example, they forget the names of household items that they use daily (plate, chair, clock), but at the same time they know what they are intended for (amnestic aphasia). In other cases, the patient simply does not recognize the thing (sensory aphasia) or does not know what it is for (semantic aphasia). However, one should not confuse the habits of “radical” owners to find a use for everything that is in the house, even if it is intended for completely different purposes (you can make a beautiful dish or stand out of a used kitchen clock in the form of a plate).

This is what you need to figure out!

Paramnesia (distortion of memories) also referred to as memory disorders, and among them are the following types:

Confabulation, in which fragments of one’s own memory disappear, and their place is taken by stories invented by the patient and presented to them “in all seriousness”, since he himself believes in what he is talking about. Patients talk about their exploits, unprecedented achievements in life and work, and even sometimes about crimes.
pseudo-reminiscence- the replacement of one memory with another event that actually took place in the patient's life, only at a completely different time and under different circumstances (Korsakov's syndrome).
Cryptomnesia when patients, having received information from various sources (books, movies, stories of other people), pass it off as events they experienced. In a word, patients, due to pathological changes, go to involuntary plagiarism, which is characteristic of delusional ideas found in organic disorders.
Echomnesia- a person feels (quite sincerely) that this event has already happened to him (or did he see it in a dream?). Of course, such thoughts sometimes visit a healthy person, but the difference is that patients attach special significance to such phenomena (“go in cycles”), while healthy people simply quickly forget about it.
Polympsest- this symptom exists in two versions: short-term memory lapses associated with pathological alcohol intoxication (episodes of the past day are confused with long-past events), and the combination of two different events of the same period of time, in the end, the patient himself does not know what happened in fact.

As a rule, these symptoms in pathological conditions are accompanied by other clinical manifestations, therefore, having noticed signs of “déjà vu” in oneself, there is no need to rush to make a diagnosis - this also happens in healthy people.

Decreased concentration affects memory

To violations of memory and attention, the loss of the ability to focus on specific objects include the following pathological conditions:

Attention instability- a person is constantly distracted, jumping from one subject to another (disinhibition syndrome in children, hypomania, hebephrenia - a mental disorder that develops as a form of schizophrenia in adolescence);
Rigidity (slow switching) from one topic to another - this symptom is very characteristic of epilepsy (those who communicated with such people know that the patient is constantly “stuck”, which makes it difficult to conduct a dialogue);
Lack of concentration- they say about such people: “That’s what a distracted one from Basseinaya Street!”, That is, absent-mindedness and poor memory in such cases are often perceived as features of temperament and behavior, which, in principle, often corresponds to reality.

Undoubtedly, a decrease in concentration of attention, in particular, will have a negative impact on the entire process of memorizing and storing information, that is, on the state of memory as a whole.

Children forget faster

As for children, all these gross, permanent memory impairments, characteristic of adults and, especially, the elderly, are very rarely noted in childhood. Memory problems that arise due to congenital features require correction and, with a skillful approach (as far as possible), may recede a little. There are many cases when the efforts of parents and teachers literally worked wonders for Down syndrome and other types of congenital mental retardation, but here the approach is individual and dependent on different circumstances.

Another thing is if the baby was born healthy, and the problems appeared as a result of the troubles suffered. So here a child can expect a slightly different reaction to different situations:

Amnesia in children in most cases, it manifests itself as memory lapses in relation to individual memories of episodes that took place during the period of clouding of consciousness associated with unpleasant events (poisoning, coma, trauma) - it is not in vain that they say that children quickly forget;
Alcoholization of adolescence also proceeds differently than in adults - the absence of memories ( polympsests) on events occurring during intoxication, appears already in the first stages of drunkenness, without waiting for a diagnosis (alcoholism);
retrograde amnesia in children, as a rule, it affects a short period of time before an injury or illness, and its severity is not as clear as in adults, that is, memory loss in a child can not always be noticed.

Most often in children and adolescents there is a memory impairment of the type of dysmnesia, which is manifested by a weakening of the ability to remember, store (retention) and reproduce (reproduction) the information received. Disorders of this type are more noticeable in school-age children, as they affect school performance, adaptation in a team, and behavior in everyday life.

In children attending preschool institutions, symptoms of dysmnesia are problems with memorizing rhymes, songs, children cannot participate in children's matinees and holidays. Despite the fact that Kindergarten the kid visits constantly, every time he comes there, he cannot find his locker on his own to change clothes, among other items (toys, clothes, towels) it is difficult for him to find his own. Dysmnestic disorders are also noticeable at home: the child cannot tell what happened in the garden, forgets the names of other children, each time he reads fairy tales he perceives as if he hears them for the first time, he does not remember the names of the main characters.

Transient disturbances of memory and attention, along with fatigue, drowsiness and all sorts of autonomic disorders, are often observed in schoolchildren with cerebrosthenic syndrome various etiologies.

Before treatment

Before treating the symptoms of memory impairment, it is necessary to make a correct diagnosis and find out what causes the patient's problems. To do this, you need to get as much information about his health:

What diseases does he suffer from? Perhaps it will be possible to trace the connection between the existing pathology (or transferred in the past) with the deterioration of intellectual abilities;
Does he have a pathology that directly leads to memory impairment: dementia, cerebrovascular insufficiency, TBI (history), chronic alcoholism, drug disorders?
What medications does the patient take and is memory impairment related to the use of medications? Certain groups of pharmaceuticals, such as benzodiazepines, including side effects have a similar kind of violations, which, however, are reversible.

In addition, in the process of diagnostic search, a biochemical blood test can be very useful, which allows you to identify metabolic disorders, hormonal imbalance, deficiency of trace elements and vitamins.

In most cases, when looking for the causes of memory impairment, they resort to methods neuroimaging(CT, MRI, EEG, PET, etc.), which help to detect a brain tumor or hydrocephalus and, at the same time, to differentiate a vascular brain lesion from a degenerative one.

The need for neuroimaging methods also arises because memory impairment at first may be the only symptom of a serious pathology. Unfortunately, the greatest difficulties in diagnosis are depressive states, forcing in other cases to prescribe a trial antidepressant treatment (to find out if there is depression or not).

Treatment and correction

The normal aging process itself involves some decline in intellectual abilities: forgetfulness appears, memorization is not so easy, concentration of attention drops, especially if the neck is “squeezed” or pressure rises, however, such symptoms do not significantly affect the quality of life and behavior in everyday life. Older people who adequately assess their age learn to remind themselves (and quickly remember) about current affairs.

In addition, many do not neglect pharmaceutical treatment to improve memory.

Now there are a number of drugs that can improve brain function and even help with tasks that require significant intellectual effort. First of all, these are nootropics (piracetam, phezam, vinpocetine, cerebrolysin, cinnarizine, etc.).

Nootropics are indicated for elderly people who have certain age-related problems that are not yet noticeable to others. The drugs of this group are suitable for improving memory in violation of cerebral circulation caused by other pathological conditions of the brain and vascular system. By the way, many of these drugs are successfully used in pediatric practice.

However, nootropics are a symptomatic treatment, and in order to obtain the proper effect, one must strive for an etiotropic one.

As for Alzheimer's disease, tumors, mental disorders, here the approach to treatment should be very specific - depending on the pathological changes and the reasons that led to them. There is no single prescription for all cases, so there is nothing to advise patients. You just need to contact a doctor, who, perhaps, before prescribing drugs to improve memory, will send for an additional examination.

Difficult in adults and the correction of disorders of mental activity. Patients with poor memory, under the supervision of an instructor, memorize verses, solve crossword puzzles, practice solving logical problems, however, training, bringing some success (the severity of mnestic disorders seems to have decreased), still do not give particularly significant results.

Correction of memory and attention in children, in addition to treatment with the help of various groups of pharmaceuticals, provides for classes with a psychologist, exercises for the development of memory (poems, drawings, tasks). Of course, the children's psyche is more mobile and better amenable to correction, unlike the adult psyche. Children have the prospect of progressive development, while in older people only the opposite effect progresses.

Video: bad memory - expert opinion

Unlike films where the hero is hit on the head and he instantly loses his memory completely, in real life Most often, memory loss occurs gradually. Therefore, it is very important to notice it in time and take the necessary measures. We will talk about the causes and symptoms of memory impairment in this article.

Causes of memory impairment

Memory impairment can manifest itself as both intermittent forgetfulness and loss of short-term memory, which significantly worsens everyday life. In any case, there can be many reasons for this.

Taking medications. Some medications can cause memory impairment. Possible "culprits" can be: antidepressants, antihistamines, sedatives, muscle relaxants, tranquilizers, sleeping pills and painkillers.

Alcohol, smoking and drug use. It has long been proven that excessive alcohol consumption leads to deterioration and loss of memory. Smoking affects memory by reducing the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain. Studies have shown that smokers have a harder time remembering the names of strangers than non-smokers. And illicit drugs can affect the chemical processes of the brain, which leads to memory impairment.

Lack of sleep. The quality and quantity of a night's sleep are essential for memory. Frequent wakefulness at night or a constant lack of sleep leads to fatigue, which interferes with the ability to process information normally. About how much and how to sleep, the article "" will tell.

depression and stress. A depressed state reduces attention, which can also affect memory. Stress and anxiety can also reduce concentration. When you are stressed and your mind is distracted or overstimulated by unnecessary experiences, your ability to remember information can suffer. Stress caused by emotional trauma can also lead to memory impairment at any age. In the next article, we will cover .

Poor nutrition. Good, nutritious nutrition, including high-quality proteins and fats, is necessary for the normal functioning of the brain. In particular, the lack of vitamins B1 and B12 in the body negatively affects memory. We'll talk more about proper nutrition.

Head injuries. A severe blow to the head from a fall or car accident can damage the brain and cause short-term and long-term memory loss. Sometimes memory can gradually improve over time.

Stroke. A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is cut off due to a blockage in the blood vessels in the brain. This often causes short-term memory loss. A person who has had a stroke may have vivid childhood memories but is unable to remember what they ate for lunch today. By the way, everyone should know.

Other reasons. The causes of memory impairment can be an overactive thyroid gland, as well as infections that affect the brain - tuberculosis, syphilis, HIV.

Note! For many, memory impairment is associated with old age, senile dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. But memory problems can also occur in young people.

For what reasons this can happen and what to look for, read below.

Memory impairment at a young age

Research scientists have shown that young people aged 18 to 35 are more prone to everyday episodes of forgetfulness than the elderly. Young people often forget what day it is or where they put their keys. Almost always, these memory problems are due to an unhealthy lifestyle.

The most serious causes of memory disorders at a young age are already mentioned above drunkenness and drug use. Often young boys and girls drink alcoholic drinks until they have memory lapses. And on the morning after the “stormy” party, they cannot remember what happened to them last night.

Also, increased stress levels, poor nutrition and insufficient sleep contribute to memory problems. But the greatest danger is represented by all kinds of gadgets to which we are attached. First, the brain needs multitasking, which many now rely on their electronic devices. Without diverting attention between various types short-term memory impairment occurs.

Secondly, most young people are accustomed to sleeping with their cell phones under their pillows, which exposes their brains to damaging electromagnetic fields. Radiation from smartphones can cause significant impairment not only in memory, but also lead to learning difficulties, disrupt emotional and stress resistance.

Temporary memory lapses at a young age can occur with dehydration, prolonged stress, and low blood sugar. As a rule, when these causes are eliminated, then the memory can be restored over time.

Important! If you are concerned about minor memory problems, easy forgetfulness, then it's time to pay attention to your lifestyle and identify which factor affects memory. Lack of physical activity, insufficient brain stimulation, poor sleep and poor nutrition can all lead to poor brain function.

According to scientists, there are more than 350 diseases that can lead to memory impairment. Among them are serious mental illness - schizophrenia, bipolar personality disorder, depression and anxiety. Also, such diseases include cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, thyroid problems, tuberculosis and Lyme disease, as well as various brain infections.

To exclude these diseases, you should consult a doctor at the first anxiety symptoms especially if memory impairment progress and do not disappear for a long time.

Elderly people often complain about excessive forgetfulness. Someone can't remember the name of the movie they watched yesterday. Someone forgets the way home or does not remember why he went to another room. And these problems are usually associated with the onset of dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Fortunately, this is not always the case, and age-related memory changes are not always a symptom of serious diseases.

Happens with age physiological changes, which can cause disruptions in brain function. It takes more time than before to remember or recall any information. It's not actually memory loss, which is often considered an inevitable part of the aging process. The brain is able to produce new cells at any age, but if they are not used, they can atrophy, like muscles, for example.

Three physiological causes of age-related memory impairment:

with age, the condition of the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for memories, often worsens;
the level of proteins and hormones in the body, which protect, restore brain cells and stimulate the formation of neural connections, also decreases;
blood flow to the brain is reduced, which negatively affects memory and other cognitive skills.

It is very important to timely distinguish normal age-related forgetfulness from serious diseases that occur in old age. It is normal to forget from time to time where you left things you use frequently, such as glasses or keys. Also, do not worry if you forget the names of your acquaintances or call them by other names. As we age, we tend to be more easily distracted and have trouble remembering information.

What should be alerted in old age with memory impairment

The most important difference between normal age-related memory changes and the onset of dementia or other serious illnesses is that temporary memory lapses have little effect on daily activities. The main feature is persistent and progressive deterioration at the same time minimum two intellectual abilities- memory, speech, abstract thinking and the ability to think logically.

Important! If the memory loss becomes so severe that it interferes with work, hobbies, family relationships or social activities, then this is an occasion to pay closer attention to this problem and consult a doctor.

Under normal age-related changes older people are able to lead habitual activity despite memory impairment. With the onset of dementia, difficulties appear in performing simple tasks that have been repeated many times before (paying bills, washing dishes, etc.).

A serious signal can also be a complete loss of orientation even in familiar places, constant distortion of words or phrases, socially inappropriate behavior. A visit to the doctor is mandatory if the memory impairment becomes noticeable enough to seriously affect your life or family members. Even if the symptoms do not match those of dementia, it is best to undergo a thorough medical examination and prevent possible problems in future.

A neurologist will be able to assess your personal risk factors, address reversible causes of memory problems, and prescribe the appropriate treatment. Early diagnosis can completely eliminate reversible memory and attention disorders, improve the quality of life in the onset of Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia.

During the examination, the doctor will ask the following questions:

how long you or your loved ones have been experiencing memory problems;
what exactly is difficult to remember;
memory impairment was gradual or sudden;
whether there are problems in the usual affairs.

The doctor will also want to know what medications you are taking, how you eat and sleep, and if you have had any recent stress or depression. Most likely, he will ask you or your loved ones to observe the symptoms for several months. After that, depending on all these factors, the necessary medication and physiotherapy will be prescribed.

What can be done independently with memory impairment

Reduce stress and anxiety in daily life. If a disturbing thought comes to mind during the day, do not distract from your studies, but briefly write down this thought. Remind yourself that you will definitely think about it when the free time, and there is no need to worry about it right now.

Lead an active social life. People who rarely interact with family members and friends have a higher risk of memory impairment. Quality time spent with other people is a powerful memory drug, so make sure to schedule a meeting with friends from time to time. At the meeting itself, do not forget to put your phone away to maximize the quality of communication.

No smoking. Smoking increases the risk of vascular disease, which can cause a stroke or narrow the arteries that carry oxygen to the brain. Read more about the dangers of smoking -.

Get enough sleep. Sleep is necessary to restore the processes of formation and storage of memories. Lack of sleep reduces the growth of new neural connections in the hippocampus and causes problems with memory, concentration and decision-making.

Follow nutrition. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and drink green tea These foods are rich in antioxidants that protect brain cells from premature aging. Foods rich in omega-3 fats (tuna, salmon, trout, walnuts, and flaxseed) are also good for memory.

Exercise your brain and memory. Just as exercise is indispensable for the health of the body, mental activity makes the brain work better and reduces the risk of various deteriorations in thought processes. Choose memory exercises that you enjoy. If you practice through force, then this will not bring the desired effect. Here are some ideas for memory and brain training:

Logic games and puzzles - chess, crossword puzzles, sudoku, various games into words.
Reading books, magazines and newspapers that make you think about something.
Learning new things - playing a musical instrument, a foreign language, cooking according to new recipes, driving along previously unknown routes.
The easiest way to combat memory impairment is walking. This option is suitable even for the elderly or debilitated people. According to the American Academy of Neurology, older people who walked 10-15 km a week, 9 years after the start of the study, had better memory and healthier brains than the rest.

Why memory deteriorates and how to train it (video)

The causes of memory deterioration, as well as tips for training it, will be told in this video by physician Alexei Bezymyanny.

By following these simple rules, you can improve brain function and prevent memory problems caused by poor lifestyle habits. We remind you that for any alarming symptoms, it is best to consult a therapist or neurologist.

Next article.

Hello dear readers. Sadly, but our body begins to age from the age of 25. And in the fifth decade (don't let this expression scare you), menopause comes and the changes associated with it in a woman's body. One of them is distracted attention, poor memorization of information. Modern medicine offers many pills and drugs to, among other things, improve memorization. But do you need another item on your drug menu? In this post, we will tell you how to improve memory after 40 years without medication.

Brain and memory after 40

There are many factors that affect long-term and short-term memory. In adulthood, it makes sense to talk about several groups of reasons, why the process of memorization and recall worsens:

diseases of internal organs;
unfavorable external environment;
chronic intoxication of the body (meaning mainly bad habits - smoking, alcohol, overeating);
lack of sleep;
cell aging.

Chronic intoxications over the years are also negative for memories. If you have been smoking or drinking alcohol all your life, your brain cells have atrophied. This is not critical if you quit the addiction.

In ordinary life, it is better to correct the work of memory, attention and activity of our brain using simple methods. We will introduce you to them.

The way to improve your memory is to spend time naturally

Go for a walk! Daily festivities in the green part of the city will help you relax, relieve stress and forget about problems. In addition, oxygen, supplied to the brain in sufficient volume, activates thought processes and the work of cells responsible for memory. And if you do some simple and enjoyable sport (for example,), then not only physical, but also mental processes will accelerate in you.

No time for a good rest in the forest or park? Then choose a long way home from work, look around and think about the pleasant.

There is another factor that strongly influences memories. Our gadgets, be it a smartphone with social networks, a tablet with your favorite game or a laptop.

Firstly, they take our time and take away our attention. Secondly, tons of unnecessary information enters the head through them. For example, you remember how many hours you need to water the beds in the Frenzy Farm or what photo a former colleague put on your profile picture, but the information where the keys were put disappears from your head.

This happens because the "operative" memory of the brain is not infinite, and at the same time it contains things not in order of importance, but those that hit first.

A gift for memory - quality rest

In a word, choose the relaxation option you like and devote time to it.

Also, in the process of improving memory, proper nutrition is important. We are not talking about a special diet, it is enough not to eat junk food - fast food, fatty, smoked, sweets and rolls.

brain training

the work of the brain and body are connected;
work to improve memorization and recall should go according to plan, the brain must be kept in good shape.

Based on the first point, it is clear that physical activity, whether it be a gym or home exercises with a jump rope, helps to preserve and improve memory. Why? During exercise, you focus on your body and do not think about informational noise. Secondly, sport affects the metabolism and movement of blood in the body, in particular, to the brain.

Any physical activity has a beneficial effect on memory. The main thing here is regularity.

The development of fine motor skills (fingers and toes), acupuncture activates the work of nerve cells. They, like communication channels, help us in memory processes. Therefore, after forty, you can find yourself a new hobby: Lego constructor, modeling, calligraphy. So you stimulate the brain through the nerve endings.

So that the brain does not “relax” and the memory does not become like a sieve, it needs to be trained. At the same time, there are different approaches for short-term and long-term memory.

To preserve and improve short-term memory, participation in intellectual games, scanwords, board games for associations is suitable. All that requires extracting a specific fact from an array of memories.

A long-playing memory will be refreshed and restored by a business, for the continuation of which it is necessary to accumulate already studied knowledge. For instance, new foreign language, playing musical instruments, reading works of art. To continue reading the book, you have to remember what happened earlier in the story.

An important point in memory exercises is not to get hung up on the goal, but to make the lesson a habit. When you solve crossword puzzles for your own pleasure, the information you need will be found faster than if you start thinking "I'm doing this to make my memory sharper."

Change the environment more often - new impressions and emotions have a positive effect on brain activity.

Art therapy that trains memory

Another curious and effective method is special drawing.

This is how we will develop the so-called “motor cortex”, which will “pull up” the parts of the brain with it.

Complicating the process, we can add another hand to the training, i.e. draw them at the same time.

Food for memory

An important point is food. Foods that are rich in Omega-3 acids will help improve memory - these are fatty sea fish, linseed oil.

Good foods that contain tryptophan (this is, as it were, a precursor of serotonin, known as the hormone of happiness) are cottage cheese, cheese, and indeed dairy products, poultry meat. By the way, bananas also contribute to the production of serotonin. So it is ideal to combine a banana with kefir / cottage cheese / milk so that the carbohydrates from the sweet fruit are not absorbed quickly, and for the memory and the body to get it in full.

There are also special substances that are more likely not medicines in the full sense of the word, but they help optimize both metabolism and brain activity. Mainly:

Eleutherococcus, which improves cerebral circulation;
ginseng tincture, which is an adaptogen for all body systems;
lemongrass seed tincture.

These herbs increase stress resistance, improve the functions of the nervous system and mental abilities of a person.

In a word, proper nutrition, regular intellectual activity and a healthy lifestyle will help prevent memory impairment.

Many after forty years old begin to complain about their memory: what can you do, age ... However, years have nothing to do with it. Memory can and should be developed.

Test yourself first with a little quiz. Within 1 minute, read 25 words, then close them and in 5 minutes write down what you managed to remember. Hay, key, plane, train, picture, month, singer, radio, grass, pass, car, heart, bouquet, pavement, century, film, aroma, Carpathians, Himalayas, immobility, calendar, man, woman, abstraction, helicopter.

Count how many words you remember.
1) 6 words or less - your memory (primarily visual) is not in the best condition, you need to train it;
2) 7-12 words - your memory is not so bad, but you apparently do not know how to concentrate, and this interferes with memorization;
3) 13-17 words - the results are quite decent, and you can count on that in most cases your memory will not let you down;
4) 18-21 words - an excellent result: you have an outstanding memory;
5) over 22 points - you have an excellent memory.

Our lives are filled with information. Scientists have calculated that only one issue of the New York Times contains more information than an 18th-century person received in a lifetime. The brain is loaded with images, sounds that fall upon us daily. The older we get, the more "clogged" the head.
In order not to forget anything, we use electronic organizers, mobile phones, diaries, reminder stickers. And thus we do our memory a disservice: it loses daily training.
In addition, after forty people, as a rule, already complete their studies: they have long received the necessary education, have mastered all the intricacies of the profession, and do a lot automatically. The brain simply does not need to strain. And the memory is weakening, increasingly faltering. The same people who, by virtue of their profession, need to memorize something, actors, for example, memorize huge texts even at a more respectable age.

"I forget everything" ...
Natalia gave birth to her second child at the age of 40. The first one was also small - 4 years old. In addition, she constantly had to think about her mother, who increasingly felt unwell. “Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy. I can't find keys at home, mobile phone, glasses, rent receipts. I go to the kitchen, I forget why I came. The apotheosis was the case in winter, when I took the child out for a walk, put it on the snow and found that I had not put on boots for him. What is this - sclerosis, senile dementia? - Natalya is perplexed.

In fact, the reason for such forgetfulness is not only caused by illness, but not even by memory problems. It's just an overload of consciousness - when you have to think about a hundred things at once. It is enough to more or less streamline your life, and memory will return to normal. Fear of forgetting is itself the cause of memory failure. The mind dramatizes the consequences of such failures and suppresses even attempts to remember something. It is important to get rid of anxiety, relax, and the memory will be unlocked.

What to do?If you live for a long time in a state of time pressure, forgetfulness and absent-mindedness are inevitable. This is a defensive reaction of the body. Give yourself a break. Get enough sleep. Learn to shift some business to others. Get more organized. Items needed every day - keys, glasses, watches, phone, slippers - always put in the same place. For invoices, receipts and documents, get special folders - then you will not waste time searching and scolding yourself for "sclerosis". You should not constantly use the diary, but if you have a busy period in your life, then it is better to write down all the upcoming things - this will structure your life, make it more orderly. If you have lost something, do not rush around the apartment, on the contrary, stop, remember when and where you last saw this item, what was done with it. Most likely, such reflections will allow you to find it. Came into the room and forgot why? Go back to the place where you started from and remember for sure. If this is not possible in reality, do it in your imagination. And most importantly - put things in order in your head: try not to think about several things at once. If you feel that thoughts are overwhelming you, tell yourself: “Stop! I will finish one topic, then move on to another.

"I don't want to remember"
Sveta always forgot to wish her older sister a happy birthday. No, she remembered that this should be done on September 7, she wrote it down in a diary in advance, hung up leaflets with a reminder. But every year this day passed, and Sveta was horrified to find that she had not called again. Working with a psychoanalyst on another problem, the girl remembered: as a child, she was terribly jealous that her sister's birthday was in early September. Friends and girlfriends who returned from vacation always celebrated it noisily and cheerfully. Sveta herself had a birthday in the middle of summer, and only relatives gathered for it ...

This is also a kind psychological protection. Everything that we once experienced, everything that caused us a feeling of discomfort, fear, anxiety, we displace into the subconscious. But from time to time it breaks through in a symbolic form - for example, in the form of forgetting the sister's birthday, like Svetlana's.

What to do?If you notice that in your life there are repeated memory lapses on the same topic - you often lose the keys to the apartment, constantly forget the name of one person you know well, hide some thing in a place where it is difficult to find it - think: maybe something unpleasant is connected with this? It is better, of course, to find out with a psychoanalyst, but you can try to figure it out yourself. If you manage to find out the reason for forgetting, perhaps the problem will be solved.

Remember everything? What for?
Ask yourself: why do you need a good memory? Are you going to perform on stage and deliver multi-page monologues from Shakespeare? Do you want to become a walking encyclopedia and remember in what year Darius the Great conquered Babylon? Learn to write in Chinese? These are not idle questions. The fact is that the main thing for remembering is motivation. A well-known example: a woman learns English at school, at the institute, and finishes courses more than once. But the language is never mastered. Suddenly she has an Italian admirer, and in a year she learns to speak his native language perfectly. We do not remember much or forget simply because we do not need it. After 40, the brain begins to work more rationally: it does not store information “just in case”. Some information is not used - it erases or sends it to long-term memory. Caught in a critical situation, this lady may also remember English. But until she needs him, it will be difficult to teach him.

Three pillars of memory
Each of us has our own individual differences in tempo, accuracy, memorization strength. Someone remembers better what he saw, someone - what he heard, someone what he wrote down. Therefore, first find out which type of memory you have is leading. Take four passages from a prose work. Read one to yourself (visual memory), read the other aloud (auditory), rewrite the third (motor), ask someone to record the fourth and listen to it (figurative). And then try to play all four passages. Which one do you remember more accurately? This way of perceiving information will be the main one for you. However, if you need to learn something well, you need to use all kinds of memory. For example, foreign words must not only be read and written down, but also listened to, repeated aloud, correlated with the images they mean.

Remember the proverb: "Repetition is the mother of learning"? Unfortunately, this is still the main method of memorization. All newfangled methods such as learning in a dream, according to the principle of the 25th frame, remain highly controversial. Perhaps the foreign words that you tried to remember in this way settled somewhere in your memory, but you will not be able to refer to them consciously, purposefully. Needed to be remembered certain level conscious activity. But to sleep after an intense workout, or at least relax, is very useful. We learn not only when we do something, but also during a break - when we consolidate the acquired knowledge.

And finally, the third condition for memorization is the ability to create associative connections, and the more ridiculous they are, the better they are absorbed. For example, you need to remember that the new employee's name is Marina Viktorovna. Marina was the name of your girlfriend when you played in the sandbox, and Victor was the name of your cousin. Now imagine your cousin with Marina in his arms. Male names you can remember, focusing on the classics, famous heroes. For example, Vasily Mikhailovich. "Vasily" was called Chapaev, "Mikhail" - Lomonosov. Imagine a picture: in front of Chapaev on a war horse, and behind him - pompous Lomonosov. Consistency is very important here, otherwise you can call a person Mikhail Vasilyevich.

Aerobics for memory
To strengthen memory, scientists suggest doing a special exercise for the brain, which is called "neurobics". Try to perform some familiar actions - wash, dress - with your eyes closed. If you are right-handed, brush your teeth with your left hand and pee with it several times a day. Change the route of your usual walk or commute to work. Change your entertainment - if, say, you like to solve crossword puzzles, start playing computer games. Prepare an unusual dish, go on a trip to an unfamiliar country. In a word, do everything to prevent your brain from “atrophying”. And then no age will be an obstacle to a good memory.

Natalya Barantseva

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