Powerpacked Articles to improve your memory

(8) What is intelligence

(7) 6 powerful things which can enhance your brain efficieny like a jet plane. click here

(6) Simple steps to improve memory

(5) How Linking works

(4) Magic is in your mind

(3) Magic tricks with numbers

(2) How does it work-Try this

(1) Memory booster

How Linking works

Human memory operates by associating, or linking, one piece of information with another. The great Greek philosophers first understood this linking of one memory to another, many centuries before the dawn of the modern age.

Such knowledge has been put to great use by a large number of researchers in the field of memory improvement ever since. Not to mention by a great many magicians! When the analogy was put forward of an individual upon hearing a particular song, recalling memories or events that were in their mind linked in some way to that song.

For example, when an individual hears a familiar tune, they may recall the face of someone that they were with when they first heard it. Or alternatively, the song may bring back the memory of an important event that took place in their life. Perhaps whilst that piece of music was playing high in the charts. It may even simply take the person back to a general period of their life. Such as their teens.

This phenomenon of memory association (or linking) is very important indeed, and when it is performed ‘consciously,’ it can greatly improve an individual’s capacity for recollection. I will now prove the truth of these words, with the aid of a little test. A test that should help to prove to you, the vast difference in capacity between a trained memory and an untrained one.

List number one

1) Cat 8)  Swan 15) Umberela
2) Apple 9)  Pipe 16) Bird
3) Shoe 10) Sword 17) Comb
4) Tie 11) Horse 18) Sea
5) Book 12) Pan 19) Sun
6) Fish 13) Bread 20) Camera
7) Television 14) Trousers

Now if you would like to indulge me for a little while. What I would like you to do, is to read through the above list of words - just once, concentrating on each word as you do so. Then I would like you to cover it up with a piece of paper and then try to reproduce the entire list in the correct order, in the space provided below. Only when you have completed this task, continue reading.

Go on. Humour me. It will pass a bit of time!

Test Number One

1) 8) 15)
2) 9) 16)
3) 10) 17)
4) 11) 18)
5) 12) 19)
6) 13) 20)
7) 14)

How did you do? Not to good heh! Well try not to let it get you down to much. Because the truth of the matter is that most of the people who are in possession of an untrained memory, would be hard pressed to recall more than half of such a list, after only one reading. Also the words that they did succeed in recalling would probably be in the wrong order. That’s just one of the drawbacks of having an untrained memory.

I will now explain to you how you can memorise a list such as the one shown above, totally and in the correct order, after reading through it only once.

How to link consciously

Imagine that for some reason you wanted to memorise the first five words of the above list. These words are – cat, apple, shoe, tie and book.

Now the first thing that I would like you to do, is to try to form a picture in your minds eye, that links the first word ‘cat’ to the second word ‘apple,’ in an imaginative and thus memorable way. For example you might try picturing a large cat, sinking its teeth into a big, green, juicy apple.

Now if you close your eyes, and for one moment really endeavour to visualise this image, being sure to make it as vivid as you possibly can. Also trying to see with your minds eye, the colours of the cat and of the apple. Then you should find that it is next to impossible for you to forget that the first two words of the above list are cat and apple.
Cat eating apple
The next thing that you need to do is to create an image that links the word apple to the word shoe. You could try imagining a huge shoe, brimming over with bright, green, juicy apples. Or maybe you could imagine an apple wearing a pair of shoes. See the image in your minds eye, and attempt to make it as vivid as you possibly can. The more vivid an image is – the easier it is to recollect.

Now try to link the word shoe to the word tie. To do this, you could imagine a shoe wearing a tie, or a pair of shoes with ties instead of laces (cartoon-like images are the easiest to recall).

Finally in order to link together the words tie and book, you could simply visualise an enormous book, with a striped tie for a bookmark.

Having done this, you should now be able to remember all of the afore mentioned words. To do this simply close your eyes and journey through the mental links that you have just created. This is a relatively simple procedure, because (as you can see), one image is joined (or linked) to the next.

Thus thinking of the first image forces you to think of the second image, which forces you to think of the third image ect…
So what? I hear you ask. I could have remembered those five words easily, without having to form those ridiculous images. Well this may well be true for the first five words, but I bet that you couldn’t have remembered all twenty. You can with this method.

MAGIC IS IN YOUR MIND

Have members of the audience call out the names of about ten famous people, living or dead. You write down each name on a separate card. The cards are then well mixed and you make a prediction on a slate. A spectator selects one of the cards. He reads his selection aloud and the name you wrote on the slate is the same as the name read.

You will need ten small cards or a small pad of paper to write the names on, a slate, and a hat.

With everything at hand, ask someone to call out the name of a famous person. Write this down on one of the cards and drop it into the hat. Ask for another name. This time do not write the name that is called, but write the first name that was called. Now both cards in the hat have the same name written on them. As different names are called you continue writing the original name on each card until you have about ten cards in the hat, all with the same name on them. Now write this name on the slate so that the audience does not see it.

Place the slate where it can be seen, but with the writing away from the audience. Invite a spectator to assist you. Shake the hat to mix the cards. Ask the spectator to reach into the hat and select one of the slips, and read the name written on it, aloud. After he does this, turn the slate around to show that the name selected was the same as the one that you predicted on the slate. Be sure and destroy the slips after your performance, so that no one may see them.

MAGICAL TRICKS WITH NUMBERS

Let a person write down the year of his birth and then the year of his marriage, or his first year of school.

Then he must write his age at the end of the present year, and to it the number of years he has been married, or the number of years since he began school.

In the meantime you have written a total on a paper and put it in an envelope. The total of the person's figures will be the same as the total you wrote.

Here is the reason: The sum will always be twice the number of the present year.

Thus, if the trick is done in 1928:
Year of Birth............... 1900
Year of marriage ........... 1925
Age ....................... 28
Years since marriage......... 3
Total .................... 38,56
The number 3856 is two times 19281

Come & learn all our presidents in just 5 minutes

See how does it work
Presidents of India
(1). Dr. Rajendra Prasad
(2). Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
(3). Dr. Zakir hussain
(4). V.V. Giri
(5). Justice M. Hidayatullah
(6). V.V. Giri
(7). F. Ali Ahmed
(8). B.D. Jatti
(9). N. Sanjaiva Reddy
(10). Gaini Hain Singh
(11). R. Venkataraman
(12). Dr. S.D. Sharma
(13). K.R. Narayanan
(14). Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
(15). Mrs. Pratibha Patil

NOW LEARN THIS STORY
Great Raja Indra is offering Prasad during the worship of large idols of Radha and Krishna . Beside him famous musician Zakir hussain is playing table and singing bhajnas to make god happy. There is a heap of giri(almonds).A judge with tula (balance)is sitting on it, falls from this giri heap on great Khali, the famous wrestler, waiting for someone there and he gets wounded, you applies Patti on his wound, On this Mr. Sanjiv Kumar (Thakur) becomes red in anger and punishes the culprit with his legs. For illegal offence he is send to jail and being tortured with seengs (thorns) there. Out side jail a van carrying cat and Raven being driven rashly hits an barma and water starts coming out in the form of big showers. Lord Narad is amazed and disappoint seeing the loss of water and starts chanting “Narayan Narayan” Suddenly Mr. Abdul Kalam (Scientist) comes with his new invention, which recollects each and every drop and restore it back into the earth. On this President Pratibha Patil rewards him with a big Car.

Now correlate the underlined words with list of Presidents name respectively...

So you have learned presidents of india in just few minutes...
but its just a trailor.. picture abi baki hai mere dost...
for great improvemet of memory ome and join- THEMAGICAL MIND

MEMORY BOOSTER

1=Convince yourself that you do have a good memory that will improve.
Too many people get stuck here and convince themselves that their memory is bad, that they are just not good with names, that numbers just slip out of their minds for some reason. Erase those thoughts and vow to improve your memory. Commit yourself to the task and bask in your achievements -- it's hard to keep motivated if you beat yourself down every time you make a little bit of progress.

2=Exercise your brain.
Regularly “exercising" the brain keeps it growing and spurs the development of new nerve connections that can help improve memory. By developing new mental skills—especially complex ones such as learning a new language or learning to play a new musical instrument—and challenging your brain with puzzles and games you can keep your brain active and improve its physiological functioning. Try some puzzle exercises everyday such as word cross, Sudoku and some other games as easy to put into your mobile phone and practice it maybe once for 30 minutes per day.

3Exercise daily.
Regular aerobic exercise improves circulation and efficiency throughout the body, including in the brain, and can help ward off the memory loss that comes with aging. Exercise also makes you more alert and relaxed, and can thereby improve your memory uptake, allowing you to take better mental “pictures."

4=Reduce stress.
Chronic stress, although it does not physically damage the brain, can make remembering much more difficult. After prolonged stress the brain will be damaged. Stressful situations are recognized by the hypothalamus, which in turn signals the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland secreted adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)which influences the adrenal glands to secrete adrenaline and later cortisol(corticosteroids). The corticosteroids can weaken the blood-brain barrier and damage the hippocampus(the memory center). Ironically, the hippocampus controls the secretion of the hormone released by the hypothalamus through a process of negative feedback. After chronic stress it will be damaged and it will not be as efficient in regulating the degenerative corticosteroids and memory will be harmed. Neurogenesis (formation of new neurons) indeed exists in the hippocampus but stress inhibits it. To recapitulate and synthesis, chronic stress will affect your health and your memory, it will damage the brain so the best option is to learn to control stress. Stress will never be eliminated, but it definitely can be controlled. [http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Stress-Effects-Neurotransmitters&id=19510]Even temporary stresses can make it more difficult to effectively focus on concepts and observe things. Try to relax, regularly practice yoga or other stretching exercises, and see a doctor if you have severe chronic stress as soon as possible.

5=Eat well and eat right.
There are a lot of herbal supplements on the market that claim to improve memory, but none have yet been shown to be effective in clinical tests (although small studies have shown some promising results for ginkgo biloba and phosphatidylserine). A healthy diet, however, contributes to a healthy brain, and foods containing antioxidants—broccoli, blueberries, spinach, and berries, for example—and Omega-3 fatty acids appear to promote healthy brain functioning. Feed your brain with such supplements as Thiamine, Vitamin E, Niacin and Vitamin B-6. Grazing, eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day instead of 3 large meals, also seems to improve mental functioning (including memory) by limiting dips in blood sugar, which may negatively affect the brain.

6=Take better pictures.
Often we forget things not because our memory is bad, but rather because our observational skills need work. One common situation where this occurs (and which almost everyone can relate to) is meeting new people. Often we don’t really learn people’s names at first because we aren’t really concentrating on remembering them. You’ll find that if you make a conscious effort to remember such things, you’ll do much better. One way to train yourself to be more observant is to look at an unfamiliar photograph for a few seconds and then turn the photograph over and describe or write down as many details as you can about the photograph. Try closing your eyes and picturing the photo in your mind. Use a new photograph each time you try this exercise, and with regular practice you will find you’re able to remember more details with even shorter glimpses of the photos.

7=Give yourself time to form a memory.
Memories are very fragile in the short-term, and distractions can make you quickly forget something as simple as a phone number. The key to avoid losing memories before you can even form them is to be able to focus on the thing to be remembered for a while without thinking about other things, so when you’re trying to remember something, avoid distractions and complicated tasks for a few minutes.

8=Create vivid, memorable images.
You remember information more easily if you can visualize it. If you want to associate a child with a book, try not to visualize the child reading the book – that's too simple and forgettable. Instead, come up with something more jarring, something that sticks, like the book chasing the child, or the child eating the book. It's your mind – make the images as shocking and emotional as possible to keep the associations strong.

9=Repeat things you need to learn.
The more times you hear, see, or think about something, the more surely you’ll remember it, right? It’s a no-brainer. When you want to remember something, be it your new coworker’s name or your best friend's birthday, repeat it, either out loud or silently. Try writing it down; think about it. The key lies in "Spaced Repetition" learning. I'm sure everyone is familiar with flash cards. They're usually used when you want to revise for an exam. It's essentialy a card with a question on one side and the answer on the other. In the course of learning a topic you would have a stack of cards and would go through them testing yourself. Those that you got right you would put to one side and review a few days later. The more difficult ones might take several days to fix in the brain. However, when is the ideal time to review the cards that you have temporarily remembered. Leave it too long and, like all memories, it may have faded and we forget the answer. If we review it too soon then we waste time looking at it. We need some system to know exactly when to review each card. Here enters the exciting world of "Spaced Repetition Software". This software automatically works out the most efficient time to test you on each card for optimum memory retention. There are a number of free bits of software out there for you to use.

10=Group things you need to remember.
Random lists of things (a shopping list, for example) can be especially difficult to remember. To make it easier, try categorizing the individual things from the list. If you can remember that, among other things, you wanted to buy four different kinds of vegetables, you’ll find it easier to remember all four.

11=Organize your life.
Keep items that you frequently need, such as keys and eyeglasses, in the same place every time. Use an electronic organizer or daily planner to keep track of appointments, due dates for bills, and other tasks. Keep phone numbers and addresses in an address book or enter them into your computer or cell phone. Improved organization can help free up your powers of concentration so that you can remember less routine things. Even if being organized doesn’t improve your memory, you’ll receive a lot of the same benefits (i.e. you won’t have to search for your keys anymore).

12=Try meditation.
Research now suggests that people who regularly practice "mindfulness" meditation are able to focus better and may have better memories. Mindfulness (also known as awareness or insight meditation) is the type commonly practiced in Western countries and is easy to learn. Studies at Massachusetts General Hospital show that regular meditation thickens the cerebral cortex in the brain by increasing the blood flow to that region. Some researchers believe this can enhance attention span, focus, and memory.

13=Sleep well.
The amount of sleep we get affects the brain's ability to recall recently learned information. Getting a good night's sleep – a minimum of seven hours a night – may improve your short-term memory and long-term relational memory, according to recent studies conducted at the Harvard Medical School.

14=Build your memorization arsenal.
Learn pegs, memory palaces, and the Dominic System. These techniques form the foundation for mnemonic techniques, and will visibly improve your memory.

15=Venture out and learn from your mistakes.
Go ahead and take a stab at memorizing the first one hundred digits of pi, or, if you've done that already, the first one thousand. Memorize the monarchs of England through your memory palaces, or your grocery list through visualization. Through diligent effort you will eventually master the art of memorization.