Page 81 - The Memory Program How to Prevent Memory Loss and Enhance Memory Power
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conjures up the stark beauty of a magnificent ice storm that I lived through in New Haven,
Connecticut.
Like forgetting names, forgetting titles of movies or books by itself usually does not indicate that
anything more serious is happening in your brain.
Chunking
Break up a large mass of information into smaller chunks under different subheadings to improve
both learning and recall. Chunking is ideal for remembering numbers or a single, long sequence of
information. It requires active conscious effort and practice, and is not as intuitive as forming
associations or links.
Go Slow: Don't Try to Remember Everything All at Once
This dictum may seem self-evident, but many people do not recognize that the speed at which you
can process information, more than the actual volume of data that can be handled by the brain, slows
down considerably with age. An older person can learn the same amount as a younger person; it just
takes longer, and this slowing down begins in middle age. This is because neuronal network data
transfer has slowed down due to gradual decay of brain cells. So if you set unrealistic timetables for
yourself that are based on your capabilities from twenty years ago, you increase the likelihood of
failure. Pace yourself, because otherwise you may lose confidence and give up by thinking you
cannot accomplish a task when, in fact, you can do it if you give yourself a little more time. This
applies to both the speed of doing a specific task and the number of tasks that you expect to complete
within a specified time period.
TEAMFLY
Organize, Organize, and Stay Organized
This is one area where aging actually confers an advantage; people above the age of forty are usually
much better at getting organized and staying organized than teenagers or college students. This
means that even if your hippocampal memory is not as good as it used to be,
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Team-Fly