Brain Exercises to Improve Memory

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Brain is the most complex and mysterious and yet a very unique and powerful organ of the body. The human brain is unique in terms of possessing the capacity of higher cognitive functions like thinking, judging, manipulating etc. Learning and memory are significant & vital functions of the brain. Learning new skills and memorizing them for future use is represented as neural pathways in brain.

We have all at some stage in our lives experienced some extraordinary moments, thanks to our memory. Sometimes the faintest waft of smell or an odd sound or a picture, can transport us back in time to a long-forgotten moment in our life. And in that moment we can get overwhelmed and then slowly the moment slowly evaporates. Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses writes -

"Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains; another, a moonlit beach; a third, a family dinner of pot roast and sweet potatoes during a myrtle-mad August in a Midwestern town. Smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant land mines hidden under the weedy mass of years. Hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once. A complex vision leaps out of the undergrowth."

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Understanding memory and how its power can be enhanced can be a very fruitful endeavour. Memory can be managed, organized and enhanced significantly by exercising our brain. It is akin to exercising our physical body to tone up and maintain our muscles. As the physical workout increases body stamina, the brain workout improves the memory power. There are two main categories of brain exercises that are available to optimize the memory power. These are called "Mnemonics & Neurobics". There are several exercises also available which can be help build our memory. These exercises or tasks create new neural connections in brain, or associate two different already created neural pathways in a unique fashion, so that it becomes a memory unit. Regular use of these exercises lead to amplification of these pathways and thus resulting in a good intact memory.