Because we are so much more complex than a computer adding a memory chip to our programs isn’t sufficient to improve our memories and cognitive functioning. The good news is that there are exercises and other ways to improve memory that are fun and have been shown to have beneficial effects.

In a study presented in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2000 researchers reported that initial evidence of improved working memory in patients with schizophrenia following cognitive exercises. The improvements were in verbal memory but not non-verbal memory.

Memory is the mental activity of recalling information that you acquired through learning or experience. Memory is either short-term or long-term. Short-term memories are stored for a few seconds or minutes – just long enough to compare prices at the store or dial the telephone number.

Long-term memory is information you make an effort to retain. It is meaningful in some way to you. It can be information about friends or family, material you are studying for a test, or something that made an impression on you such as a movie or the day your aunt died.

The areas of the brain that are important to the formation of memory are the hippocampus, amygdala and the cerebral cortex. In addition memory also involves the communication along the network of neurons using chemicals called neurotransmitters.

Your brain must first acquire the information, which happens only when you are paying attention. Then your brain consolidates the information for storage. In the retrieval portion of memory the brain activates the same pattern of nerve cells it used to store it. The more often you retrieve information the easier it becomes.

There are several ‘tricks’ to memory improvement techniques. You can tailor the acquisition of the information to your learning style- visual, auditory or tactile. Involve as many of these senses as possible – even if you are a visual learner say or read the information out loud so it is also committed to auditory memory.

*You can relate the information to data you already know. In other words the name of a new person is the same as your neighbors. Rehearse the information as often is as needed.

You can activate your neurons to fire in patterns that are not triggered by procedural memory. In other words you can do things that normally you do without thinking in a way that forces the brain to work harder. Play these games to improve memory by asking the brain to work in ways it usually doesn’t. These ‘games’ include brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand, showering with your eyes closed, and getting dressed in the dark. All activities that you would normally accomplish without thinking can be done in ways that make the task a bit harder thus making the neurons work harder.

You can also play games with information you want to remember by ‘attaching’ a visual image to the data, using the information in a sentence, putting the information into an acronym or rhyme or including the information in a joke. All of these games to improve short-term memory can be used to improve your cognitive skills as well. The best thing you can do is relax and have fun because stress and tension will only decrease your memory –just the opposite of what you intended!

A memory tester isn’t a professional who gives you a set of tests to discover how well your memory is doing and how to improve memory. Well, not yet anyway. When you look up just what a “memory tester” is, you’ll discover that it’s a piece of computer hardware that is used as a diagnostic tool in repairing computer memory. It is most likely what Gene Roddenberry was thinking of when he had the computers in Star Trek run “self-diagnostics.” This piece of hardware is a geek’s dream and is rather pricey (about $1000 US). The software (usually a CD of some sort) is much less expensive.

What’s The Point Of It?

If you do a lot of computer repair, you need to know if the computer’s memory is damaged or corrupted. The memory tester identifies how much memory is left, what is damaged and often can make repairs to the memory. There are software memory testers which you run through the motherboard, but they take hours to run. A separate piece of memory tester hardware speeds up the process and lasts for thousands of memory checks and memory skills.

Wait…What’s A Motherboard?

A computer’s motherboard is the main circuit board, where the mother lode of information is. (Geeks are very tongue in cheek with naming pieces of equipment). This is the main doo-dad that makes the computer go, in other words. Motherboards are called “logic boards” if you have an Apple computer instead of an IBM compatible one, just because Apple has to be different. Anyway, a motherboard is where a computer’s main memory is kept, hence a memory tester having to be hooked up or interact with it somehow.

Do you remember the film 2001: A Space Odyssey? Okay – remember the scene where Hal is saying “Dave…stop, Dave…my mind is going, I can feel it…” and the really ticked off astronaut Dave is yanking rectangles out of HAL the mad computer? Right – that entire area Dave was floating around in was HAL’s motherboard, and Dave was pulling out all of the memory.

So, Do I Need To Buy One?

If you are in the computer maintenance business, yeah, you definitely need a memory tester and mental images. If you have a business with a tech support department and a lot of computers working at the same time, consider investing in a memory tester for your poor tech support team. If, however, you are the average person with one or maybe two computers at home, you really don’t need to worry about getting a memory tester.

Well i know we are in the correct opening of the chakra’s right now but i thought i would give you a little fun meditation to practice.

This is called ball of light meditation.

Ball of Light Meditation

The chakras are located along the spine, but they also extend to the front of our bodies, excluding the crown and the base.

Each of the chakras, the second through the sixth has an opposite chakra in the front of the body along the abdomen. The sixth chakra has three.

The rear sixth chakra located at the occipital in the back of the head, the middle sixth chakra is located between the third eye and the occipital sixth chakra. So where your third eye is on the front of your head, then one in the middle being the pineal gland and finally one at the rear. They are all located in a straight line.

To perform the meditation, visualize a small ball of bright light the size of a ping-pong ball and light up a chakra on your spine with it and pass it to the front chakra directly opposite it and light it up, then pass it back to the chakra on your spine. Keep passing it back and forth to each chakra, then move up or down to the next chakra (whichever one you want to work with).

You can either visualize the ball as the sun coloured light or the color of the chakra you are working with.

You can also connect the crown to the base. The energy center located in the perineum is especially powerful with this. Just pass it up and down.

Now another interesting thing one can do with this is to connect with another person and this greatly enhances telepathy. For example, passing the ball back and forth from their heart chakra to your’s will tell you about the other person’s emotional experiences and character.

To communicate with someone, pass the ball of light from your third eye to their third eye, back and forth.

Now, it is obvious you can, with experience invade others’ privacy and this also includes your own- just something to be aware of if you don’t want anyone in your personal business. In that case, close down your chakras if someone does this against your will. Then do the ‘getting rid of unwanted entities’ meditation i have written. Then open the chakras back up.

Practice with a friend. The more you practice the better you will become.

Read about Merkaba meditation, emotional freedom therapy lens and about emotional freedom technique EFT.

Memory loss is one of the most commonly complained about problems in the world. A lot of the time memory loss is normal, as everyone tends to forget things sometimes, but when it begins to cause problems in your life or disrupt your regular day to day activities then it is time for you to take it more seriously and find a solution to the problem.

Memory Loss Treatment

There are many options available when it comes to memory loss treatment and for improving memory. There are simpler things that you can do for memory loss treatment, including keeping lists, following routines, making associations with things in your mind, keeping detailed calendars, putting important things in places where you will remember or see them, and repeating names when you meet new people.

When your memory loss becomes more serious however then there are obviously more serious methods of memory loss treatment that you are going to have to use. First you have to determine if your memory loss is actually considered as being serious. If you sometimes have trouble forgetting names or what you wanted at the supermarket then you are probably okay, but if you have trouble remembering how to do regular things such as driving your car or using your computer, then you may have a much more serious problem.

It can often be quite difficult to determine if you have a serious memory loss problem or not on your own and so the best idea is to speak to your doctor about human memory facts. They will perform a few routine examinations in order to determine the severity of your memory loss and will also help show you where to go from there.

You may even have to be put on medication, at least for a certain period of time if you have more serious memory loss problems, and will then be exposed to much stronger methods of memory loss treatment. You can also incorporate other things to help with your memory loss. For instance you can start doing crossword and jigsaw puzzles or playing trivia games, all of this will help and you should notice results almost immediately.

Although it should not frighten you, it is important to know that even short term memory loss is often the sign of something much more serious, such as Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. This is why it is so important to keep your health in check so that if you are in the early stages of a memory skills disease like this you will be able to get the proper treatment as soon as possible.

A photographic memory is when you can see events in your head as if they were taking place again right in front of you. It is a very apt expression, for it is as if your brain has somehow taken a Pulitzer Prize-winning snapshot with every detail frozen in place for remembering names. Having a photographic memory has its good points, and its bad points. Let’s now examine these points from someone who had this kind of memory and then lost it.

My Story

This writer used to have a photographic memory. I could remember, in minute detail, comedian’s monologues, song lyrics, family conversations and the names and years of all the winners of the Kentucky Derby. When I was a child, this photographic memory served me extremely well in school, because I could remember lessons on the test day. It was also nice to be relied on as a walking reference desk.

Ad Then I Grew Up

People around me, rather than being enchanted by my photographic memory, grew to positively hate it. I could remember things they said that they couldn’t for the life of them remember that name. It got to where no one would talk around me. And my classmates could not stand me, because I knew all of the answers. Sometimes I would purposely flub an answer just to make the rest of the class laugh.

The reason person without a photographic memory resent someone with one is that no one likes to be proven that they are wrong. If you want to hold on to a photographic memory, be very careful who you let know of your ability. Although this is not fair, this is the way the world works.

I lost my photographic memory practically the day I hit 30. Or was it 29? Maybe it was when I was 28…anyway, I lost it and haven’t been able to find where I last put it. I would miss not having a photographic memory anymore, but I can’t quite remember if I was unhappy with it.

Children are more prone to having a photographic memory than adults, for the simple reason that children don’t have as much to remember the name. If your child pops up with, “That’s not what you said! You said this,” they are not trying to make fun of you; they are actually trying to be helpful. Having a photographic memory can be hard for a child at times, since it seems they are so different. Be sure you let your child know that you appreciate their ability, but not to volunteer information unless asked.

Today, there is a lot of research being undertaken to better understand and help your memory that includes finding out the locations of memory, and this is something that is of special interest to those with inquiring minds. The earlier knowledge that we had concerning memory showed us that the location of memory was on the brain and brain stem and also above our spinal cords. However, with present day technology such as Magnetic Resonance Imagery (MRI) as well as Electro encephalogram or EEG, the location of memory is more exactly established especially with regard to the exact location on the brain and brain stem.

Learn Online

By studying the brain in so much detail, it has shown us that there is a lot of scope to understand how memory improvement can be achieved, and all it needs is to apply the right memory techniques that can range from the very simple to the very sophisticated. You can easily learn the training steps that can even are learnt by studying training material, and there is even online training software available in this regard.

The first method you can use in improve your memory is basic mnemonics that anyone can apply absolutely immediately; though, it is also a good idea to first practice them, and the different mnemonics are based on association and elaborations, and it may be noted that elaboration gives more meaning to words, while in the case of association, two words should be joined together in your memory.

Another very simple method that can be applied with regard to memory improvement is Peg mnemonics, and in this form of memory improvement, peg words are associated with any of the digits starting from one and ending with ten. Among the common Peg mnemonics are rhyming Peg system, shape Peg system and alphabet Peg system as too calendar peg system.

You can also use advanced mnemonics for memory improvement tips though this method takes up more time and a minimum of two hours along with time for regularly practicing is required. However, with this method of memory improvement, the payback is considerable and thus well worth putting in extra effort, and with these methods, you can easily then remember lists with more than hundred items on them. Another better known such memory improvement method is the one known as Phonetic Mnemonic that is applicable for numbers starting with zero and ending with one hundred, and even higher.

Nail biting is related to skin picking and hair pulling. People are often asked why they can’t stop and are regularly asked if they are Crazy. Nail biting often occurs when nail biters are in one of two modes. Some folks do it in an automated way, as if they are in some type of altered state and not actually brooding about what they do. It’s frequently when they are engrossed in some other activity at the same time, like watching Television or working on the PC, for example. At a particularly basic level, this will satisfy an urge of theirs. There are resources available to help with ways to stop nail biting.

A lot of people report a wild compulsion to do this. On the other hand, when they are bored or inactive, they appear to supply a required level of kick to the nervous system. This potentially accounts for why so many folk who have these habits find it so hard to erase these habits. It simply “feels good” at the point, irrespective of what are the effects. Even if you’ve got more than one of these bad habits, don’t despair. They can be overcome if you have enough motivation. More crucial is learning to “de-stigmatize” yourself.

You aren’t funny, helpless, morally weak or fully out of control, though you can feel just like some or all these things at times. Once you get down to realizing that you are merely a person who simply happens to have a little difficulty, you can begin to make some major progress.

Skin picking and nail biting are chronic issues, so there’s not currently a “cure” but you’ll be able to find relief if you are prepared to work at it, & study ways to stop nail biting

Self-hypnosis for nail biting contains 3 parts. NLP & Hypnotherapy For People Who Bite Their Nails. To start with, nail biting is a stress related habit. So the 1st part of the hypnotic treatment is to teach the biter ways to be more relaxed at all times. That is due to the fact that the real essence of hypnosis is relaxation.

Then you can consciously decide whether you are really going to bite them. This could be a tough method that may effectively relieve the compulsion.

The 3rd part of the hypnotic treatment is to get rid of the compulsion to bite the nails. With the nail biting behavior, being pragmatic is critical. You want to accept the nail biting behavior won’t simply be overcome in two weeks. It can take a little time to conquer, but I think that it is definitely worth it. Experience has shown self hypnosis methods to be really effective.