It is natural that as time passes, memories are forgotten..
However, There are certain actions that affect the mental health and contribute to the deterioration of memory over the years.
Recently, the neuroscientist and director of the Dynamic Memory Laboratory at the University of California, Charan Ranganath listed a series of habits that most people have built in, but that can be harmful in this ambit.
As he told the BBC, To protect memory it is key to change them on time.
These are the points you mentioned.
He is also the author of the book Why we remember: the new science of memory (Peninsula Editions, 2024) emphasized that Sleep plays a restorative role, so it is necessary to rest enough hours.
He explained that, In the opposite case, “the frontal function of the brain is reduced, as is its level of tolerance to stress; and, therefore, is not able to focus properly”.
“During sleep, memory is reactivated and that is what many attribute the origin of dreams to (…) Sleep makes it easier to retain information we have learned“, he declared to the aforementioned media.
In order to reconcile it, suggested not using phones or computers before going to sleep, in addition to eliminating caffeine, alcohol and heavy foods in the previous hours.
This phenomenon, also know as multitaskingcan be detrimental to memory maintenance.
Ranganath said that “the prefrontal cortex helps us focus on what we need to do to achieve our goals, but That wonderful ability gets bogged down if we continually jump from one goal to another.”.
Along with this, as an example, he detailed that Doing tasks such as reading an email while in the middle of a meeting contributes to not remembering the contents later. that were addressed in both spaces.
However, he said that An exception may be when the activities in question are related each other.
For example: “If you are baking a cake, you have to preheat the oven and then make the dough again (…) If you combine all those tasks into one big one, you will be able to do it.”.
Although it is common to fulfill a series of responsibilities throughout the week, the neuroscientist emphasized that constant monotony can affect the preservation of brain plasticity.
This is due, as he stated, to the fact that experiences associated with emotions such as fear, surprise, happiness or desire, among others, are capable of releasing chemical substances that end up in neurons.
Between these adrenaline, dopamine, cortisol and serotonin are found.
“Plasticity in the brain helps us perform tasks, especially repetitive ones, more efficiently”he told the BBC.
In this sense, he stated that Activities such as changing a password that you have had for a long time (and remembering the new one) help to cope with this monotony.
So, “You will have the neurons that had the old password saved fighting with those that have the new one”Ranganath added.
The specialist was emphatic when saying that many people “believe it is very good until at some point in their lives they realize that it is not so”.
Of course, he emphasized that “The purpose of memory is not to remember the past, although it can do so, but to take in the important information from the past that we need to understand the present and prepare for the future.”.
To train her, he suggested that A simple action that can be taken is to try to remember a person’s name a few minutes after they are introduced to you..
“The more spaced these attempts are, the better.”he claimed.
He also recommended measures such as take care of sleeping habits, take actions to control stress levels, pay attention to aspects such as diet and training to be in shape.
Regarding these last points, the neuroscientist stated: “The Mediterranean diet has proven to have very good results when it comes to promoting mental health (…) Physical exercise, particularly aerobic exercise, is good because it increases the secretion of substances that increase plasticity and improve the vasculature of the brain ”.
