Free Memory Tips, April 2014 Issue

Below is the April 2014 issue of Free Memory Tips. To learn more about this free email newsletter, or to start receiving it, please visit the Subscription Page. I send out the newsletter about once a month. You can unsubscribe at any time.

APRIL 2014. Welcome to my free Memory Tips email newsletter. Ready to boost your brain power?

Below are powerful strategies for improving your memory. Plus I've included links to free online brain games that can strengthen your thinking skills.

Here's what's in this issue:

For Alzheimer's Patients, Exercise May Be the Best Medicine
Whole Eggs Can Boost Memory
Weight Loss Improves Memory in Overweight Women
How to Memorize a List of Codes
Commutative Property Multiplication Flash Cards

If you like this newsletter, please "pay it forward" by sending this to a friend. If someone did forward this to you, and if you like what you read, please subscribe by visiting the Free Memory Tips Subscription Page.

My goal is to help you learn faster and remember more. That's why I created Memory-Improvement-Tips.com and this email newsletter.

The secret to a more powerful brain is two-fold: improve your brain health, and learn memory techniques. This can lead to more success and fulfillment in life!

Memory Improvement in the News

Memory improvement is an area of active research. The following discoveries appeared in science news recently and may have implications for your own life.

Exercise can improve memory of Alzheimer's patients

For Alzheimer's Patients, Exercise May Be the Best Medicine. Researchers at the University of Maryland have found that a regular, moderate exercise program can improve memory and brain function in Alzheimer's patients.

There are no medications to effectively treat Alzheimer's disease. That's why alternative treatments such as exercise may be important for individuals suffering from this disease.

Alzheimer's typically causes rapid loss in memory ability. Researchers found that 2-3 hours of moderate exercise per week improved the memories of patients in the study. They were able to remember names significantly better, and their ability to recall lists of items improved.

"We found that after 12 weeks of being on a moderate exercise program, study participants improved their neural efficiency. Basically they were using fewer neural resources to perform the same memory task," says Dr. J. Carson Smith.

No study has shown that a drug can do what we showed is possible with exercise.

Reference: Smith, Nielson, Antuono, et al. “Semantic Memory Functional MRI and Cognitive Function After Exercise Intervention in Mild Cognitive Impairment.” Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2013.

Whole Eggs Can Boost Memory. The dietary choline in certain foods can boost your long-term memory. That's the conclusion of a recent study by the University of Granada.

Foods with the highest levels of choline include beef liver and eggs. To help improve your memory, include more of these in your diet. Especially the eggs!

For years we were advised to avoid whole eggs, because it was thought the yolk would raise our cholesterol. But the latest research shows that eating the yolk actually doesn't affect the level of bad cholesterol much.

A few whole eggs per week aren't going to hurt. In fact, eggs are full of good fats, protein, vitamins, and yes, memory-boosting choline.

For more tips on how to eat your way to a better memory, see my Diet and Memory page.

Weight Loss Improves Memory in Overweight Women. Memory improves in older, overweight women after they lose weight by dieting, and their brain activity actually changes in the regions of the brain that are important for memory tasks, a new study finds.

"Our findings suggest that obesity-associated impairments in memory function are reversible, adding incentive for weight loss," said lead author Andreas Pettersson, MD, a PhD student at Umea University, Umea, Sweden.

Previous research has shown that obese people have impaired episodic memory, the memory of events that happen throughout one's life.

Memory performance improved after weight loss, and Pettersson said the brain-activity pattern during memory testing reflected this improvement.

After weight loss, brain activity reportedly increased during memory encoding in the brain regions that are important for identification and matching of faces.

In addition, brain activity decreased after weight loss in the regions that are associated with retrieval of episodic memories, which Pettersson said indicates more efficient retrieval.

"The altered brain activity after weight loss suggests that the brain becomes more active while storing new memories and therefore needs fewer brain resources to recollect stored information," he said.

Reference: Endocrine Society. "Weight loss improves memory and alters brain activity in overweight women." ScienceDaily, 17 Jun. 2013. Web. 10 Aug. 2013.

What's New

As usual, I've been busily updating Memory-Improvement-Tips.com with cutting-edge information and resources to improve your memory and brain power. Here's what's new:

How to Memorize a List of Codes. Sometimes we have to memorize lists of codes. This is not usually fun to do. But there are a couple memory tricks you can use to make this task efficient and even enjoyable.

On my new page, Memorize the US State Postal Codes, I walk you step-by-step through the memory techniques of pattern recognition and creating associations. State postal codes are two-character abbreviations used in US mailing addresses to identify the state (for example, "MT" for Montana).

It's easy to confuse these codes, because some don't follow patterns you'd expect. For example, you might assume "MA" is the postal code for Maine since those are the first two letters of that state's name. But MA is the postal code for Massachusetts. Maine's is "ME". Memory techniques help you keep the codes straight.

It's useful to know the state postal codes. But even if you don't care about this particular list, you can still use these methods for other code lists you do want to remember. Study this page carefully, and you'll have two powerful tools to add to your memory improvement tool box.

Commutative Property Multiplication Flash Cards. I've created a special set of math flash cards that may help solve a common hurdle in early childhood education. When first learning multiplication, some children have difficulty grasping that the order of the factors doesn't matter. It's true 8 x 5 equals 40; but it is just as true 5 x 8 equals 40.

So, at the suggestion of a 3rd grade teacher in Colorado named Kyla, I made a set of multiplication flash cards that shows both commutative expressions on each card. In other words, the front of the card has both "8 x 5" and "5 x 8".

Practicing with these flash cards should help children better understand the commutative nature of multiplication facts. With any luck, the light bulb will come on!

Like all math flash cards on my site, this set is free for personal and classroom use. You can share the pdf file with anyone. You can post it on your website, forum, or blog. The only restriction is you cannot sell it.

Brain Safari - Free Brain Game. I've added the 221st brain game to Memory-Improvement-Tips.com. It's called Brain Safari, and it's something special. And like all the brain games on my site, it's free to play.

Most brain games train one or two mental skills. When you play Brain Safari, you can train up to four different intellectual abilities.

Research shows online games train individual brain skills but not all areas of the brain at once. It's possible to train your entire brain, but you need to play a variety of games to accomplish it.

With Brain Safari, you can boost your logic skills, math ability, short-term memory, and visual perception. Brain Safari is divided into 8 "minigames" (2 minigames per brain skill).

You can spend as much time working on a particular skill as you wish.

For example, to exercise your short-term memory, play the TV Memory and Bushy Memory minigames. To work on your visual skills, play Hut Parade and Jungle Puzzle.

Give Brain Safari a try. Your brain will thank you for it.

Featured FREE Brain Games

There are 237 free brain games on my website, Memory-Improvement-Tips.com. You can play them online anytime. No restrictions, no logging in. Just pick a game, go to the game page, and start playing.

Here are three games I've added to the site recently:

Grid 16. This is a fast-paced game that improves concentration and reaction time. Sixteen different games flash across the screen in quick sucession. Stay focused and play the games one after another!

Lightning Librarian. Help Lydia the Librarian quickly find books for the kids. The word bubbles tell you which books the kids want. This game exercises your short-term memory and helps improve your memory for spatial locations.

Math Mountain. Be the first to reach the summit by solving math questions faster than your opponent (computer or human). Math Mountain is an excellent game for strengthening math skills.

That's all for now, and thanks for reading. For lots more tricks and strategies to improve your brain, visit the Get a Better Memory page on my website.

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