If you're of a certain age, and have started to wonder if your memory is slipping, you're not alone.
I'm wondering the same thing.
Every little slip that happens I think...
is this the beginning of something serious? Well, it probably isn't but it does get you thinking.
What's the point of lasting into ripe old age if you can't remember how to tie your shoes? There's a lot of recent research around that supports the idea that the brain can be improved with "exercise", just like the rest of the body.
Actually, memory training courses have been around for a long time.
The latest research really just provides more support for the fact that memory exercises really can result in an improved short term memory.
And it's so easy to do, now that all these techniques and exercises are available online, that it really makes sense to try it.
You can find a number off sites that offer "games" designed to improve and maintain memory and other aspects of our perceptual skills, such as concentration, for example.
In fact, just trying something new appears to have great benefits also.
Some reports show that learning to play an instrument, or starting to do word puzzles can go a long way toward keeping out brain in shape.
One of the sites I looked at is called Lumosity.
com.
Their brain exercises are games that are designed by some of the leading neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists from Stanford and UCSF.
I, personally, found the games pretty stimulating.
There's one called Raindrops that's a processing speed exercise that uses arithmetic to challenge your brain to process information more quickly.
Research shows that processing speed can be a bottleneck for other cognitive processes, and improvements can help you to solve problems and learn faster.
There's another called Memory Match.
It is designed to exercise working memory and attention by requiring you to store the order of 3 items at once while repeatedly updating these items.
It is based on the n-back task, which is often used in psychology as a training and measuring tool for working memory.
So, this stuff can make a real difference.
If you think that you're slowing down little, maybe it's time to fight back.
You can try one of the online sites or just start being more mentally active.
It's all too easy to slowly slide into a state where we don't push ourselves past the basic necessities - and that's bad! Get a new hobby, do a crossword puzzle, or try some of the games online - and stay young!