Mind Mapping to Exercise Your Brain
Mind mapping is a way to use a graphical method to represent concepts and ideas, a visualization tool that helps you structure information. Using mind maps can increase your comprehension and your ability to recall information. It’s also an excellent way to help come up with new ideas. The vital factor of the mind map is to keep it simple.
The reason mind mapping works better than taking down notes is that the map looks a lot like the way your brain works. Your cognitive function is improved by using mind maps.
Here are the steps to creating a mind map:
1. Get a piece of blank paper and lie it down in the landscape position. You may wonder why the sheet needs to be empty, and this is because if you use par with lines on it, a barrier is created between the rules of mind mapping and your thoughts. Also, it is ideal to use landscape orientation because we don’t see the world vertically. Another reason is due to the way our peripheral vision works better when going from left to right, not from top to bottom.
2. Draw an image in the middle of the paper. If you use multiple colors, it is more effective. Your main concern should be represented by the print you draw.
3. Use different pictures as you create the mind map. Changing dimensions is also good.
4. Capitalize the keywords.
5. From each keyword, create a branch.
6. Each component should taper and flow, which resembles the neural networks in the brain.
7. The branch length needs to be balanced.
8. Use a wide variety of colors on your map.
9. Use lines and arrows to emphasize important points.
10. Use blank space to create clarity.
Factors that May Cause Memory Problems
Sometimes your memory loss maybe just a brief thing due to whatever is going on in your life. If you’re stressed out, you are not likely to think clearly, for example. Medications play a big part in cognitive issues, and the benefit must always be weighed up against the risk.
Below are some of the more common culprits that can affect your
memory, some with a short-term effect and others that have an everlasting impact on your brain. Of course, this is just informative; if you have any concerns, you should see your medical practitioner.
Menopause
There is a wide variety of symptoms associated with menopause, some of which are slightly odd, but insomnia and the tendency towards hot flashes can affect your memory. Thankfully this is only temporary, and your memory should improve.
Depression and Anxiety
Both depression and anxiety cause an increase of cortisol, a stress hormone, which makes the cells of the gray matter lose synapses. This lowers the ability to not only create memories and store them but also to recall them. The more severe the depression and anxiety, the higher it can impact your memory.
Being anxious can impede your ability to think, leading to poor decision making, likewise with a depressive state, which can significantly impact how you take in information and process it. Being fearful of doing things wrong or making the wrong decision is hugely common, and nowadays, there isn’t the same stigma applied to mental illness such as depression and anxiety, so it is a lot easier to seek help.
Medications
Many medications can affect your memory, including those used to treat mental health diseases. Other medications such as beta-blockers, incontinence medicines, antihistamines, and strong analgesics also
affect memory. These drugs interfere with the transfer of short-term memories into the long-term storage part of the cerebrum.
Narcotic pain killers are perhaps the worst culprit for affecting your memory. To relieve severe pain takes severe chemicals, and these will affect your ability to think, your ability to stay awake, and overall your daily functioning. If you have to take these drugs, make sure you don’t make any critical decisions just after taking a dose!
Cigarette Smoking
There are a lot of medical issues blamed on smoking, and it might surprise you to learn that it can also cause problems with your memory. Smoking can reduce the supply of blood to the brain, and it can also cause a collection of abnormal proteins, all of which affect the ability to process information and recall it.
Alcohol Consumption and Addiction
The consumption of alcohol can lead to short-term memory loss if it is only occasional or binge drinking. It’s common to wake up after a big night out and have entirely blank spaces in your head. But alcoholism can have a more severe long-term effect.
Some alcoholics develop a state of amnesia and confusion called Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome because they often suffer from malnutrition and deficiency of thiamine. Memory, attention, and orientation deteriorate due to this form of dementia, and it is irreversible. However, if the person stops drinking, some of the mental functions may come back in some cases.
Stress
It is believed that high levels of stress can increase the loss of short-term memories in older people. Chronic stress can cause impairment in how memory works in the brain, including retaining, storing, and recalling information abilities.
Stress is a significant factor in how people function. The more pressure you are under, the harder it is to do anything, especially think clearly.
If your stress is only temporary, try some meditation or mindfulness techniques to help get you back in balance. If it’s a serious problem, seek medical advice.
Diseases Causing Dementia and Memory Loss
There are more than 50 different medical conditions and diseases that can cause memory loss and dementia, with varying degrees. Some states are short-lived, and the brain returns to its normal function.
However, some diseases have a long-term impact and are not treatable, which leads to a steady decline in mental functioning. Below are some of the more common medical causes of dementia and memory loss.
Thyroid Disease
