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Health & Fitness

Senior Care Memory Tips: Mem•o•ries are made like this…

Did you know that all your senses play a part in a memory?





Senior Care Memory Tips: Mem•o•ries are made like this…, written by monthy guest blogger Karen Miller for Stan Lawson ofSequoia Senior Solutions  


Do you recall the memory of the first person you ever fell in love with? When you met that person, one of the first things you most likely noticed was their physical features, such as, the color of their eyes and hair. You probably noticed the scent of their perfume or cologne or lack of it. Do you remember the sound of their laugh or the tone of their voice? Perhaps you may have felt the touch of their hand.

Written by Sequoia Senior Solutions' Guest Blogger Karen Miller, Owner and Developer of Memory Jogging Puzzles

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Hippo-What?

Each of these separate sensations traveled to the part of your brain called the hippocampus, (hi-pə-ˈkam-pəs).

The hippocampus is involved in forming, storing, and processing memory. It gathered these perceptions as they were occurring into one single experience… your experience of that specific person or a memory.

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The more Senses involved the stronger the memory and recollection. 

Let’s check this out.

·         You noticed their physical features – their nose, color of eyes and hair – Seeing sense
You heard the sound of their laugh and the tone of their voice – Hearing sense
You smelled their perfume or cologne or lack of it – Smelling sense
Tasting sense – not in this example
You felt the touch of their hand? – Feeling sense
Ability of immediately knowing or sensing these – Intuition – 6th sense

The process of gathering this information is done a split second. The next time you saw this person the first memory that was stored is brought to the front again, making it a stronger memory.

I'd like to introduce my daughter, um-ah . . .

Have you ever gone to introduce someone and nothing happened, you couldn’t remember his or her name? How very embarrassing.

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Related Article: Senior Care Memory Tips: Have You Seen My Car?

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Suggestion: 
When you first meet someone, notice their features and make comments to yourself or give the person a compliment using their name; or envision their name on their forehead.

You will make an association with that person and his/her name. This will help you recall the person’s name the next time you meet.

Example: Mary has great hair. (Seeing sense); Michael, you have a great laugh. (Hearing sense); again the more senses you stimulate, the stronger the memory.

Vivid and emotional mem.o.ries

My father loved horses of all kinds; my brothers, sisters and I had Shetland ponies. If you aren’t familiar with Shetland ponies, I will give you a brief description.

They are cute, small, stubborn and really don’t like anyone on their back. Training these little rascals, I spent some time on the ground and my dad telling me to get back up on that horse and ride… and I did. (Years later, I realized he gave me a powerful lesson in life.) 

This childhood memory never fades away. I was around seven or eight when this occurred and I am always taken right back to that moment in time.

·         I can see the ponies – Seeing sense

·         I can smell them – Smelling sense

·         I feel their coarse hair – Feeling sense

·         I see my father – Seeing sense

·         I hear my father – Hearing sense

·         I see myself on the ground – Seeing sense

·         I feel the pain – Feeling sense

·         It puts a smile on my face recalling the fun times and experiences – Intuition -  6th sense

Even though it was not fun being bucked off, it was a great time and I recall many memories involving the horses.

My thoughts:

Just writing about “memory” brought this reoccurring memory to my mind. Perhaps because riding horses was a daily experience or habit from early childhood through teens and the most vivid memory I have of my childhood.

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Related article: Senior Care: Leaving a Legacy for your Children

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It was a passion I worked hard at, I wanted to be like Anne Oakley. My passion turned this experience into a long-term memory.

Memory Process    

Most people think of long-term memory when they think of "memory" itself, but most experts believe information must first pass through sensory and short-term memory before it can be stored as a long-term memory.

The creation of a memory begins with its perception.

The registration of information during perception occurs in the brief sensory stage that usually lasts only a fraction of a second. It's your sensory memory that allows a perception such as a visual pattern, a sound, or a touch to linger for a brief moment after the stimulation is over.

As we learn and experience the world more connections are created in our brain. The brain organizes and reorganizes itself in response to your experiences, forming memories triggered by the effects of outside input prompted by experience, education, or training.

These changes are reinforced with use, so that as you learn and practice new information, intricate circuits of knowledge and memory are built in the brain.

Example: If you play a piece of music over and over, the repeated firing of certain cells in a certain order in your brain makes it easier to repeat this firing later on.

The result: You get better at playing the music. You can play it faster, with fewer mistakes. Practice it long enough and you will play it perfectly.

Yet, if you stop practicing for several weeks and then try to play the piece, you may notice that the result is no longer perfect. Your brain has already begun to forget what you once knew so well.

Note: It is easier to store material on subjects that we already know something about, because the information has more meaning to us and can be mentally connected to related information that is already stored in long-term memory. That is why someone who has an average memory may be able to remember a greater depth of information about one particular subject.

P.S.

Memory is taken for granted… just like our senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, tasting and intuition. We never think about the process, “it” just come naturally.

We cruise along on autopilot until a tragedy or illness impairs one of these precious gifts. Then, in a moment, our lives can be turned upside down and inside out. This is rarely a singular event, for people with Alzheimer’s and dementia; their loved ones suffer the effects of this loss, also.

Resources:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/human-memory.htm

images from photbucket  

For more great information, please come visit the blog at our Sequoia Senior Solutions website.  

About the author: Karen Miller is Owner and Developer of Memory Jogging Puzzles. She started her business in 2007, dedicated to giving elderly and those with Alzheimer’s and Dementia beneficial activities for brain exercise and memory exercise; and their families the tools to interact with their loved one. Memory Jogging Puzzles and Memory Games are simplified memory puzzles and card games designed to meet their special needs and to feel achievement and pride.

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