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BRAIN WORKOUT: ROY SUGARMAN PHD

While there are no known cures for memory failure, there is mounting evidence that supports the adage that if you don\'t use it, you lose it. For the most part, the brain and the rest of the body are partners that make demands on each other, both good and bad. The brain is the most demanding organ in the body, using much of our nutrition, yet storing little in terms of energy and taking years to lay down memory to be recalled. Memory recall is very dependent on how it was laid down in the first place. As we age, we find it harder to lay down memory, compared to our younger colleagues. However once it is put there, it\'s available for the same length of time as when we were younger. It\'s in the encoding of memory, that we need to pay attention to. For optimal memory encoding we must eat well, sleep well, and live well. Managing our stress is one of the most important things we can do. Here are few exercises to keep our minds sharp.

• Read a paragraph of a book. Stop, tell the story to yourself. If good , move on
• Read a page. Stop, tell the story to yourself. If good, move on.
• Read five pages. Stop, tell the story to yourself. If good, move on.
• Read a news story.
• Ask yourself a series of 10 questions to which the news story has the answers. E.g. What happened in Bagdad today? How many died? What location? What was the name of the Marine who died? Write down the questions, not the answers.
• When you have the answers, move on and read another story, with attention paid to questions you might ask. Stop
• After reading the second story, read and answer the questions you wrote down from the first story. Mark yourself out of 10
• Go back to the second story in your head, and write down 10 questions, answering and marking yourself out of 10.
• Read a third story. Think of questions as you go.
• Look at the 20 questions from the first and second stories, answer them, move on

Errorless learning:
As we get older, we find it harder to recall things accurately if we make mistakes when learning. So if we try to learn by guessing, and if our guess is wrong, we learn the error, and in recalling details, the error inside our heads is stronger than the real information outside in the environment. That is just the way we work. A mistake in the golf swing is hard to correct, or a bad driving habit, as the system that learns that way doesn\'t deal with error well. So if you make sure you get it right first time, it makes the task of recall much easier!

Enjoy!