S A Guide to

H Keeping Your

A MemoryR SHARP

P Carol Donlon

Colorado State University

Agenda

• How memory works

• What affects memory

• How to keep memory SHARP

• SHARP Review

• SHARP Toss / action plan

How Memory Works

• Sensory (milliseconds)

Attention

• Short-term• Working

(seconds, <1 minute)

Encoding• Long-term

(days, months, years)

Retrieval?How to retrieve?

Perception

What Affects Memory• Sleep

• Stress

• Dehydration

• Diet

• Alcohol

• Medication

• Health

• Attention

• Intention

• Relevance

• Depression

• B12 Deficiency

• Organization

• Beliefs

Stimulate brain through mental exercise:

Games:

- Cards- Board games- Memory games- Puzzles

Change Routine:- Hair & teeth brushing

with opposite hand- New path on walk or

drive home

Learn:- Interest course- Musical instrument- New hobby- New language- Craft- New recipe- How to book

The engine of life

Healthy Body/Brain

• Fuel – Nutrition

• Tuned-up - Activity

• Maintenance - Stress Management

Nutrition for your

Brain

• Drink 8 glasses of water

• Fruit, veggies, fiber

• Omega 3’s

• Limit saturated fat

• Whole grains

• Reduce inflammatory foods

• Select from power foods

Activity

What physical activity do you want to try?

How can you fit extra activity in to your regular routine?

Stress Damages

• Memory• Concentration• Distorted thinking• Poor time management• Irritability• Insomnia• Low resistance to colds

• Coronary, circulatory & respiratory disorders

• Headaches• Poor energy level• Aches & pains• Anxiety• Depression

Stress Management

What can you do

to manage stress?

Aid Memory

- Pay attention

- Organize yourself

- Write it down

- Associations

- Rehearse

Aid Memory: Chunking

Acronym

Rhyme or jingle

Visual image

Acrostic / Sentence

Method of loci

Science says Socialize

- Slows memory decline

- Can prevent memory decline

- Less likely to develop dementia

- Enhances well being

Stimulate it

Healthy body

Aid it

Relate

Positive outlook

AttitudeThe longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

Charles Swindoll

S

H

A What will you

R take home?

P