Master your memory
As More reported in "The Memory Files":
“Mentally stimulating activities seem to help people maintain what they have,” says Kelly Murphy, a psychologist at Toronto's Baycrest Research Centre for Aging and the Brain. For example, a 2002 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that older adults who “frequently participated in cognitive stimulating pastimes” such as reading, card games, and crossword puzzles were less likely to go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias later in life.
As yet, there’s no proof that one activity is better than another for preserving brain health — the most important factor is probably finding ones you like (and thus will make the time to do), Murphy says. Even so, we at More.ca hit the search engines to find sites to help preserve your memory – and a couple so you don't have to.
Memory building sites
For an overview of all things memory-related, try the BBC’s Memory Experience web page. This mini-site offers memory tests and challenges, facts and figures, tips to improve your recall, and the results of BBC Radio 4’s memory survey. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/memory/
For a quick memory workout between meetings or while waiting for a phone call, try the Original Memory Gym at http://www.memorise.org/. The site offers a variety of recall games and lessons, some of which take only a few minutes.
And then there’s Brain Bashers, a site that offers a wide range of cognitive puzzles, games and illusions, organized by type and difficulty (something those of us who are easily frustrated can appreciate).
http://www.brainbashers.com/
Sites so you don’t have to remember a thing
If you find a lot of your frustration around memory revolves around the calendar, the current granddaddy of free calendar sites — Google Calendar — can ease your pain. Not only can you set up appointments, reminders and invitations — you can share your calendar with select contacts. The site can both inform you that your son has a soccer game coming up and send your spouse a text message to remind him to pick up cleats.
http://www.google.com/calendar
If you’re feeling swamped by little bits of paper holding endless to-do lists, try the free Ta-da list site. This tool lets you manage and share to-do lists, lists of books to read, plays to see and people to contact, all in one place.
http://www.tadalist.com/
Do you have a site to share with great memory games or memory aids? Email our web editor at jgruden@more.ca with your picks!
"The Memory Files" originally appeared in the February 2008 issue of More
