Present memory: this is our ‘working’ memory, our short term memory, the ability to juggle the tasks we have to do daily.
Future memory: this is prospective memory, ‘remembering to remember’; this is remembering to do things in the future like post a letter on the way to work, remember to take your warfarin at 6pm, remembering to pick the children up from school.
In a Northumbria University study looking at the effects of aromatherapy oils on prospective memory, volunteers took a test in a room scented with either rosemary oil, lavender oil or no scent. Rosemary oil improved results over the control group by 10%, while lavender oil (known to have a sedative effect) showed a decrease against the control group.
Listening to music before revising. - see blog post on Music and Revision.
BBC2 Trust Me, I'm a Doctor, July 2015 Aromatherapy and Memory
A study of 30 volunteers aged between 50 and 90 who had a number of things in common: all fairly sedentary, didn’t regularly do crosswords or Sudoku, and were not artist or painters. Their mental abilities were tested at the beginning of the study, then they all were asked to do something extra for 3 hours every week over 8 weeks. Split into three groups, 1 did Suduko and other puzzles, 2 walked every day and 3 had a daily life drawing class. They also wore an activity monitor.
While cognitive test scores improved in all three groups, the art group had the highest
average improvement in their scores. Learning
life-drawing was a new mental challenge for our novice artists. Research
suggests that the 'new' aspect of the activity is key - learning a new
skill seems to be more effective than practising an existing one. Also data from the activity monitors showed that across all three groups, the
volunteers who were the most active showed the greatest improvement in
the mental tests. Life drawing was done standing up, so the art group activity levels were higher than previously.
The puzzle group tended to see improvements in problem solving.
The exercise group saw less variation in their improvements across the cognitive tasks. It’s thought that the increased blood flow during exercise helps to improve general brain function by maintaining a healthy supply of blood, oxygen and glucose to the brain.
The puzzle group tended to see improvements in problem solving.
The exercise group saw less variation in their improvements across the cognitive tasks. It’s thought that the increased blood flow during exercise helps to improve general brain function by maintaining a healthy supply of blood, oxygen and glucose to the brain.
BBC2 Trust me, I'm a Doctor, July 2015 Keeping your Mind Sharp
