Sunday, October 26, 2008

Using Games to Improve Your Memory

There are some fabulous games to improve your memory that you can play, and research has actually shown that these games to improve your memory are not only effective at helping with short-term memory but also long-term as well. So, whether you are suffering from serious memory loss or just want to perk up your memory in general, then there are a few games in particular you are going to want to start incorporating into your daily life.

Games to Improve Your Memory

One of the best games that you can play to improve your memory involves creating associations between characteristics and the people they belong to. Many people find that they have trouble remembering names and faces, and the best way to solve this problem is to create an association.

The association may be linked to the person’s eyes, hair, or even someone else that you know with the same name. You should use anything that is going to be able to help you remember this person. It may even be a rhyme or image of the name with the person’s face or defining feature. Also remember that whenever you are introduced to someone new you should make this sort of association immediately, as this will help you to remember it long-term.

Another of the best games to improve your memory is the matching game. You can use a standard deck of cards for this game, and it is very simple to play. You take the entire deck and place all of the cards from it face down on a table in front of you. If you want to start smaller or have a shorter game then you can use just half or less of the cards, but just make sure before you start that there is a pair of every card in the set.

To begin you simply turn over any card you wish and then try to guess where the match to the card is in the rest of the face down cards. If you get it correct then you take both cards out and sit them over to the side. If you do not find it on your first try, then you flip both of the cards back over and try again with a different card. The basic point of this game is that you have to remember which cards were where so that the next time you come around a match for a card you will know where the mate is.

All games to improve your memory are useful and will be effective at helping you to improve both your short and long-term memory.