Have you ever been talking to a friend and seen someone walking towards you that you know very well, and will have to introduce, but can’t remember their name? You remember faces rather than names because your mind thinks in pictures. The following tips will help improve your recall of names:
Eat brain food Omega-3s are important for brain health, and are found in oily fish, green leafy vegetables, flaxseed and walnuts. Increasing your omega 3 levels may help to combat early stages of memory loss. B vitamins are also beneficial and are found in fish, red meat, cheese, eggs, green leafy vegetables, fortified cereals, yoghurt and milk. High blood levels of the amino acid, homocysteine, is associated with Alzheimer’s disease and research using high doses of folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 have been shown to reduce this substance. Vitamin D may also have a protective effect from brain diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia. About 10 per cent of your vitamin D needs can be obtained from food such as oily fish, milk, egg yolk, yoghurt and cheese but the rest needs to be obtained from sun exposure or from supplementing. Avoid trans fatty acids found in some processed foods.
Use your imagination Dominic O’Brien, mnemonist and an author of memory-related books, has won the world memory championship on eight occasions and uses techniques to remember names that involves association, location and imagination. For example: Have you ever met someone that looks like someone you know? Say you have a lady cousin and meet someone that reminds you of her. The first thing you do in your imagination is put the person you met in a location that associates them with your cousin. Where does your cousin live? Is it a flat or a house? Then, in your imagination, place this person at your cousin’s home. Your new acquaintance is called Daisy Forrest and so, using as vivid imagery as possible, think of this person covered in daisies standing in a forest in your cousin’s home. It’s fun and the bigger, brighter and more unusual you make your image, the easier it will become to remember names. Try it the next time you meet someone and they will be astonished when you later remember their name.
Stay physical Regular exercise boosts blood supply to the brain so it functions better and is less susceptible to dementia. Research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine suggests that walking six miles a week helps to preserve brain size in healthy adults.
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