In the first of four, we discussed how the aging brain affects how you think. The second of four in the series brought you Is your Memory Normal. In the 3rd of four, we’re talking about Alzheimer’s disease, and finally, in today's session, we’re going to talk about how to improve your memory. Is it possible to increase brain power? If you've ever found yourself forgetting where you left your keys or having problems with people's names or things, then you have probably wished that your memory was a bit better. Fortunately, there are plenty of things that you can do to help improve your memory. So how will you increase brain power? Let’s dive straight into these easy ways to increase brain power significantly. We Have to Exercise Our Brain What you need to do to increase brain power is do something new, something you've never done before. Furthermore, it has to be challenging. Exercising your brain is good but you can't do it solo. You've got to exercise your body in conjunction with your brain. Challenging your brain makes you sharper and more effective at remembering. Mental challenges like studying complex concepts, make simple tasks like remembering names at a party seem like a piece of cake. Do Physical Exercise to Increase Brain Power You have to physically exercise your body and what that does is that it jiggles your stem cells. And your stem cells pop out new neurons. Neurons help you think. They're your train of thought, your subconscious thought, and your conscious thought. If you don't connect those neurons to some older neurons to help get it growing, nurture it and mentor that neuron to get it productive, tt's gonna shrivel up and die. You really want to keep your stress in check. A great way to keep your stress in check is exercise. Here's an exercise lesson. Using an Elliptical, do HIIT exercise for 7 minutes. First, warm up 1-2 minutes. Then, go 30 seconds with the most energy you can give on that Elliptical. And after that 30 seconds slow down. You can be super slow and do that for a minute and a half. Do that 7 times. That's gonna help you get that sweat going and also help increase brain power. Get your Zzzz's If you’re sleep deprived or have not been sleeping well, then I’m guessing you’re not remembering well either. This is because sleep and memory are intimately connected. Your brain needs downtime to stay sharp and help increase brain power. If you don't get enough sleep, you'll tax your memory and start forgetting things. Stay rested so you can keep your mind alert. Make Time for Friends That's part of what I've called the 4 C's of successful aging. And that is care, connect, commit and concentrate. When it comes to improving memory, maintaining health and facing life’s challenges, friendship can truly be a blessing. Strong social ties through friends can preserve our brain health as we age, while social isolation may be a key risk factor for cognitive decline. Have a Laugh Spend time with fun, playful people because they're fun to be around. Be around fun, energetic, playful, fit people who can help influence your exercise as well. Brain-Boosting Diet We create more neurotransmitters that talk to our neurons in our gut than we do in our head. And so it's very important to eat the right food. You just got to make sure you eat all good, clean, healthy, natural foods. That is so important to keep your brain functioning and focusing. It's not just your head brain but also your gut brain.