BIRCHAM INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

• Understanding should not be confused with memorizing.

You may study and feel quite comfortable because you easily understand and assimilate your readings perfectly. But after several hours you realize that you understood something that you have nearly forgotten. The human brain has an infinite capacity of understanding and assimilation but its memorization capacity is extremely limited. As a consequence, your memory should be administered efficiently, unless you wish to devote extra time to absorb more concepts.

• Study time per day has to be 3 hours of maximum.

While endeavoring to optimize studying (understanding and retaining at the same time), keep in mind that when you are learning, your memory's capacity gradually drops down to a 50% after two hours of study, down to a 30% after three hours, and so on. Therefore, you should not study over two or three hours a day.

• Use strategic breaks to improve performance.

If, however, the list of topics you have to study requires more than three hours a day, you must then counter the memorization level problems during prolonged study. This can be done by giving your mind some strategic breaks. If this is not done, the brain will force those breaks on you and you may suddenly find yourself thinking about completely unrelated things; it becomes harder and harder to concentrate on the subject. This dissipation of the mind is used by our brain to get some rest.

Give your mind strategic breaks: If for every 30-40 minutes of study you rest between 5 and 10 minutes, your mind will be able to recover the initial levels of memorization. Please note that taking a good break does not mean having a snack, making a phone call and such. It means doing mental relaxation exercises such as deep breathing or napping.

• Long term strategic reviews should be carried out regularly.

There is another important factor that is usually disregarded by most students and professionals: short-term and long-term memory. Reviewing is a very important part of the process of studying, since 80% of what we have studied will be lost after 24 hours.

To capitalize on reviewing after studying a chapter, book or topic, carry out a strategic 10-minute review in the following two days. Repeat this review session after one week, then after a month, and then after six months of having first studied it. After these quick reviews, you will realize that you only need 10 minutes every year to review the concepts and remember them.

• Good nutrition improves your memory.

The first mental faculty to deteriorate with time is memory. In an average adult this deterioration begins at the age of 30. To alter behavior, develop abilities, and energize your life after this time depends very much on your ability of storing information in your long-term memory and being able to retrieve it. If this ability declines, you become an automaton, incapable of learning much new, repeating habits and recalling memories that seem increasingly distant in time. The amount of neurotransmitters, substances that allow the exchange of information among neurons, determines how certain information is going to be stored in your memory. If this amount of neurotransmitters is insufficient, the stored data distorts.

1. Serotonin. A neurotransmitter that plays a central role in the process of memory is serotonin. This is why it is easier to remember things if you go to sleep right after you have been studying as serotonin levels increase during the sleep. Serotonin is produced in the brain cells by the L-Tryptophane aminoacid. To increase the levels of this aminoacid in your blood and to allow it to get to your brain in larger amounts it is advisable to consume protein (found in beef, fish, poultry, dairy products, soy beans, etc.) regularly, along with some other foods rich in carbohydrates, such as wheat bread or rice. L-Tryptophane complements are available also in nutrition centers.
2. Acetylcholine. Another neurotransmitter involved in the process of memory is acetylcholine. With a regular intake of soy lecithin, pantothenic acid, and vitamin B, you will experience a noticeable increase in your memory function.
3. Antioxidants. The process of oxidation is what causes greater damage to your neurons; therefore, you will lengthen your brain's life and capacity if you add to your diet a nutritional complement that includes vitamins A, E, C, selenium, coenzyme Q10, and, if possible, acetyl-l-carnitine.