We all have the goal of staying mentally sharp as we grow older, which is why games that train your brain have become so popular. These games promise to preserve our mental function and even better our memories.
But is that what these games are actually doing? We won’t debate that here, but it is sufficient to say that the most recent research isn’t promising for the brain training games, as they failed a big scientific test.
With brain training games looking less effective, what can you do to better memory? It turns out that the relationship between memory and hearing is stronger than what was initially believed. In fact, research continues to emphasize the importance of strong hearing to a strong memory.
Let’s take a moment to review how human memory works and how treating hearing loss is one of the most successful ways to give your memory a boost.
How human memory works
Human memory is extremely complex. This process occurs across the entire brain. There is not one single area of the brain we can point to as being the single location where memories are stored.
Memory storage occurs in the brain with electrical and chemical signals involving billions of neurons and trillions of connections between these neurons. Needless to say, memory is very intricate and not fully understood.
What we are sure of, however, is that the creation of memories occurs in three stages: encoding, storage, and retrieval.
The first stage, encoding, occurs when you pay attention to something in the environment. This attention aids in filtering out insignificant information and focusing on what’s important. If this did not take place, your brain would store every stimulus you were exposed to, and your memory would quickly fill to capacity.
Storage follows encoding. Your short-term memory, sometimes referred to as your working memory, can hold about seven pieces of information for around 20-30 seconds. Although this does not seem promising, you can expand this capacity through several techniques, such as using mnemonic devices or utilizing a technique called chunking (breaking long strings of numbers into groups, for example).
Information stored in short-term memory either fades away or is transferred into your long-term memory. In order to move information from short-term to long-term memory, you must practice attention, repetition, and association.There are three main ways to improve your memory of any piece of information:
- Be less distracted and more focused on the information you intend to store.
- Be exposed to the information more frequently and for longer durations of time.
- Be able to associate the new information with information you already have stored.
The next stage is memory retrieval. This stage allows you to willingly recall information stored in long-term memory. The better the information is encoded and stored, the easier it will be to recall later on.
How growing older affects memory
We should be mindful that the brain has a characteristic called plasticity. Plasticity refers to the ability to change its structure in response to new stimuli that it is exposed to. This plasticity be both good and bad.
As we age, our brain changes. It loses some cells, some connections between cells, and shrinks in size. These chemical and structural changes can impair our memory and cognitive function as we grow old.
However, the plasticity of our brains can have positive effects as well. It allows us to create new connections as we age, learn new things and strengthen our memories simultaneously. In fact, studies have shown that exercise and mental stimulation can keep our brains sharp well into our 80s.
Lack of use is really the biggest culprit of memory decline as we grow older. That’s why it is essential to keep our minds active and learn new things.
How hearing loss affects memory
What about hearing loss? Can it actually affect our memory?
Studies have proven that hearing loss can impact your memory greatly, and it’s easy to see why. We’ve already discussed that your ability to store information in long-term memory is dependent on how well you pay attention.
So, for example, let’s say you’re having a conversation with someone. With hearing impairment, two things are simultaneously happening. One, you’re simply not able to hear what is being said, so your brain is never able to properly encode the information in the first place. Later on, when you try to recall the information, you are unable to do so.
Second, because you’re only hearing a portion of what is being said, you have to use mental resources to try to figure out meaning through context. As you struggle to understand the meaning of what is said, a lot of the information is distorted or lost.
On top of it all, the brain has been proven to reorganize itself in those with hearing loss. Because of the reduced sound stimulation, the part of the brain responsible for sound processing becomes weaker. This leads the brain to recruits this area for other tasks.
Improve your memory, schedule a hearing test
From what we have discussed so far, the solution to improving our memories as we age is simple. First, we need to keep our minds as active as possible, challenging ourselves and learning new things. In addition, a little physical exercise can go a long way.
Second, and of equal importance, is taking the proper steps to improve our hearing. The enhancement of sound stimulation with hearing aids can help us to better encode and remember information, especially during conversations. This enhanced sound stimulation strengthens the areas of the brain responsible for sound processing and ensures that these areas stay strong.
So forget about the popular brain games—learn something new that you have an interest in and schedule your hearing test to ensure that your hearing is the best it can be.
