I HAD thought of a title for this post...

I am frequently perturbed at the outstanding ability of my brain to um...  Dang.  What was I going to say again?  Oh yeah, forget things.  I'm not talking major things, but I can be asked to do something in the morning and unless I write it down in my pocket-policeman-notebook I'm likely to forget about it.  This does not bode well for my rapidly approaching (October 15th) Philosophy exam as I'll have to memorise dozens of philosophers, theories, quotes, arguments etc.  I've done some online tests which claim I have the brain of a 30 year old (you don't say?!) so that's not the problem, so what can be the cause of my poor memory?

Well having done a bit of research I've ruled out the following potential causes:

1. ADHD.  I researched this for one of my college courses, definitely not the cause.
2. Stress.  Definitely not the cause, I'm more of a get-it-off-your-chest-straight-away-and-move-on kinda gaal, never one to fester over things.
3. Smoking.  Apparently smoking indirectly reduces oxygen flow to the brain which can affect memory.  I've never even TRIED smoking.
4. Poor sleep habits.  My mother used to say I could fall asleep on a clothes line, I usually get 8 hours a night, rarely wake up through the night and drink decaf tea most of the time.
5. Atrophy.  Well I'm assuming this can be ruled out, I use my brain quite a bit...

Since I can't figure out what the CAUSE is, I shall consider it inconsequential, maybe it's just one of those things.

So against my usual preachings, rather than treating the cause I'll have to settle for treating the symptom.  Back to Google I go in search of memory improvement tips.  And here's another nice bullet point action list for you to feast upon:

1. Brain training.  I'm not talking Mr Wackysheemas brain training on the DS, there's evidence that it doesn't work anyway.  I'm talking neurobic exercise.
2. More physical exercise.  Harks back to my last post about a healthy body meaning a healthy mind, but it counts for memory too - increased oxygen to the brain, and a reduction in the likelihood of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease which cause memory loss.
3. Nutrition.  As well as the obvious healthy food, supplements might be worth a try.  My better half swears by glucosamine sulphate & cod liver oil to help strengthen his old sports-injured knee so why wouldn't they help strengthen the grey matter?
4. Improve sleep.  Okay okay, I know I said there's nothing wrong with my sleep patterns, but just because I sleep for 8 hours a night, that doesn't mean I'm getting QUALITY sleep, so I'll aim to improve my night time routine and go back to having my nightcap of a warm malted milk (malt extract and milk, none of this Ovaltine rubbish).  Mmmm.

Maybe it's because I try to concentrate on too many things at once that I inevitably end up getting distracted and forgetting one of them.  Anyhoo, The Simpsons is on and my goulash is drying out...  ;o)