Keep your brain sharp with these proven memory exercises

Research shows that building a mental map is a serious brain-booster. Cab drivers in London, for example, are required to memorise 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks in order to qualify for a licence. But new geography skills aren’t the only perk; neurologists at the University of London found that these cabbies have significantly larger hippocampi, or regions of the brain that store and organise memories.

Memory exercise: draw a map – of your neighbourhood, your commute, or another familiar area – completely from memory. Then, repeat this exercise each time you visit a new place or take a different route home.

Forget fancy computer games; paper and pen is the tried-and-true method for improving your memory, experts say.

Memory exercise: try making and memorising a list of grocery items, tasks to complete, etc. Then, see how many items you can recall after one or two hours. The longer (and more complicated) the list, the tougher the workout for your brain.

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Did you think you could bid maths farewell after graduating high school? Think again. According to experts, an addition or subtraction problem a day can keep cognitive decline away.

Memory exercise: solve a few simple maths problems in your head each morning – no pencil, paper, or calculator allowed. To up the ante, try to walk or cook at the same time.

Cooking is a win-win for your brain. Both making and eating a meal activates the brain regions associated with smell, touch, sight and taste. Plus, using your senses can also improve your recall. In one study, adults who looked at a series of images were more likely to remember those with a fragrance than the ones without.

Memory exercise: as you chew, take a moment to distinguish the taste of individual ingredients in the dish, all the way down to the faintest herbs and spices.

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Storytelling is a great mental stimulant, helping you focus on important details, associate emotion with your memories, and recall important life events with ease later on. It has been used as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease too.

Memory exercise: before you go to sleep at night, replay the day’s events in your head. Try to recall the details from each moment, starting from the minute you woke up to when you climbed into bed.

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To keep your noggin in tip-top shape, it’s important to keep learning – no matter your age. Experts believe that continuing to learn throughout your life can prevent mental ageing and boost your memory.

Memory exercise: whether it is cooking or calculus, enrol in a class that will teach you something new. Trust us, your brain will thank you.

Getting your heart pumping can also keep your brain bumping. Athletic activities that stimulate your mind and body, such as yoga, golf, or tennis, have been linked to improved brain function and energy levels.

Memory exercise: sign up to learn a sport you have never played before, and study up on the rules and procedures.

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Like learning a sport or enrolling in a new class, mastering an activity that requires considerable hand-eye coordination can keep your brain active and healthy.

Memory exercise: pick up a new hobby that requires you to use your hands, such as knitting, painting or assembling a jigsaw puzzle. Even better, chew gum while you do it; one study found that chewing gum while completing a task could improve concentration and memory.

Even a short brain-training session can make a big difference for your memory. By challenging your brain with memorisation puzzles, experts believe you can protect your brain cells and strengthen the connections between them.

Memory exercise: impress your friends by memorising their phone numbers. Dr Ashraf Al recommends dividing each 10-digit number into three sections; for example, 801 555 8372 is much easier to remember than 8015558372.

Making a mnemonic device is one foolproof way to store an important rule, fact, or to-do list in your memory bank. Some are acronyms, such as RICE, (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation), a first-aid treatment for injuries. Others come in the form of sentences, like ‘spring forward, fall back’, a reminder to reset your clock twice a year.

Memory exercise: the next time you need to memorise something in a hurry, come up with a clever acronym or sentence for it.

Check out these everyday habits of people with an impressive memory.