Your memory is best when thinking about your children

It may come as a surprise to many an exhausted mother or father – but thinking about your children could improve your memory, a study suggests.

When thinking about raising children, an adult’s memory ‘goes up a gear’ researchers claim.

It seems that the biological necessity to protect children survive helps our brains to store information we would otherwise forget.

 

Memory function in 200 students was looked at in four situations by hypothetical situations in African grassland thousands of years ago. The risk to their life and the risk to the ability to have children improved the memory function dramatically (stock)

WHAT THEY DID 

The researchers used four African grassland scenarios to see what impacted on memory function. 

The categories were: 

  • Reproduction scenario
  • Monument building scenario 
  • Pleasantness scenario
  • Survival scenario 

They found that people in the survival scenario had far better memory function.

The researchers believe this is down to a pre-programmed instinct for ‘evolutionary success’.

Evolutionary success is the ability to have offspring. 

The findings may come as a surprise for former Prime Minister David Cameron – who famously left his daughter behind during a visit to a pub in Cadsden, Buckinghamshire.

Researchers at Binghamton University, New York carried out a series of tests see if thinking about bringing up children improved one’s sense of recall and found that it did.

The better recall was found when compared to another crucial biological scenario – finding a mate.

Ralph Miller, a psychology professor said: ‘Our ability to think and memorize information arises from our nervous systems.

‘As our nervous systems are a product of evolution and past experiences, one can reasonably expect that how well we memorize information today is influenced by natural selection that occurred among our ancestors long ago.’

Professor Miller and colleagues tested the theory by asking subjects to imagine they were living in the ancient grasslands of Africa, and to remember a series of words such as rock, apple, ball and stick. 

They were asked to rate the relevance of each item to how much use it was to their survival.

When presented with a scenario that involved raising children they remembered many more of the words.

But in another scenario – a task involving finding a mate – the recall was not so high.

The researchers said that while both activities relate to survival, our prehistoric ancestors may not have realised that mating could result in children, because of the nine months between mating and birth.

Four situations in African grassland from thousands of years ago were used to test the memory of the participants. Finding a mate did not cause any improvement where as having children did (stock)

Four situations in African grassland from thousands of years ago were used to test the memory of the participants. Finding a mate did not cause any improvement where as having children did (stock)

Professor Miller said that this research demonstrated that our genes not only influence our anatomy and physiology, but also the ways in which we think.

He said: ‘These findings testify to the remarkable effect that specific situations thousands of years ago, situations of which we have no conscious memory, have on the functioning of our brains today.

‘What is evident is that the specific functioning of our brains, like our height and hair color, is strongly influenced by genes that were selected for among our ancestors.’

It is still unclear what aspects of the ancient grasslands survival and ancient child-rearing scenarios caused a more effective memory recall, but Miller and the other researchers believe it has to do with those scenarios being important to evolutionary success.

Miller is planning to further explore this idea with new scenarios to determine the memory difference between a biological child and an adopted one as well as raising a pet dog. They expect that the biological child scenario will have the highest recall, while the pet scenario will create the lowest.

The paper was published in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition   

10 WAYS TO BOOST YOUR MEMORY

SOYA

Soya can be added to the diet through natural products such as soya milk or through a recommended daily 50mg soy isoflavone supplement.

MEMORY MINERALS

Deficiency of zinc, found in oysters, red meat and peanuts, can also interfere with memory. Take a supplement of 7-9mg daily. 

COFFEE

Caffeine can improve mental and memory performance because it stimulates many regions of the brain that regulate wakefulness, arousal, mood and concentration. 

MENTAL EXERCISE

Research has shown that mental stimulation keeps the brain healthy and increases the strength of memory. People with excellent memories tend to have various interests and tackle challenging mental tasks 

PHYSICAL EXERCISE

Half-an-hour of activity three times a week is enough to bring about significant increase in brain power, says a study at the Duke University Medical Centre in North Carolina.

CHEWING GUM

Japanese researchers found that activity in the hippocampus, an area of the brain important for memory, increases while people chew. 

GINKGO BILOBA

Ginkgo is the world’s oldest living tree and first appeared around 300 million years ago. It has been used for memory enhancement in Eastern cultures for thousands of years.

OILY FISH

Omega 3 fatty acids, found in oily fish, are essential componentsof brain cell membranes, and their role in cell structure is thought to improve the powers of memory. 

ROSEMARY AND SAGE

Essential oil made from rosemary and sage can stimulate the memory, strengthen clarity and awareness, and help to relieve mental fatigue. 

VITAMIN B

B vitamins deliver oxygen to the brain and provide protection against free radicals. They help to sharpen senses and boost memory. 



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