No, you are not dreaming. You really can boost your brainpower while you snooze. Try these seven tips.
CHANGE THE COLOR OF YOUR NOISE
White noise (such as the hiss of a radio tuned to an unused frequency) can help you sleep more soundly, but what scientists call pink noise could help you remember more. According to a small study from Northwestern University, the lower-frequency sounds of pink noise, such as the rush of a waterfall or steady rain, improved older adults’ deep, slow-wave sleep, the stage considered important for consolidating memories. When study participants listened to pink noise while they slept and then took a memory test the next morning, they scored three times higher than participants who didn’t sleep with that kind of background sound. Don’t live near a waterfall? Download an app such as the aptly named Pink Noise.
DRIFT OFF WITH A WHIFF
You already know that the smell of an apple pie coming out of the oven can send your memory straight back to Mom’s kitchen. It turns out that smells, experienced at the right time, can also strengthen your recall. In one study, people played a memory game while a rose scent wafted through the room.
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Esta historia es de la edición September 2018 de Reader's Digest US.
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I admit it, when it comes to food, I have some eeew-inducing practices, like skimming mold off old cheddar and feeding the rest to my unsuspecting family. We're still alive, so how bad can it be? Because our gross human habits fall somewhere along the spectrum from mildly cringeworthy to full-on repulsive, I reached out to experts to find out where some common behaviors land on the gross-o-meter.
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