“Being with people helps reduce the stress level. Loneliness is bad for you,” Jeste said. “You can share your experiences with others and have a support system to help you.”
• Manage stress. Stress prompts the release of hormones like cortisol, which can weaken memory and even damage brain cells.
“There’s good evidence in animal studies that stress produces cognitive decline and doing things that reduce stress can (extend) lives and improve mental functioning,” Plopper said. “(Chronic) stress, depression, anxiety — all of these things will damage the brain if not managed.”
Introducing relaxation techniques such as deep breathing into your daily living can help to defuse the biochemical and physiological reaction to the pending stress. Other forms of stress management can include tai chi, meditation, prayer, visualizations, aerobic exercise, listening to mellow music or writing in a journal.
• Get your sleep. “If we don’t get adequate deep sleep, the memories we capture during that day get erased,” said Bonakdar, noting that the worst thing a student can do is to pull an “all-nighter” preparing for an exam. “All that information can be lost because we need the sleep chemicals produced in deep sleep which mesh new memories with old memories.”
To combat sleeplessness, keep your bedroom cool and dark, avoid alcohol, caffeine and smoking, don’t exercise in the evening and turn off the television and all technology a few hours before you go to bed.