What is working memory?

Your working memory is like a notepad in your brain, to jot down some notes or ideas that are in your immediate consciousness.  It is your focus or a space of things on which you must concentrate in the short term.  The problem with working memory is that it is limited.  As you probably know, we cant be focused on everything at once, and as a matter of fact, actually only focus on very little.  Some multitaskers can focus on a few more things at one time, but even the best can only access so much of this working memory.  The main job of healthy working memory is to help you focus on important information and block out irrelevant information.  Some people have more, some less.  

Working memory is one of the building blocks of IQ.

One of the other problems with working memory is that it is even more constricted in high-stress situations, like taking a test, giving a presentation, interviewing for a job, or even pursuing sexual interests.  Stress further restricts and limits our working memory. 

What do you do if you have less working memory than others?   

Children and older adults generally have the least amount of working memory, but there is something we can do to gain an advantage where there might be a deficit.  Exercise jump-starts the part of the brain that hosts working memory.  It improves thinking, enhances mood, and alleviates stress.  

What kind of exercise?  

This is a relatively low-impact exercise.  20-30 minutes at 60-80% of your max heart rate.  (You can find your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220)  The idea is to get your brain functioning at a high capacity..not to tire yourself out.  

Breaking a sweat can help you negotiate better.   MIT conducted a study where they found that people were able to negotiate better when doing things like buying a new car or asking for a raise when they got their heart rate up before going in.  The catch here is that this study was done of people who already had decent negotiation skills, and the increased heart rate enhanced their abilities.  Interestingly, people with poor negotiation skills did worse with an increased heart rate.  This is interesting because how people interpret their bodily signals (sweating, heart rate, etc) means everything. Confident negotiators viewed their raised heart rate as a sign that they were executing whereas less confident negotiators interpreted the raised heart rate as a sign they were failing.  

Same heart rate.  Same reason.  Different interpretations!

Let’s say you are not a confident negotiator or test taker and you wanted to use this technique. There are things that we can do to reframe our perception of our physical stress signals.  A University of Rochester psychologist Jeremy Jameson has shown that getting students to see sweaty palms and increased heart rates as a source of energy, as opposed to a stress signal, can help them perform better on tests.  Simply reframing your interpretation of your physical stress response can change your overall view of stressful encounters.  This reframing is something that we do in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and is something that I can help you with by clicking any of the links below.

Even if you dont have a test of a raise to ask for in the near future, it is important to know that short bouts of aerobic exercise like the one I mentioned above help dopamine circulate in our brain.  Dopamine helps with control of movement, creativity, flexible thinking, sensitivity, feelings of gratification, and enhanced focus.  Because dopamine declines with age it is even important to stay active.  

Bodies in motion stay in motion.  

Finally, if you still aren’t convinced, long-term fitness is associated with enhanced thinking and reasoning.  

In a study of more than a million 18-year-old Swedish soldiers, better fitness was linked to higher intelligence and more job success.  The more fit the soldier, the higher his IQ.  

If you are interested in increasing either your mental health, intelligence, or fitness, please feel free to contact me at the links below.  I am eager to help others find success and happiness.