Hello, welcome to week one of a Champions Guild to Memory Recovery. If you are reading this either you or someone you know had a bit of an oops moment and now has a concussion, hopefully, it isn't too serious, and can get back on the field ASAP.  For this week of the workbook, we will go into depth on "self and identity ", functions of memory and how it works, emotion and memory, and for that last day cognition and attention control. We made the lessons intentionally short so don't worry about needing to look at the screen for too long and getting headaches while on the road to recovery. Feel free to do workbook pages whenever you want or free ready, the last thing we want is for you to push yourself too much during this uncomfortable time.

Quote of the day: “Recovery is not for people who need it, it is for people who WANT it.” ~  Anonymous 

Lesson: For today we will take you on a journey through "Self and Identity" 

What makes you, you? - Let's first start off with that consciousness is a memory, from the early stages of childhood the brain learns to be conscious by constantly attempting to predict the consequences of the action on itself and the outside world. Self is a social-cognitive construct, that is built by yourself. But it is influenced by things like the cultural system you are raised. Memory is responsible for remembering is an imaginative reconstruction or construction, that is built off of our attitudes and relations to past events, which is autobiographical memory. With something called Adaptive malleability, we can control our personal narratives and make good on bad situations.

Activity: Write down on a piece of paper who you are that doesn't include sports (don't think too hard just the first things that come to mind) make sure to save the piece of paper for later.

Quote of the day: Never say never because limits, like fears, are often illusions  ~ Micheal Jordan 

Lesson: Today we will go over the functions of memory and how it works within the brain 

What is Memory? Memory is connected to all aspects of psychology such as personality, culture, mental health, and much more. Memory is used in every aspect of our lives from conciseness to creativity. Memory is the main tool that we use for survival, by using past experiences consciously or subconsciously it helps guide us to make decisions that in the moment seem to be the best. But how does the brain use and store memories? Memory is divided into 3 different parts: encoding, storage, and retrieval.

What is Encoding? - Encoding is what the brain does to new information so it can be used for later. 

What is Storage? - Storage is used once encoding has finished, and the brain needs somewhere to store the information it was just given. 

What is Retrieval? - Retrieval to access our memories whether they are conscious or unconscious, to use in the decision-making process for certain situations.

Visually how are my thoughts stored? - Thoughts within the brain are not stored like a filing cabinet that is neatly packed with memories instead it is like a drawer in a cabinet that has memory splayed out all over.

Activity: Get an empty box-like thing and splay out random things in a disorganized way, then pick up something and write how it is related to memory. 

Quote of the day: Be strong you never know who you are inspiring ~ Anonymous 

Lesson: Today we will go over how emotion impacts memory 

How are emotions and memories linked? 

• "The work of memory requires space for storage and manipulation." 

• "Emotion takes up brain space," so we must take that into account when we recall emotional memories. 

• Your ability to recall certain memories can be affected by how you remember them. Emotions can affect our ability to retrieve memories for good or for bad, depending on how you use it. If you take control, you can use this for good but if you let the emotions take over, your ability to retrieve emotional memories becomes harder and harder. Consider the activity below to make sure this does not happen to you! 

Activity: Recall the last personal experience you can think of, particularly something that drew an emotion out of you (e.g. winning a race, passing an exam you didn't think you could, going through something that made you feel sad, etc.). Once you come up with something, retell the story to someone who was there and see how accurate you are with the details you provide and see if anything became distorted. 

Quote of the day: “Believe me; the reward is not so great without the struggle.” ~ Wilma Rudolph

Lesson: Today you will learn about the effectiveness that handwriting has over typing and why dance is better than brain-training games. 

Even after the treatment of my concussion why should I still continue to handwrite things rather than type? - Why is handwriting so special? the reason why handwriting should be the preferred way to write down notes is that it “unifies hand, eye, & attention in a single point in time and space” So what does that even mean? This means that handwriting requires a lot more concentration and deliberate attention because each letter requires different movements compared to a simple click of a key on a keyboard it makes the process slower which causes paraphrasing and the act of paraphrasing uses semantic memory processes and schema activation. While typing on a keyboard although faster it is an automatic process that doesn't need the individual to understand just put it within the document. 

How is dancing better than mind games when it comes to cognitive control? - Although mind games are helpful with cognitive control they are not the most effective, Why? it is because they lack a fundamental component that applies to real life. Dance has been used long before computers and has real-life components that targets memory capacity, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility. the coordination of movements, keeping track of yourself compared to the space around you/others, and the constant adjustments is something that the brain games can't replicate. 

Activity: Take out a piece of paper and your laptop. Write down on the paper the names Bob, Ian, and Amy. Then type out the names Ben, Rob, and Pam. Once finished walk away for 20 minutes then write down the manes that you remember and compare the handwritten results to the typed results.

Day 1 Sources:

Kleinknecht, E., (2022). PowerPoint Week 6

Kleinknecht, E., (2022). PowerPoint Week 13

Nelson, K., & Fivush, R. (2004). The Emergence of Autobiographical Memory: A Social Cultural Developmental Theory. Psychological Review, 111(2), 486–511. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.111.2.486 

Day 2 Sources: 

Benedek, M., & Fink, A. (2019). Toward a neurocognitive framework of creative cognition: the role of memory, attention, and cognitive control. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 27, 116–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.11.002 

Kleinknecht, E., (2022). PowerPoint Week 1

Day 3 Sources: 

Kleinknecht, E., (2022). PowerPoint Week 6

van Kesteren, M. T. R., & Meeter, M. (2020). How to optimize knowledge construction in the brain. Npj Science of Learning, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-020-0064-y 

Day 4 Sources:

Kleinknecht, E., (2022). PowerPoint Week 6

Kleinknecht, E., (2022). PowerPoint Week 8