Researchers in the USA have found an interesting way in which we can improve our memories. But it means that the growing numbers of people who spend their life online could suffer.

The psychologists at the University of Michigan have discovered that social interaction helps boost memory skills. It appears that social isolation reduces cognitive abilities.

Considering vast numbers of people now exist in an almost entirely online world, this could be potentially quite significant. Being with real people, face to face, rather than being online and connecting with people virtually, appears to help your brain power.

For anyone in business this means you must take periods away from your computer and go out and meet real people. Not only will this do your business good as a result of the networking you do, it will also improve your brain power enabling you to work out ways of beating the competition who stay stuck in their offices behind their PC.

Social networking, email and online forums may give the appearance of human interaction, but clearly our brains know the difference. You need to be “out there” amongst real people; indeed the researchers found that simply chatting to your mates was as effective in boosting your intellectual capacity as doing so-called “mental exercises”. Mind you, they didn’t study my mates…..!