I was in the supermarket recently when a woman came
running toward me. “Jancee!” she said. “How are you?”
I smiled. She looked familiar, but what was her name? As she
chatted, I silently recited the alphabet, hoping it would jog my memory. Please
don’t let her name be Zoe, I thought; I can’t fake this for much longer.
اضافة اعلان
It’s natural to wonder whether our memory is getting worse
as we age — and those concerns aren’t unreasonable: Some 5.8 million Americans
live with dementia, which is marked by a significant loss of cognitive
functions. And the biggest risk factor for dementia is aging.
But some age-related memory lapses are not cause for
concern. I spoke with four experts about the ways memory shifts, how we can
remember a bit more, and when to discuss forgetfulness with a doctor.
Temporarily blanking on names and misplacing items is
normal.
I asked Dr. Mario Mendez, director of behavioral neurology
at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los
Angeles, about age-related memory problems, but he corrected my choice of
words: “I’d say ‘memory changes,’” he said. “And that does not translate
necessarily into a problem.”
In a study of nearly 50,000 people, researchers found that
short-term memory peaks around age 25. But starting in your 50s, Mendez said,
the area of the brain in charge of memory retrieval is less efficient. Still,
“being less efficient is different from impairment,” he said. So if you’re
struggling to remember “that movie starring that guy,” the memory is often
there, Mendez said; it just takes longer to surface. “And then lo and behold,
five minutes later, you remember,” he said.
Forgetting your car keys or someone’s name is often seen as
a brain malfunction, but it’s not, said Dr. Ronald Davis, professor of
neuroscience at the Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for
Biomedical Innovation & Technology. We are inundated with so much information, said
Davis, and the brain has to manage memories. “Forgetting is a normal part of
one’s brain function,” he said.
There are ways to keep your memory relatively sharp.
Just because memory changes are normal, it doesn’t mean that
you can’t try to improve your memory, said
Dr. Arman Fesharaki-Zadeh, an assistant
professor of neurology and psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. Instead of
using recall-enhancing tricks (like the one I tried in the supermarket), a few
lifestyle changes may help.
First, Fesharaki-Zadeh said, limit multitasking. It’s not
good for your brain health in general, but as we get older, our capacity to
multitask “typically diminishes,” he said.
Be mindful of stress, which has a direct influence on
memory, Fesharaki-Zadeh said. Several studies link sleep loss to memory
deficits, he added, so do your best to get adequate rest. Diet can also affect
memory. Eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats
has been shown to correlate with better cognition.
Finally, Fesharaki-Zadeh said, a half-hour of daily
cardiovascular exercise can generate new neurons in the hippocampal area of the
brain, which is critical for memory consolidation.
Sometimes a doctor’s visit is in order.
There are circumstances when you should check with your
doctor, Fesharaki-Zadeh said. If someone who knows you well points out that
your forgetfulness has changed significantly, it might be a sign of something
more serious. Early signs of dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s
Association, include losing the ability to retrace steps, problems judging
distances and increasingly needing memory aids like notes or phone alerts.
If you feel like memory loss is disrupting your daily life,
make an appointment with a doctor, said Scott Small, a professor of neurology
at Columbia and author of “Forgetting: The Benefits of Not Remembering.” A good
clinician, he explained, can explore potential causes for memory problems
whether it’s a disease or other factors, such as certain painkillers or
sleeping aids.
After talking to the brain experts, I felt reassured. And my
friend’s name, as it turned out, was Erica — so I had to fake recognition for
only a few seconds.
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