Mind And Memory: Understanding What’s Normal, Investigating What’s Not

So how is your working memory these days? Can you remember events from your childhood yet not recall the reason you’ve gone into your kitchen? Do you remember milestones that happened as a younger adult but now struggle to recall the exact days of birthdays or anniversaries? It’s natural that certain memories and recall abilities begin to diminish a bit with age. Changes in the brain, from volume shrinkage to fading neural connections, may mean that some memories begin to fade. Upon reaching your 60s, this decline often becomes more prominent, as you may have trouble encoding new events in your memory, consolidating events during disrupted sleep, retaining memories, or recalling them later on. Sometimes, you’re not remembering new events because you’re distracted or under stress when they occur, so the events don’t even properly encode in the first place. None of this is necessarily worrisome or a sign that something more troublesome is brewing. If you are otherwise functioning day to day with little disruption in your life, then you are likely just experiencing the normal brain functioning of an older adult rather than the beginning of a dementia decline. In fact, some people over-worry or “over-interpret” memory lapses as signs of dementia, which in and of itself can have negative health and brain consequences. So, if life goes on as usual, with the occasional embarrassing memory lapse, there’s likely little you need to worry about.

And yet…there are also reasons to pay more attention to your memory lapses, especially if they become noticeable to others and if they interfere with your daily functioning and your quality of life. It’s the persistent, ongoing, and escalating memory problems that should catch your attention and lead you to your physician’s office. What kinds of symptoms justify concern? Some worrisome signs might include short-term forgetfulness, as evidenced by constant repetition of the same question in a short period. Or, you may experience difficulty following a set of familiar directions, such as using a recipe or remembering how to drive to a familiar place. Other things to consider when deciding whether you should seek out care from a provider about memory problems: Are the memory lapses happening regularly, or even constantly? Is your daily life being interrupted? Have the workarounds you put in place (keeping lists, sticky note reminders) fallen short of solving your problems?

What’s important to understand is that memory lapses, while common, could also signal underlying conditions that could be amenable to treatment if caught early enough. Nowadays, we know that if a memory problem is determined to be a sign of dementia, early intervention, either with therapeutic drugs or lifestyle changes, could slow the disease progression. So, for example, if you are diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment after concerning episodes of memory problems, it’s possible that interventions could halt the progression to full-blown dementia. While no one wants you to “over-interpret” or excessively worry if you experience memory problems, ignoring ongoing and increasing problems is not a good strategy either, as there may be therapeutic ways to respond or even reverse the problem. 

What are some ways you can proactively support or strengthen your memory, especially the working memory that keeps you functioning and engaged at this stage of your life? No surprise that a healthy lifestyle, including diet, exercise, sleep, and social engagement, all help support brain health and memory as you get older. A recent post in Super Age underscores that you can protect your working memory with good nutrition (Omega 3s, flavonoids, and different types of vitamins) and even brain games. And of course, with exercise, as the saying goes, “If it’s good for the heart, it’s probably good for your head.” Exercise in particular has been demonstrated to directly increase brain volume to help memory and indirectly to support it by helping boost your mood and improve the quality of your sleep. Other efforts include stress and anxiety reduction, especially important as working memory is apparently sensitive to the negative effects of stress. And if you’re looking for some additional expert tips and strategies, take a listen to this interview with 6-time Memory Champion Nelson Dellis as he shares his techniques that anyone can use to preserve, maintain, and even improve their memory. 

You may wonder if, at your advancing age, there’s anything that can truly sharpen your memory and help ward off the ravages of time. Well, there is a recent study, published in Imaging Neuroscience, that demonstrates that even adults in their 70s can improve their memory function by learning to play a musical instrument. In this study, older adults went through a 4-month program of learning an instrument, and then those who continued the instrument were followed for an additional three years to see if continuing to practice and play an instrument would have a positive effect on brain health and memory. In fact, what the study showed was that those who stopped playing after 4 months of training experienced a drop in their working memory function and their brains showed shrinkage, while those who continued practicing and playing did not experience working memory problems or similar brain volume shrinkage. The lesson is clear: It’s never too late to help support your memory function, and especially for those less able to engage in such brain-supporting activities as exercise, playing an instrument may be a valuable substitute. So get ready to stroke those piano keys and find out more here.