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Last Wednesday was a good memory morning. I remembered to flush the toilet, and I did not leave the toaster oven on. I remembered the name of our neighbour -- while I was saying hello to him. Normally it comes to me hours later. Chatting with people in my office, I'll blurt out, "Rob! It's Rob," effectively derailing an intelligent discussion of some movie or book.
I've forgotten the plot of every book I've read, 99 per cent of what I learned at university and all his historical events dating back further than Monday.
I was leading up to something about last Wednesday, was I not? I now have no potion of what it was.
Even more pathetic than what my memory has let go is what it's chosen to retain. I can tell you who played Nurse Consuelo on "Marcus Welby, M.D.," but I can't tell you what we were fighting about in World War I. I can sing you circa-1975 jingles for Cream of Wheat, Beefaroni, Tab, Fab and Ty-D-Bowl, but I can't tell you who H.R. Haldeman was. I recall only that he was involved in Watergate, along with a man name Ehrlichman, and that one of them may have had a high forehead.
PERHAPS CHANGES are in order to help the ageing populace. When historical events are televised, the narration should be sung to a catchy tune. Key players should be identified like actors on TV shows: "...with Tommy Franks as the General." Striking visuals should be used wherever possible. If H.R. Haldeman had held press conferences in a boat floating on a sea of royal blue toilet water, I could damn sure recall sure recall what he was talking about.
Street cleaning! That's I was leading up to. I'd been having a good memory morning, and I was proud of myself for remembering to move my car in time for the Thursday street cleaning. Later my husband informed that it was Wednesday, not Thursday, and I have moved my car just in time to get a ticket.
I believe that intellegence is four-fifth memory, and mine is making a dolt of me. The richness and detail of my knowledge and experience are gone. I am reduced to generalities.
My vocabulary shrinks daily. What's left of it I often use wrong. It would help if people would stop naming things so similarly. Haldeman, Ehrlichman. Uzbekistan, Tajikistan. Glove compartment, medicine chest.
There is one thing I've found that helps relieve the embarassment of memory loss, and that is to marry someone older than you.
Ed is a constant source of solace. He forgets his Social security number. He washes his face in the shower, and then seconds later reaches for the facial soap, puzzled that it is wet. I'll ask him if he remembers our first kiss, and he'll look at me sweetly and say, "No honey. Tell me about it." The poor man has nothing left.
He'll be angry with me for writing about this, but that's OK. By tomorrow he'll have no idea it happened.
TOTAL RECALL
How to get it --- well, most of it --- at any age.
ADVANCING AGE means losing your hair, your waistline and your memory, right? Dana Denis is just 40 years old, but already she's worried about what she calls "my rolling mental blackouts." "I try to remember something --- a person's name or a place --- and I just blank out," she says.
You may joke about these lapses, calling them "senior moments" or blaming "early Alzheimer's." Is it an inescapable fact that the older you get, the less you remember? Well, sort of. But as time goes by, we tend to blame age for problems that are not necessarily age-related.
"When a teenager can't find her keys, she thinks she's distracted or disorganised," says Paul Gold, a neuroscientist at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "A 70-year-old blames her memory." In fact, Gold says, the 70-year-old may have been misplacing things for decades --- like all we do from time to time.
IN HEALTHY PEOPLE, memory doesn't deteriorate as quickly as many of us think. "As we age, the memory mechanism isn't broken," says psychologist Fergus Craik of the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto. "It's just inefficient."
The brain's processing time slows down over the years, though no-one knows exactly why. Recent research suggest that nerve cells lose efficiency and that there's less activity is worse. A beginning athlete is winded more easily than a trained athlete. In the same way, as the brain gets more skilled at a task, it expends less energy on it."
There are steps you can take to compensate for normal slippage in your memory gears, through it takes effort. We're a quick-fix culture, but you have to work to keep your brain in shape," says Margaret Sewell, director of the Memory enhancement Program at Mount Sinai Medical Centre in New York. "It's like having a good body. You can't go to the gym once a year and expect to stay in top form."
Memory classes will often mneumonic devices -- mental formulas for encoding names, faces and facts. (For instance, when you meet someone named Mike Hawk, visualise a hawk speaking into a microphone.) But it's a lot of work, and if it isn't done everytime, the system fails.
Sewell suggests using the "AM principle." Pay attention to what you want to remember. Then give some meaning to it. We remember things when we focus on them, whether we intend to or not. That helps explain why jingles stick in our minds: They're played on loud, flashy commercials. They also use rhyme and music, both mnemonic devices.
Basic organisations helps you remember the boring stuff. For example, rather than trying to recall a random list of groceries, divide them into categories, such as dairy, meat and produce. And try to cut down on the number of things you have to remember. Set up a "forget-menot spot" where you always put your keys. Make to-do lists. Leave out going bills near the door.
Simply using your brain keeps it strong. "The French call it brain jogging," says Robert Butler, president of the International Longevity Centre-USA in New York. "Exercise your brain with acrostics, reading, debating --- anything to keep the mind alive."
Exercising your body also bolsters your mind. Aerobic workouts pump blood to the brain, bringing oxygen and glucose, both of which are crucial to the brain, bringing oxygen and glucose, both of which are crucial to your brain function.
A recent study tracked the exercise habits and mental function of nearly 6000 women 65 or older. "For every extra kilometre walked per week, there was a 13 per cent smaller chance of cognitive decline," reports Kristine Yaffe, assistant professor psychiatry and neurology at the University of California, San Fransisco.
Isn't there an easier way -- some pill we can take to sharpen the memory? Recently Gold reviewed the scientific literature on ginkgo biloba, the most popular memory stimulant. "I thought that we would easily be able to dismiss it," he says. "But enough information suggests some effect --- a small effect."
You can also eat to aid your powers of retention. Whole grains, fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of glucose, the brain's preferred fuel. Legumes and green vegetables are rich in folate, which appears to play a special role in preserving memory.
Another low-tech way to improve memory is to get adequate rest. Sleep may allow your brain time to encode memories. A good night's sleep also reduce stress. Short term, stress improves memory. That's a survival mechanism. But after a few hours , the hippocampus starts using 25 per cent less glucose, which may deprive the brain of energy to make memories. Under prolonged stress, the brain actually shrinks.
Try to slow down just a bit, and you might be surprised how much more clearly you think. "If you allow yourself to take time to process new information, the memory problem often evaporates," says Gold.
Take time, too, to live life. Sheer zest --- interest in friends, family and hobbies --- does wonders for your memory. A sense of passion or purpose helps you remember," says Butler. Memory requies us to pay attention to our lives, allowing us to discover in them everything worth remembering.
"When a teenager can't find her keys, she thinks she's distracted or disorganised," says Paul Gold, a neuroscientist at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "A 70-year-old blames her memory." In fact, Gold says, the 70-year-old may have been misplacing things for decades --- like all we do from time to time.
IN HEALTHY PEOPLE, memory doesn't deteriorate as quickly as many of us think. "As we age, the memory mechanism isn't broken," says psychologist Fergus Craik of the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto. "It's just inefficient."
The brain's processing time slows down over the years, though no-one knows exactly why. Recent research suggest that nerve cells lose efficiency and that there's less activity is worse. A beginning athlete is winded more easily than a trained athlete. In the same way, as the brain gets more skilled at a task, it expends less energy on it."
There are steps you can take to compensate for normal slippage in your memory gears, through it takes effort. We're a quick-fix culture, but you have to work to keep your brain in shape," says Margaret Sewell, director of the Memory enhancement Program at Mount Sinai Medical Centre in New York. "It's like having a good body. You can't go to the gym once a year and expect to stay in top form."
Memory classes will often mneumonic devices -- mental formulas for encoding names, faces and facts. (For instance, when you meet someone named Mike Hawk, visualise a hawk speaking into a microphone.) But it's a lot of work, and if it isn't done everytime, the system fails.
Sewell suggests using the "AM principle." Pay attention to what you want to remember. Then give some meaning to it. We remember things when we focus on them, whether we intend to or not. That helps explain why jingles stick in our minds: They're played on loud, flashy commercials. They also use rhyme and music, both mnemonic devices.
Basic organisations helps you remember the boring stuff. For example, rather than trying to recall a random list of groceries, divide them into categories, such as dairy, meat and produce. And try to cut down on the number of things you have to remember. Set up a "forget-menot spot" where you always put your keys. Make to-do lists. Leave out going bills near the door.
Simply using your brain keeps it strong. "The French call it brain jogging," says Robert Butler, president of the International Longevity Centre-USA in New York. "Exercise your brain with acrostics, reading, debating --- anything to keep the mind alive."
Exercising your body also bolsters your mind. Aerobic workouts pump blood to the brain, bringing oxygen and glucose, both of which are crucial to the brain, bringing oxygen and glucose, both of which are crucial to your brain function.
A recent study tracked the exercise habits and mental function of nearly 6000 women 65 or older. "For every extra kilometre walked per week, there was a 13 per cent smaller chance of cognitive decline," reports Kristine Yaffe, assistant professor psychiatry and neurology at the University of California, San Fransisco.
Isn't there an easier way -- some pill we can take to sharpen the memory? Recently Gold reviewed the scientific literature on ginkgo biloba, the most popular memory stimulant. "I thought that we would easily be able to dismiss it," he says. "But enough information suggests some effect --- a small effect."
You can also eat to aid your powers of retention. Whole grains, fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of glucose, the brain's preferred fuel. Legumes and green vegetables are rich in folate, which appears to play a special role in preserving memory.
Another low-tech way to improve memory is to get adequate rest. Sleep may allow your brain time to encode memories. A good night's sleep also reduce stress. Short term, stress improves memory. That's a survival mechanism. But after a few hours , the hippocampus starts using 25 per cent less glucose, which may deprive the brain of energy to make memories. Under prolonged stress, the brain actually shrinks.
Try to slow down just a bit, and you might be surprised how much more clearly you think. "If you allow yourself to take time to process new information, the memory problem often evaporates," says Gold.
Take time, too, to live life. Sheer zest --- interest in friends, family and hobbies --- does wonders for your memory. A sense of passion or purpose helps you remember," says Butler. Memory requies us to pay attention to our lives, allowing us to discover in them everything worth remembering.
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