Mind Aerobics: How To Get Your Memory In Shape.
Based on an article by Susan Jacoby in the AARP Bulletin, February, 2005.
 

People tend to joke about 'senior moments,' but often the humor masks an underlying fear of Alzheimer's disease.

Where Did The Year Go?

 Talk to almost anyone over 50 and you hear the same stories about memory glitches -- time-consuming searches for misplaced glasses and keys, difficulty recalling names only minutes after an introduction and, perhaps most frustrating of all, coming up empty when a familiar word is on the tip of the tongue. 

People tend to joke about "senior moments," but often the humor masks an underlying fear of Alzheimer's disease.  Their concern isn't unfounded: about 5 percent of people age 65 and older (and a much larger proportion over 80) develop Alzheimer's.  However, there is mounting evidence that memory lapses don't necessarily foreshadow dementia.

What often leads to these lapses are "brain busters" such as fatigue, depression, poor physical health and medication.  Stress is another factor getting closer scrutiny.

People experience tremendous changes between ages 50 and 70 that are stressful.  You're retiring or starting new careers, taking care of aging parents, watching your children leave the nest.  There is more to remember than ever before.

It's possible to fight brain busters, scientists increasingly believe, by  taking control of your life and reducing stress.  What works is a strategy to improve overall health -- and to stimulate the brain with exercises that can be considered "aerobics for the mind."

The next big fitness movement will be the brain fitness movement.  We can modify a lot of the risk factors for brain disease in the same way that we can reduce the risk factors for heart disease.

Get a jump-start.  Here's a 10-step memory workout based on the latest scientific findings.

  1. Exercise regularly.  Aerobic activity -- walking, dancing, biking, for at lease 20 minutes three times a week -- increases blood flow and the delivery of oxygen, sugar (as glucose) and nutrients to the brain.  In 2003 researchers from Wayne State University and the University of Illinois showed that aerobic fitness may reduce the loss of brain tissue common in aging.
     
  2.  Stick to a healthy diet.  Avoid sugar and saturated fat.  And eat lost of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables such as blueberries, spinach and beets.  Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported that the magnesium found in dark green, leafy vegetables appears to help maintain memory.
     
  3. Learn something new.  Mastering activities you've never done before, such as playing the piano or learning a foreign language or how to do something creative (painting, making clay pottery, etc.)  stimulates neuron activity.  For best results remember this: People exposed to positive reinforcement before completing memory exercises scored well above others exposed to negative reinforcement in a study at North Carolina State University.
     
  4. Get enough sleep.  Too little sleep impairs concentration.  Anecdotal evidence shows a good night's sleep appears to boost memory after learning something new.
     
  5. Devise memory strategies.  Make notes or underline key passages to help you remember what you've read.  Invent mnemonics -- formulas to help you remember things.  Example: A man's two cars -- one tan, one black -- had gas tank doors on opposite sides.  To remember which was which the man associated the lighter color car with the word "left," the side the gas cap was on.
     
  6. Socialize.  Conversation, especially positive, meaningful interaction, helps maintain brain function.
     
  7. Get organized.  Designate a place for important items such as keys, check and address books.  Keep checklists for things like daily medications or items to pack when you travel.  A day-timer is a great place to record and keep important facts and things to do.
     
  8. Turn off the tube.  Some experts say too much TV watching weakens brain power.
     
  9. Jot down new information.  Writing helps transfer items from short- to long-term memory.
     
  10. Solve brainteasers.  Crossword puzzles, card games and board games like Scrabble improve your memory.  Other games are good for remembering numbers (Concentration), spatial concepts (pinball, pool) and strategizing (chess, checkers). 

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Remember This -- Where Did The Year Go?
Based on an article by Barbara Basler in the AARP Bulletin, February 2005
 

Human memory not only stores facts, figures, knowledge -- it stores our lives as well.  Some psychologists call this "autobiographical memory," the memory of the birth of a child, a first kiss, a cruel slight. 

After age 40 or 50 a year seems to last but a fraction of the time it did when we were 20 or 30.  And yet, while the years seem to go so quickly, the hours and days seem to remain the same length they always were.  Why is that?

One reason may be that the memory stores sharp, intense impressions.  When young, we are bombarded with fresh experiences that are so novel they are stored in our memory.  When a young person looks back over a year, it seems long and significant because it is filled with these firsts. 

But as we age, we have fewer experiences that are dramatic enough to go into long-term storage.  Even through the days may be pleasant, at 40 or 50 or 60 we've been there, done that.  One week can be much like the next, and they collapse in on themselves, fusing together until we ask, "Where did the year go?"

Here's some advice to slow down the rush.  If you want to lengthen the perspective of time, then fill it, if you have the chance, with a thousand new things.  Go on an exciting journey, rejuvenate yourself by breathing new life into the world around you.  When you look back, you will notice that the incidents have heaped up.  And all those memories, she says, will make the year feel like a year used to be -- a long stretch of time marked by firsts.