Elderly told to use their imagination if they want to boost failing memory
Exercising the imagination could help to revive failing memories, research suggests.
Visualising cause and effect relationships can be used as a memory strategy for the elderly and people affected by amnesia, say scientists.
The researchers cite an example of how to avoid leaving home without an umbrella when it is likely to rain. The trick is, while listening to the weather forecast, to imagine an umbrella tip being lodged in your front door lock so the door cannot be secured.
Lead scientist Dr Jennifer Ryan, from the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto, Canada, said: “Previous research has shown that imagining two objects fusing into one will help people work around these memory deficits; but our work demonstrated that understanding the relationship between the two items is also important.
“We know that cognitive function is impaired during ageing and this strategy could be one workaround for minor memory problems.”
The approach, known as “unitisation”, involves three elements – fusion, motion and action/consequence.
For the study, each element was tested separately on 80 healthy individuals aged 61 to 88 who were each given a memory task. The greatest memory improvements were seen in participants using only the action/consequence aspect of unitisation.