Is forgetfulness only an ailment of the old?

Have you entered a room only to forget what you wanted there? Do you sometimes struggle to retrieve names? Depending upon your age, is this scary or just annoying? A recent article in The New York Times, “Everyone Knows Memory Fails as You Age. But Everyone Is Wrong” by Daniel J. Levitin, a neuroscientist, challenges the assumption that age alone is responsible for forgetfulness. https://www.nytimes. com/2020/01/10/opinion/sunday/age-memory.html.

Professor Levitin speaks about short-term memory in the context of what you are thinking of doing right now, going to find an item that you need to pack, for instance, and this type of memory is easily disrupted or disturbed. This is not to say that dementia is not real, because it is. But memory impairment is not inevitable. Levitin attests that even his 20-year-old students make short term memory errors that are similar to those made by those who are 70 years old. The twenty something does not think that they are developing Alzheimer’s disease, but attributes the shortterm memory gaffes to lack of sleep or having a lot to keep track of. The key is how we describe these events in our mind.

When short-term memory is disrupted, the ability to automatically restore the content of that type of memory decreases very slightly in each decade after 30. Although there is a generalized cognitive slowing with age, older adults, when given more time, perform well. Older adults must search through more memories than do younger adults when searching for the memory needed (e.g. a name or context for knowing a person). One’s brain become more “crowded” as we age resulting in more information to sort through. On the other hand, some aspects of memory improve with age. For example, “the ability to extract patterns, irregularities, and make accurate predictions” improves with time due to the amount of experience of the older person has gained over time.

Professor Levitin then discusses how older memories are so clear but recent memories may not be so clear. He remembers the wonderful taste of a Butterfinger candy bar, and the first time he encountered the smells in a spring meadow. He can still remember these things, but the sensory experiences have dulled with repetition, familiarity, and aging. We can all think of things that were novel when we were young, and created a wonderful memory. Now the best way to keep the mind young, pliable and growing, per Levitin, is to try new things, and go new places, creating sensory memories that are fresh and new. This can serve us well as we age, even into our 80’s, 90’s and beyond.

The lessons from this article include being kinder to ourselves and our memory glitches as we age, and to keep learning and experiencing new things and places to keep the mind pliable and growing. What a good reason to try new foods, spend time in new places, and meet new people. Our minds need it.

The legal advice in this column is general in nature, Consult your attorney for advice to fit your particular situation.