How Did I Forget That?
As we get older and I don’t mean really old, we fear losing our memory. It might surprise you to know that your memory starts to decline after your 30th birthday or thereabouts, and as the years pass, those senior moments become more common place.
Many people ask me – Am I getting Dementia, which is something that has the capacity to strike fear into any individual. My immediate response is No, as there are many other indicators we look for to establish a dementing illness.
Many people ask me – Am I getting Dementia, which is something that has the capacity to strike fear into any individual. My immediate response is No, as there are many other indicators we look for to establish a dementing illness.
We have two different kinds of memory
Explicit memory and Implicit memory. Each functions differently. Our Explicit memory is our conscious recall, particularly of events and facts. Our Implicit memory is what we refer to as our procedural or learned memory. Much of our automatic behavior for example, driving a car, cooking, reading, doing tasks, comes from our procedural memory.
For a full explanation, you might check out our Healthy Happy Brain Workshop, or our session on Brain mechanics, where we go into short and long-term memory and the system pathways in our brain that communication travels along. We explain why the movement and consolidation of Short-term memory into Long-term memory can take weeks, months, years, which has a huge impact on what we remember.
So, why do we have trouble recalling events, where we’ve put our keys, words that we’ve always known, but can’t find.
Let’s have a look at some of the reasons.
- Firstly, the brain can only process a few short-term memories at a time but retain an enormous number of long-term memories.
- It also chooses which information is important, valued, and worth keeping, and also the information which should be discarded.
- Given the vast amount of information the brain receives at any given time, this is quite a process.
- This information is passed along our information highways of communication, often referred to as neuronal pathways.
As we age these transfer processes slow down and it takes longer to jump from one pathway to another, resulting in those words that we’ve lost suddenly, or that thought process about a decision just won’t come to us.
The process is typically selective with words used less often being particularly vulnerable. Our problem-solving skills and our cognition (the way we think) also change, especially around those things that the brain deems as unimportant.
One of the biggest impacts on our ability to remember things is a Lack of focus. We are often easily distracted, not paying attention, doing too many things at the same time, often stressed when we do things, we don’t commit things to memory, in the first place.
The process is typically selective with words used less often being particularly vulnerable. Our problem-solving skills and our cognition (the way we think) also change, especially around those things that the brain deems as unimportant.
One of the biggest impacts on our ability to remember things is a Lack of focus. We are often easily distracted, not paying attention, doing too many things at the same time, often stressed when we do things, we don’t commit things to memory, in the first place.
Here’s an example that I often see:
I’ve lost my keys
You arrive home from work, throw your keys down, talk to the kids, kiss your husband or wife, start finding out where people are at with home work, start prepping for dinner, talk on your mobile phone, put the cat outside. The issue is that you didn’t actually remember where you threw your keys in the first place in order to remember.
You arrive home from work, throw your keys down, talk to the kids, kiss your husband or wife, start finding out where people are at with home work, start prepping for dinner, talk on your mobile phone, put the cat outside. The issue is that you didn’t actually remember where you threw your keys in the first place in order to remember.
Not remembering means you are not actually forgetting.
OCD is alive and kicking
How many times do you go back into the house to see if you have turned the oven off, locked the back door, turned the light off…
While you were leaving the house, you probably have a million things on your mind, where you are going, what appointments you have, etc and you don’t pay attention to closing the door or the oven or anything else around the house.
How many times do you go back into the house to see if you have turned the oven off, locked the back door, turned the light off…
While you were leaving the house, you probably have a million things on your mind, where you are going, what appointments you have, etc and you don’t pay attention to closing the door or the oven or anything else around the house.
Another thing about memory is that it's very subjective. Each of us sees different aspects of events or situations and those are the things we commit to memory.
For example – A wedding or a party or a court case
When a family discuss a wedding a number of years later, each person may have a different recollection of some of the facts, and unfortunately, sometimes this creates arguments because we are sure it happened the way we saw it. Witnesses at a court case often present different facts about the same incident – this is because the way they remembered the event occurring and the facts that were important to them, were very different than those of their counterparts.
When a family discuss a wedding a number of years later, each person may have a different recollection of some of the facts, and unfortunately, sometimes this creates arguments because we are sure it happened the way we saw it. Witnesses at a court case often present different facts about the same incident – this is because the way they remembered the event occurring and the facts that were important to them, were very different than those of their counterparts.
So, How can I help myself you might be asking.
Here’s a couple of valuable tips that might be helpful
Build memory capacity by paying attention and remembering – remember phone numbers and don’t rely on your contact list. Look at your photos individually, describe who it is and what happened in the photo so you remember the events.
The focus of things – when you throw your keys down – say aloud, here are my keys and remember.
When you leave the house, focus on each thing as you do it. Turning off the lights now, right – done etc.
They may sound simple, but they will help you learn to remember.
Keep your memory in tip-top condition – learn a new course, learn a language, don’t just do crosswords and sudoku. Your brain will love you.
Check out Healthy Happy Brain, courses and workshop. Save your brain for the future
More from latest Blogs
Coffee, A Great Hit For Your Brain
Is coffee good for your brain? Read about the benefits, side effects, and disadvantages of drinking coffee.
Feed Your Brain
For a while now we’ve been hearing about the danger of sugar and the epidemic of obesity and diabetes, but people don’t realize that it's added sugar that’s the demon.
Hi this is Rose
I'm Rose Rowlson, the Founder of Rose Rowlson Consulting, a health and wellness advocate, counselling consultant, life coach and aged care consultant and trainer. I specialise in Dementia and mental health.
I come from a neuroscience background and love anything related to the brain. I am passionate about helping you.
You’re never too young or too old to change behaviours and thought processes. No matter what your situation I can help you create the future you want.
Join our Community and
Receive a FREE Gift
12 SECRETS TO BRAIN HEALTH
12 SECRETS TO BRAIN HEALTH