Keep New Memories from Disappearing

When the details of an old memory grow fuzzy, we tend to chalk it up to the passage of time. Likewise, when information we learned years ago seems to have passed its expiration date, we may get a little frustrated. But because the brain often holds fast to so many old memories, we can easily forgive a forgotten foreign capital here or the name of a long-ago neighbor there.

However, when new information slips through the mind without even a hint of familiarity or recollection, frustration levels can rise quickly. And fears of cognitive decline or dementia can take hold.

Why is it that a lesson from 10th grade history class is forever cemented in your memory, but the gist of a conversation over lunch yesterday seems lost?

Massachusetts General Hospital neuropsychologist Eliana Pasternak, PhD, suggests that while there are many reasons you might struggle to recall new information, one of the most common is that it you never really learned the information in the first place. A simple distraction during what should have been the encoding phase of memory formation could mean that the information never really had the chance to be stored.

But Dr. Pasternak adds that even information that is converted into a memory may still disappear, in part because our brain determined that it wasn’t important enough to use up valuable storage space. “Our brains engage in controlled forgetting as a normal, adaptive, regulated, and efficient part of the memory process,” she explains. “And, as our brains age, we experience a certain amount of normal age-related decline in all these areas: attention, learning, storing, recalling, and efficient forgetting. Behavioral health factors like poor sleep, stress, and/or mood disturbance can interfere with daily memory function as well.”

Old vs. New

So if factors such as age and health can tinker with new memories, why are so many long-term memories seemingly untouchable? “Older memories can tend to feel more ‘rock solid’ because they tend to be stored in memory differently from newer information,” Dr. Pasternak says. “They might have emotional salience and/or autobiographical content, which also impacts the way they are stored in memory and therefore how easily we can recall them. And, relatedly, we might repeatedly ‘practice’ recalling them, thereby further strengthening them over time.” In other words, that story you tell at every family reunion just gets reinforced in your memory with every retelling.

The issue of newer memories disappearing faster than older ones is particularly concerning, as Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia tend to rob the latest memories first. One explanation is that newer memories reside in the part of the brain called the hippocampus, which normally sends memories to other regions of the brain for storage and retrieval. However, the hippocampus is among the first parts of the brain to be affected by Alzheimer’s, so those memories that haven’t been moved into long-term storage are at risk as the disease progresses.

Try These Memory Makers

If you’re looking for ways to boost your ability to hold on to new information and make sure it gets moved into an easily retrievable place in the mind, focus on learning a little more effectively and efficiently, Dr. Pasternak recommends.

“Learning can be facilitated through focused attention, repetition, and creating context and meaningful associations for ‘to-be remembered’ information,” she says. “To illustrate, if you’d like to remember an important communication, you can rehearse or repeat it by saying something like, ‘I’d just like to make sure I remember all that. So the plan is to meet at 4 p.m. next Tuesday at the corner store?’ Make sure you’re not multitasking, like texting or watching TV, while you do this.”

Adding context and a meaningful association with this example might include something like, “We plan to meet at 4 p.m. next Tuesday, after my weekly physical therapy appointment, at the corner store where we met up last week and where they make the best croissants.”

And when trying to remember something you did or something you need to do, Dr. Pasternak recommends creating helpful routines. “Another way to facilitate memory can actually be to rely a little less on memory,” she suggests. “Here is where habit and routine can be memory’s best friends. Creating daily habits and routines, such as consistent times of day when you eat, take pills, exercise, etc., and creating ‘homes’ for items like glasses and keys where they are always stored when not in use can free up memory resources and help us move through our day more efficiently and with less frustration.”

Dr. Pasternak also suggests enlisting the help of an actual friend, such as asking for specific reminders, such as a phone call or text. Bringing a trusted friend to important appointments also can allow you to focus on a doctor’s instructions or other important new information with a second set of ears acting as backup.

“Technology can also be a helpful tool, such as setting a recurring phone alarm for regularly occurring events that you sometimes forget, like mid-day medications,” Dr. Pasternak recommends. “Some find it helpful to write things down in a phone or calendar, though I will caution that if such notes are not organized and kept in one central location that you consistently check, they are liable to be more confusing than they are helpful.”

The post Keep New Memories from Disappearing appeared first on University Health News.

Read Original Article: Keep New Memories from Disappearing »