Memory

[dante1]

If you are in your 30's or maybe even 40's you probably shouldn't be reading this because hopefully this isn't a huge problem for you. However, maybe you are involved with a parent or a grandparent suffering from some early symptoms and then maybe you should read this, because it might be helpful.

I had some silly little problems with short term memory recently, so I checked it out and told my doctor and was tested--twice. The testing results came back that I was not really having a problem but it was normal age related memory issues. What happened and happened often was I would make a cup of coffee or tea and linger with it. It would get cold and I would place it in the microwave for 20 seconds or so and the next morning I would find it still in the microwave. I would go on to do another chore and forget about it. This bothered me so I had it checked out, had some tests and my memory loss was considered normal

I fixed that problem by purchasing a microwave that beeps when anything is left in after a certain time period. So that is no longer a problem. It still beeps because I forget about it and now I just chuckle.

But a funny little story about that particular test. The girl performing the testing asks a ton of questions and you are supposed to answer them. Really easy stuff like draw a clock with hands representing 6:30 and easy crap like that.
So I didn't take it real seriously and she showed me a picture with a bunch of US coins and asked me to count it and tell her the amount. So I did and I told her and she was just looking at me, and I was expecting the next question. No question coming, so I am looking at her and she is looking at me and I am thinking WTF. So after 30 or so seconds I again look at the coins in the picture and I fcked it up. I started laughing and said wait, I just miscounted I know that that is 87 cents. She laughed and I laughed and we continued. I tell my brother this story and we laugh not because it was so funny but because she was looking at me and I was looking at her both thinking WTF.

The most difficult question is she mentions 4 or 5 common words and tells you to remember them because in 10 minutes or so she will come back to them and she wants you to repeat them. Pretty easy right. Well after she gives you the 4 or 5 words she continues with the test and your brain could easily lose one or two of those words. 10 minutes later and after more conversation she asks you what were those words. I missed one and she said again that is normal.

But yesterday I was reading an article about memory in a publication called MEMORY and they issued this idea. If you want to remember new information for example a name or whatever it is best to actually say the list of words or the name or whatever out loud and your chance of remembering it increases greatly. Now this isn't that new of a concept, however testing was done in Canada using this method and three other methods and the out loud method worked the best.

I thought this is interesting and tested it on myself and it actually does work better vs saying the words silently, or listening to a recording of those words, or listening to another group say those same words. It sounds intuitive and it really works. Maybe you want to test it on yourself or a loved one. Maybe it can come in handy in your daily life.

Just a thought.

[dante1]

oh btw, you should say out loud the word or words or name more than just once. You might even want to place the new info into a sentence and emphasize the new word or words. That is what I did, I said the phrase over and over in different context and I actually remembered it. No problem saying something out loud a dozen times in a dozen different ways if memory is really a problem.

you should test it on yourself or a loved one.

[dante1]

An acquittance of mine, almost a friend came down with what is called early onset Alzheimers. She was early 50's maybe even less. I attended HS with her. She was a really nice girl, really pretty, a cheerleader and just an all around pleasant little gal. She became an English teacher and we were friendly but not really close.

Well she died after only two or three years with this horrible condition. She remained cheerful according to a closer friend of mine who was great friends with her. They went out to eat and socialized as a family together, my friend and her husband and this girl suffering from EOA and her husband. I was told that she deteriorated rapidly. It was very sad. I don't know if you have ever witnessed a close family member or a friend suffering from this disease but if not let me tell you it is heartbreaking and horrendous. It robs you of your dignity, in the end stages you are barely human. You recognize nobody. You are much like a zombie. You can control no bodily functions, you even have severe problems swallowing food. It is bad.

[The Kraken]

I’ve read quite a bit on cognition, memory, translation, recall, attention, etc.... it’s all fascinating to me

Badically what I took away was don’t let your brain be lazy through the day. Don’t resort to the law of least effort or become disengaged with your surrounding envirnment. It’s easy to go on auto-pilot and honestly, it’s a super efficient way for our brains to process a ton of info by not having to think about a particular task it can give more attention to a nearby conversation, etc....

But when we do this too much, our brains become lazy and we live on auto pilot and it becomes harder to re-engage when needed.

Recall is a different animal entirely. Why do some peoe have photographic memories and at the same time can forget coffee is in the microwave? Why can some people seemingly nail every bar trivia question while 20 others can’t recall who the most eligible bachelor of 1996 was (John Kennedy Jr if you’re curious).... nobody knows this yet.

Retention and recall, the next frontier

[Axman3000]

An acquittance of mine, almost a friend came down with what is called early onset Alzheimers. She was early 50's maybe even less. I attended HS with her. She was a really nice girl, really pretty, a cheerleader and just an all around pleasant little gal. She became an English teacher and we were friendly but not really close.

Well she died after only two or three years with this horrible condition. She remained cheerful according to a closer friend of mine who was great friends with her. They went out to eat and socialized as a family together, my friend and her husband and this girl suffering from EOA and her husband. I was told that she deteriorated rapidly. It was very sad. I don't know if you have ever witnessed a close family member or a friend suffering from this disease but if not let me tell you it is heartbreaking and horrendous. It robs you of your dignity, in the end stages you are barely human. You recognize nobody. You are much like a zombie. You can control no bodily functions, you even have severe problems swallowing food. It is bad.

I had to deal with that with a grandparent. I was told by somebody that towards the end of the disease I needed to internally acknowledge that she was already dead before she actually died. Sounded awful but that's pretty much the truth. The "person" part of the person is already gone by that point.

[dante1]

I’ve read quite a bit on cognition, memory, translation, recall, attention, etc.... it’s all fascinating to me

Badically what I took away was don’t let your brain be lazy through the day. Don’t resort to the law of least effort or become disengaged with your surrounding envirnment. It’s easy to go on auto-pilot and honestly, it’s a super efficient way for our brains to process a ton of info by not having to think about a particular task it can give more attention to a nearby conversation, etc....

But when we do this too much, our brains become lazy and we live on auto pilot and it becomes harder to re-engage when needed.

Recall is a different animal entirely. Why do some peoe have photographic memories and at the same time can forget coffee is in the microwave? Why can some people seemingly nail every bar trivia question while 20 others can’t recall who the most eligible bachelor of 1996 was (John Kennedy Jr if you’re curious).... nobody knows this yet.

Retention and recall, the next frontier

excellent observations K, some people think if you engage your brain daily it will help tremendously. i even purchased a program that trains and tests your brain daily--the irony is that was years ago and I forgot the name of it . Brain something or other I think. I used it for about 6 months or so and then quit.

I too am very interested in this type of knowledge and research. my brother, he is the scientist in the family purchases all types of monthly even weekly publications concerning these medical issues. I get a couple myself, we then trade them and often discuss their content.

I have read that reading, cross word puzzles, social engagement helps with brain memory, but recently I read another article that claims it really doesn't help that much. So who really knows. My brother claims that in the not so distant future all humans will have chips implanted in our brains and that will take care of all of those problems--he is sometimes a bit of a nut. lol

[dante1]

I had to deal with that with a grandparent. I was told by somebody that towards the end of the disease I needed to internally acknowledge that she was already dead before she actually died. Sounded awful but that's pretty much the truth. The "person" part of the person is already gone by that point.

yep, that is exactly right. they simply become a shell. if they live long enough they can do absolutely nothing. the sad part is most of these people end up in a home. we had enough resources to keep mom at home, we hired girls to be with her around the clock which meant in our case 16 hours a day because one of us would be around the other 8. at the end stage she mostly slept, but she thought my brother was her husband. dad actually died of a broken heart watching his wife suffer with this ailment. when he died nothing was seriously wrong with him, he just could not handle the heart break of this vicious ailment.

it is so sad, it might be worse than any other disease, but lets face it anything that is chronic or long term that causes great physical or mental harm is heartbreaking. you watch a loved one deteriorate almost weekly and you are basically helpless. It is so very traumatic.

[gauchojake]

Big fan of nootropics. Can't really recall why though.