Forgetfulness

Forgetfulness

Quick Fixes for Memory Lapses

Who among us hasn't forgotten a name in the middle of an introduction or spent the better part of an afternoon searching a shopping mall parking lot for a misplaced car?

Don't worry. Minor bouts of forgetfulness like these don't mean that you're losing your memory. The truth is, your ability to recall should stay sharp well into your sixties, says Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Washington in Seattle and author of Memory.

Although natural changes occur with the memory process as we age, there is usually no cause for alarm. As we get older it is the increased anxiety about memory lapses that distorts and exaggerates our perception of memory loss, says Danielle Lapp, a memory training specialist and researcher at Stanford University and author of Don't Forget! and (Nearly) Total Recall. Some women do complain of temporary spells of forgetfulness during menopause--possibly because night sweats keep them from getting enough sleep.

IT'S NOT ALZHEIMER'S

"No matter what your age, you can improve your memory," says Lapp. But first, some emergency advice on what to do when you draw a blank.

Wait 30 seconds. If you can't remember someone's name, don't let on right away, says Lapp. Rather, just continue talking. More often than not, it will occur to you soon enough, especially if you're not stressed.

Backtrack. Circling the shopping mall parking lot looking for your car? Stop circling and mentally switch into reverse, says Irene Colsky, Ed.D., adjunct professor of psychology and education at Miami-Dade Community College and president of the Colsky Associates, a firm offering learning and memory seminars.

If you replay the trip to the mall in your head, you're likely to hit upon some key information that triggers a memory of where you left your wheels. For example, visualize what you saw when you left the driveway, headed west on Elm and pulled into the South View Plaza, and you're likely to recall seeing the Good Friend Pharmacy right in front of you. Great. Now look for your car around the drugstore.

Backtracking also helps when you walk into a room--your bedroom, for example--and can't remember why, says Dr. Colsky. Ask yourself, "Where was I before I walked in here and what was I doing?"

TRAIN YOUR MIND TO REMEMBER

So much for instant recall. Here's how to prevent future memory lapses.

Pay attention. If you don't attend to what you're doing, reading, watching or hearing, you won't remember it later. Lapp's advice is to pause before you do something, become aware of your surroundings and mobilize your senses: Look, listen and feel. If you're parking at the mall, notice landmarks, listen for telltale sounds, check the temperature. Then make a mental note of what your senses tell you. Say mentally to yourself, "I'm parking the car so that it's facing the drugstore. The parking space is near the playground--I can hear the kids shouting nearby. It's hot, because there are no shade trees around." Processing information visually and verbally leaves the best memory trace and yields the best results, says Lapp.

Avoid distractions. "Make a mental note of what you're going to do before you do it," says Dr. Colsky. "It will minimize distraction, which makes you forget why, for example, you walked into the living room. You head for a room to find something in particular, but as you enter, something else gets your attention."

So tell yourself, "I'm going into the living room to get the photo album," for example, and you will be less likely to get distracted by the magazines and papers on the coffee table.

Make meaningful connections. To remember things like street addresses or a shopping list, says Lapp, make up a story or a sentence that links that information in a meaningful way. To remember someone's address, for example--say, 65 South Street--tell yourself, "Sixty-five is retirement age, and many people move South after they retire."

Or, to remember to buy milk, eggs and four cans of bug spray on the way home, turn the list into an acronym: MESSSS (M for milk, E for eggs and the four S's for the four cans of bug spray.)

Paint a mental image. Concrete visual images can help connect new names and faces, says Dr. Loftus. Assume that you meet a prospective boss, Ms. Saucer, at a job interview, and her most striking feature is her green eyes. Envision saucers painted to look like huge green eyes. So later in the conversation, or the next time that you meet her, her eyes will remind you that her last name is "Saucer."

Increase your intake of the "memory minerals." Studies suggest that deficiencies of iron, zinc and boron can interfere with concentration and recall. To assure adequate intake, say researchers, you need to eat at least three servings of red meat (a good source of both iron and zinc) each week and at least five servings per day of fruits and vegetables (for sufficient boron).

Sharpen your memory with exercise. In one study researchers found that volunteers who got an hour of aerobic exercise three times a week performed better on memory tests than those who didn't work out. Exercise, they speculate, may increase oxygen flow to the brain and speed glucose metabolism, improving recall. Exercise can also reduce stress, which can interfere with memory.