Some older
folks seem to dramatically have a better memory than others the same age. There
is a wide belief that a strong memory capacity is a God given talent that has
been bestowed on some but not all like some actors that have a photographic
memory. They see it once then remember forever.
Reclaim Your
Brain
The thinking
is the memory capacity of your youth will only widen against the present day
capacity. Is there anything that can be done to reclaim your brain or is your
memory capacity an immutable hereditary trait like blonde hair blue eyes?
Research
Study
In 1985, at
the University of California at Irvine, there began a major research experiment
to find out if age related decline in memory was an inevitable consequence of
aging or whether something might be done to reverse the process. At least slow
it down.
In the
research study several hundred retired, senior citizens took part in daily activities
that were designed to improve physical and mental health. This also included
mental exercises that were thought to be useful in slowing down age related
memory decline.
In 1990
To their
surprise, when they retested the same senior citizens in 1990, they found that
a program of daily mental exercise put the brakes on age related decline in
mental functions, including memory.
In some
cases 75 year olds were better at playing a wide number of mental games than
they had been five years earlier. This was one of the earliest experiments to
demonstrate memory decline was not an inevitable by-product of aging. Standardized
tests of memory showed a slowing of the rate of mental decline in some and
actual improvement in others.
Neural
Plasticity
How could
this dramatic improvement have occurred? Researchers now know that even among
senior citizens a process called ‘neural plasticity’ is present. The brain
continues to change or in fact remodels itself in order to improve mental
functioning, even in eighty and ninety year old.
Memory is
the best evidence for the presence of neural plasticity. It is also evident when
we fail to remember information that we once had learned. This is called
forgetting. Our memory erases information that was once thought important but
now known to be false. This leads to a less cluttered and more efficient brain.
A follow up
article on how to regain your brain power is up next. Just remember, “The mind
is like a parachute, it doesn’t work unless it is open.” Anonymous
