Posted on: Friday, June 4, 2004
Don't let your memory get flabby
| • | Is it Alzheimer's or is it just normal aging? |
By Connie Midey
Arizona Republic
You find your sunglasses in the freezer or can't remember the name of your best friend's daughter. And so, to disguise your panic over the possibility of Alzheimer's disease, you make a joke about having another "senior moment."
You are, perhaps, all of 39 years old.
Well, maybe it's time to lighten up and shed the anxiety, to view "use it or lose it" references to your memory as permission to play — to play cards, maybe, or read a mystery or challenge the neighbor kids to a game of duck duck goose.
"There's increasing evidence that keeping the mind and the body active is important for maintaining good memory function as one ages," says Elizabeth L. Glisky, a University of Arizona psychology professor who studies human memory.
The effects of mental exercises are quite specific, however.
"If you practice doing crossword puzzles," she says, "you will be good at retrieving words from their definitions. If you read a lot, you will likely increase your vocabulary and knowledge of the world."
Yolanda McAuliffe, 56, reads voraciously — not in a conscious effort to ward off memory loss but because it's a pleasure. For her, learning didn't end with her master's degree in economics from Yale. She and her husband, Kevin, participate in the Great Conversations community enrichment program at Arizona State University, attend lectures, travel, engage in lively talk with people of all ages and walks of life, and often read favorite passages from books to each another.
"Good books and good movies make me think," she says. "They stimulate my imagination and brain. To me, it's not a fulfilled life without them."
Engaging in intellectually stimulating activities as McAuliffe does "may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease," Glisky says.
Augment those activities with anti-oxidants, such as vitamins C and E taken together, Glisky suggests. They appear to help maintain a healthy brain.
And borrow the techniques of people with good memories, who frequently are adept at relating new information to things they already know.
"They have developed effective strategies that they practice frequently," she says. "Many are exceptionally good at forming vivid visual images of the things that they are trying to remember."
| Is it Alzheimer's or is it just normal aging?
It's probably a normal age-related memory lapse, not Alzheimer's disease, if: • You forget where you parked your car, but you don't forget that you drove a car. • You forget where you put your keys, but you don't forget what the keys are for. • You forget why you walked into a room, but know where you are. • You forget people's names but not their faces. • You sometimes can't find the right word, but you don't forget what the word means. Source: Psychology professor Elizabeth L. Glisky, University of Arizona |
