You can prevent memory lapses by staying mentally and physically fit— and by having fun with your friends.
HERE’S SOMETHING WORTH REMEMBERING: FORGETFULNESS IS A NORMAL part of getting older. So-called senior moments—such as having trouble recalling an acquaintance’s name at a party, misplacing your keys and other small lapses—aren’t necessarily cause for concern. Some people start to recognize changes to their memory as early as their mid fifties. More will notice a change in their sixties. By the time they’re in their seventies, four out of five people report that their memory isn’t as sharp as it was previously, according to the Mayo Clinic’s Study of Aging. Your genes play a role in determining how long you’ll be as sharp as a tack, but adopting a variety of healthy habits can also help you stave off those senior moments.
As you age, physical changes in the brain often affect your memory. The prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus, which both play important roles in learning, memory and planning, shrink in size. The connections that allow brain cells to communicate with one another become weaker, and arteries narrow, reducing blood flow. As a result, you may find that you don’t recall information as quickly or as easily as you once did, that it takes longer to learn new things, or that you forget pieces of information and misplace objects more frequently. You’ll likely also find that you have more difficulty multitasking and that you need to put more effort into concentrating on each task. “These changes don’t mean that the memory machine is broken,” says Dr. Ronald Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Study of Aging. “But you may have to start putting more emphasis and energy into the process of laying down new memories.” (For strategies to help improve your memory, see the box on the facing page.)
This story is from the April 2017 edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
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This story is from the April 2017 edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
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