My memory isn’t what it used to be…

How many times have you been able to utter this sentence or have you heard it around you? It is very likely, I can assure you, that you are not alone. It certainly affects the third age, but not only, as surprising as it may seem.

Scientists who studied Albert Einstein’s brain found that he was no larger than others, but that he had about 25% more neural connections than the average person. Our brain acts like an information highway; there are many main roads and side roads, intersections, through which we collect information, send information to storage or remove it from “warehouses”.

The more the road network is developed, the better our memory will be. Of course, memory loss is inevitable, mainly due to a slowing down of memory processes, decreased concentration and changes in sensory organs such as vision and hearing. But the human brain is flexible and develops not only during childhood but throughout the life cycle and we need to treat it as an active and renewing organ, so the more we challenge the brain, the better it will function.

Memory is actually the ability to control or use information that has been encoded or processed in the past. It is our ability to retrieve information that has already been stored in the brain in drawers. The process of memory is actually composed of several steps:

– Attention – the ability to constantly focus on a specific stimulus or activity.

– Encoding – analyzing information from the environment absorbed by the senses and creating ways to remember such as categorization – sorting, for example, in supermarkets.

– Storage – switching information to the memory of “drawers”.

– Retrieval – retrieval comes from an area that is the “manager” of the brain that searches for and activates old memories.

Our brains reset certain types of memory:

Sensory-Perceptual Memory – Visual and auditory input is retained only for a few seconds before disappearing. When there is a sensory impairment, a significant slowing of memory is observed.

– Working / Instant / Short Term Memory – Storing information for short periods of time, integrating information from the environment with information stored in the brain. This is the type of memory that is involved in most of our daily activities and requires attention. For example, remember a telephone number: we can remember a number for a few seconds to a few minutes, but it will be forgotten.

Long-term memory – unlimited database, information entered into the database is not forgotten. The information is subject to interpretation, for example the brain is able to distort information and remember things that did not happen or that we remember that happened before we were born).

When we learn to use a new machine, for example, we use working memory to collect all the information needed to perform the task. The learning process is based on prior abilities and knowledge that we extract from long-term memory and information captured by perceptual memory. This combined information is processed by the working memory and then transferred to the long-term memory for later use.

I have noted the brain’s ability to regenerate itself, even if a process of memory loss has begun, there are methods and strategies for relief and improvement that we practice with patients in occupational therapy institutes.

1. Rehearsals, rehearsals and other rehearsals. For example, rehearsing a planned event or rehearsing aloud what you want to bring from another room in your home.

2. Concentration is the key to memory. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not do things automatically but concentrate your attention and focus on one action at a time. It is important to keep things distracting.

3. Environment and external accessories support memory. Con