Memory-wise

by Anne Unkenstein

  Perhaps do for yourself what you would tell a close friend or family member to do. Would you advise them to spend time on their wellbeing now, in the hope that they would be healthier later? To introduce some preventive strategies now, so that they don’t have to spend time when they are older, looking after a health problem that could possibly have been prevented? It’s never too early or too late to make changes in order to maintain brain health—but your personalised future brain health plan won’t work unless you put it into action!

  It can be hard to make changes. We develop routines and it’s often difficult to alter them. We think we don’t have enough time to add new commitments to our already busy days. When it comes to making changes in your life to optimise your future brain health, you might find that you are already doing a lot of the things that have been recommended. You may just need to make a few small changes to the many positive steps you have already taken.

  Of course there are only a certain number of hours in each day that you have to play with. Let’s say you decide to focus on spending more time doing mentally stimulating activities. You are considering doing an hour of brain training on your computer or perhaps learning something new by reading a book. Before you commit to a new activity, it’s important to think about the ‘time trade-off’. You only have an hour of time in your day that you can dedicate to new activities aimed at maintaining brain health. If you spend that hour on your own, sitting down reading or doing brain training, then how will you make time for physical exercise and spending time with your family and friends? Perhaps, instead, you could stimulate your brain by learning about the history of your city or how to play golf? If you can squeeze in an hour doing a walking tour of your city with friends or having a golf lesson with your son, then you’ve covered the three main recommendations for building up your ‘brain resilience’ at once! You’ve combined mental stimulation, physical exercise and social engagement, and created a ‘triple treat’ for your future memory health!

  When you think about it, many of the recommendations for your future brain health feed into each other. Making time for a ‘triple treat’ involving socialising, and exercise for your body and mind, can have a positive impact on other aspects of your life known to be important to brain health, such as your weight, and your mood. So go ahead, call a friend or family member and commit to a regular ‘triple treat’ for your brain. Think weekly exercise group, walking to a friend’s house for a regular card playing session, or playing bowls at the club with your mates.

  Further information

  Your local dementia support organisation can provide further information and updates on the latest research on brain health and dementia prevention. Details of such support organisations are provided in the ‘Resources’ section at the end of this book. Your doctor or your local dementia support organisation can refer you to the latest clinical research trials that you may be able to participate in to assist with informing future generations about dementia prevention.

  Key points REDUCING THE RISK OF DEVELOPING DEMENTIA

  • Scientists have identified multiple risk factors for dementia, including aspects of our physical and mental health, and lifestyle.

  • Addressing these risk factors might have the potential to reduce the chance of developing dementia, or at least delay the onset of the symptoms of the disease.

  • Health factors found to be associated with risk of developing dementia include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, depression, anxiety and stress.

  • The latest research into reducing the risk of dementia has focused on ways we can build up ‘brain resilience’ to disease.

  • Dementia researchers have promoted the importance of staying socially engaged, and taking part in regular physical exercise and mentally stimulating activities, with the aim of preventing or delaying the onset of dementia symptoms.

  CHAPTER 6

  Strategies for everyday memory

  We all notice fluctuations in our ability to remember. We know that our memory can change as we get older (see Chapter 2 for a description of the way that memory changes with the ageing process). We also know that our physical and mental health, our attitude towards our memory, and the way we live our lives will affect our memory (see Chapters 3 and 4 for more detail about alterations in memory related to health, attitude and lifestyle). We can wisen up to changes in memory, and support our memory processing at times when we notice that it seems unreliable. This chapter outlines a variety of strategies to enhance everyday memory and make you feel more confident that you will remember to remember! Study and learning techniques are outlined in Chapter 7, and strategies for supporting memory during dementia are described in Chapters 8 and 9.

  Dealing with memory change

  Before you start to work on practical memory strategies, read the checklist of possible reasons for memory change at the end of Chapter 3. Take the time to identify any factors that could be related to any change you are noticing in your memory at the moment and, if necessary, and possible, actively do something to work on these aspects of your health, attitude and lifestyle.

  We know that for many older people, the main area of difficulty is getting new information into storage, and then getting it out quickly and completely when it is wanted. The most common memory lapses reported by older adults include remembering names, finding particular words and recalling something that happened recently. These inefficiencies in memory can be very frustrating, but we can learn to accommodate them in the same way as we learn to adapt to changes in our bodies as we get older. It’s important to be patient with yourself. You don’t need to remember everything or have a perfect memory. As mentioned in Chapter 1, forgetting is an important aspect of our memory system that prevents overload. Prioritise your remembering and be realistic about the amount of information that you are able to recall. If you aim for a perfect memory, you could become stressed and anxious, which can end up making your memory worse. Instead, focus on remembering things that are important to you, and work on ways to promote your recall of these important details. Allow more time for mental processing: time for paying attention, for working on supportive strategies, and for practising recall of new information. Telling yourself to ‘stay calm’ will enhance recall, as panic and anxiety will just make remembering more difficult.

  Recently, David returned to a memory skills group after a six-month break and said that the best memory strategy we had taught him was to ‘stay calm’. He had worked hard at relaxing about his memory and putting less pressure on himself. Before this, he would berate himself for forgetting things and get worked up when people asked him to remember information. He constantly felt anxious about his failing memory and while people were telling him things that he had to remember, he wasn’t able to focus on what they were saying because he was busy telling himself that he would forget because his memory was so poor. After teaching himself to ‘stay calm’ about remembering, David found that he was actually remembering more successfully.

  Anne

  I was driving to a friend’s house a few days ago and I started to panic when I had a blank on how to get there. I remembered the words that you said to me. I said to myself ‘stay calm’. I pulled over to the side of the road, took a few deep breaths, and eventually remembered how to get there.

  Enza, 71

  When I couldn’t find my bike lights I made an effort to stay calm. I thought, what’s the worst thing that could happen? I might have to buy another pair, but it’s only money.

  Kali, 54

  I was at a school function and the mother of one of my son’s friends approached me. I hadn’t seen her for a long time and I searched my mind for her name, but it wouldn’t come. I told myself to stay calm, and decided on another tactic. I said to her, ‘Hello, it’s Mandy, Jed’s Mum’—and thankfully she returned the favour, by telling me her name!

  Mandy, 48

  Acknowledging and adapting to fluctuations in mem
ory is important, but we can do more: we can also learn to make use of memory aids or strategies to enhance everyday recall and make us feel more in control. Using memory strategies can make you feel more positive about your ability to remember. If you think, ‘I can remember this because I have a good strategy to help me remember’, then you will begin to expect more from your memory. In turn, this could mean that your memory starts to work better for you because you are feeling more confident about remembering.

  Most of us use memory strategies without realising it, for getting new information into the files, and also for getting old information out from that often overflowing mental filing cabinet which contains files for memories about family, friends, home, work, study and numerous other parts of our lives. Some strategies are simple, others quite involved.

  Memory aids or strategies can be divided into two types. Internal memory strategies are the ones that come from within us and involve some sort of thinking: some mental manipulation. For example, to remember where you left your wallet, you might mentally retrace your steps since you last used it. External memory strategies involve using some sort of external aid to help memory—for example, a note pad for writing a shopping list, or a diary. They can also involve making changes to your external surroundings. For instance, you might put an item near the front door so that you remember to take it with you when you leave.

  Let’s now run through some examples of both internal and external strategies. Many of the following memory-wise tips come from talking to people about the strategies they use, and learning from their often creative and ingenious ideas. When you read through people’s suggestions, you may be prompted to add your own. You might remember strategies that you haven’t used for a while, or come up with variations on the ones included here. This list is by no means exhaustive—think of it as a starting point.

  Internal memory strategies

  The most common internal memory strategies involve three main features:

  • focusing attention

  • adding meaning to the information that you want to remember

  • reducing the amount of information to be remembered.

  These strategies are especially useful for older people, since paying attention to many aspects of information to be remembered is what many of us have difficulty with as we get older.

  Some experts favour more elaborate techniques, such as mnemonics, so a few examples of these will be described, along with some discussion about their usefulness.

  Focusing attention

  We often say that we have ‘forgotten’ something, when what we really mean is that we didn’t get it into the ‘filing cabinet’ in the first place because we didn’t attend to it. Fluctuating attention is one of the most common explanations for fluctuating memory.

  For instance, you might not remember what your friend was wearing at dinner the night before because you were paying attention to the interesting dinner guest sitting next to you, rather than to your friend’s outfit; or you might not remember the name of the person you were introduced to before you made a speech because you did not pay attention to it—you were too anxious about the speech.

  Of course, we can’t expect to pay attention to everything in our environment. We all have a mental ‘rubbish bin’ where information that we don’t need or don’t want to know about gets dumped. We remember things that are important to us much better than things which we consider unimportant. For instance, some of us enjoy learning how to fix our own car, while others are happy for someone else to remember how to fix it!

  When there is something important to remember and you want to focus your attention on it, aim to reduce any distractions. Put your phone away, ask people to be quiet, and stop multi-tasking. Focus on one thing at a time whenever possible.

  I work in sales and marketing—so I’ve trained myself to learn people’s names. I’m better doing this at work than socially. I focus and make a real effort to put it in, and rid myself of distractions. Socially, I don’t make the effort; I let myself be distracted.

  Ron, 63

  How often do you meet someone for the first time, and not actually hear them say their name? Maybe you are nervous, or distracted by other thoughts, or things around you. You might be so focused on something happening in the background that you totally miss their name. The problem here is not one of forgetting, it is ‘getting the information in’. If you slow down and listen carefully to the person’s name when you first meet them, you will have a better chance of remembering it later. If you don’t hear the name, don’t be afraid to say, ‘I didn’t hear your name clearly.’

  In general, it is helpful to make a conscious effort to attend to the key aspects of the new information you want to get into your memory files, such as the name of a person that you are being introduced to. Paying attention to paying attention also helps when it comes to remembering where you have put things, such as your keys, wallet or even your car!

  The best way for me to remember where my car is located in a large car park is to concentrate on landmarks close to my car, like the floor number, or the colour of a nearby feature. I also look behind me as I am walking away from my car, and concentrate on how my car, and the landmarks around it, will look when I come back to it.

  Mary, 81

  One of my friends shared her confusion at carefully remembering the ‘8’ sign beside her car, and on returning to the ‘8’ sign, realised they were speed signs, which were everywhere … and on every floor!

  Delys, when she was in her sixties

  Rehearsal and repetition

  Rehearsal and repetition are common strategies which help us to focus attention. Repetition involves repeating information out loud, whereas rehearsal is done in our heads.

  For many of us, rehearsal and repetition are good strategies for remembering names. It can help even more if we stage the timing of our mental rehearsals. To do this, you gradually increase the amount of time between rehearsals. You might even rehearse the information again the next day.

  I find that the best way for me to remember someone’s name is to repeat it to myself three times after I have heard it.

  Angela, 34

  Reinforcing rehearsal with repetition is useful. You can ask someone to repeat their name by saying, for example, ‘Would you mind telling me your name again, I would like to get it right’, ‘Could you spell your name?’, or, ‘How do you pronounce your name correctly?’ People are often pleased that you are making an effort to learn their name.

  I decided to try out this technique when I was at work, and I couldn’t recall the surname of a colleague who had recently joined our team. I had to write her name on a form, so I needed to find it out quickly. I thought I was being very clever when I asked her, ‘Sue, how do you spell your surname?’ as I went to write it on the form. She looked at me with a bemused expression, and spelt out ‘S m i t h’!

  Anne, when I was in my forties

  Using a person’s name in the ensuing conversation often makes it easier to remember later on.

  My trouble is with concentration. When I meet someone, I say, ‘Nice to meet you, Anne’, and then later I say their name again during our conversation, and again when I say goodbye. If I say the name repeatedly, it helps me to remember it.

  Leo, 70

  Remember learning poems at school? We did this by repeating them over and over again until they were memorised. Some say this is a great way to remember jokes. Tell the joke to someone else straight away—tell it on as many different occasions as possible.

  Do you ever wonder whether you have turned the iron or the oven off, or shut a window? Maybe you wonder if you locked a door when you left the house. Some people suggest that it helps to say out loud what you are doing at the time, so you might say, ‘I’ve turned the iron off’ to yourself or to someone else. Next time you walk into a friend’s house and put your keys and wallet down, pause and say to your friend, ‘I have put my keys and wallet on your kitchen bench’, and this will make it
easier to find them when you go to leave. Sometimes the simple act of talking can increase your attention enough to make you remember what you have done or not done.

  Adding meaning

  As we discussed in Chapter 1, scientists believe that how well we remember something depends on how deeply we process the information. If we attend to as many aspects as possible of the information to be remembered, then this ‘deep’ processing should help us to remember it later.

  Deliberately being alert to, and using, the senses can help—for example, to remember a particular rose, focus on feeling its thorns, seeing its colour and shape, smelling its fragrance, while saying its name. We all learn from a very early age to associate certain memories with smell, taste, sound, sight, touch and movement. Certain people, for instance chefs and wine judges, seem to be especially good at a particular type of sense memory.

  Some say that it also helps to make a judgement about what we are wanting to remember. Do you like it or not? How does it make you feel? Or you can make a conscious link with a piece of information already stored. You might want to think about how unusual a person’s name is, or how the name reminds you of someone you knew when you were younger. You could also see what it looks like when it is written down. Can you get a special meaning from the name? For instance, if you can remember that your friend’s children both have names that start with L, you might find it easier to recall that the names are Luke and Louise when you see them next.

  Common techniques that add meaning to the information to be remembered are associating and visualising. Some people use rhymes or acrostics to add meaning in a particular way. Let’s run through these techniques now.

  Making associations

  Associating new information with something that we already know well is one way to add meaning to what we want to remember. It is normal to have some trouble with putting names to faces as we get older. Typically, we can’t get the name out quickly and when we need to use it, but later on, usually when we don’t need to use the name, it pops into our heads. This is an example of ‘slowed recall’—a common age-related change. We can remember the name, but it takes longer to ‘get it out’ of memory storage than it used to do when we were younger. When you stop to think about it, it’s no wonder that we have difficulty remembering names—they are just random words, without any meaning. If we make an effort to add meaning to names when we learn them, then it may become easier to recall the name later when we need it. You will probably find that if you connect or associate a name you have just heard with someone who has the same name and whom you know well, then the name is easier to remember. You might sometimes associate the new name with a famous personality, too!