Memory at Midlife: Did Your Car Keys Disappear Again?
Do you find you are forgetting things more often? Those car keys that just disappeared again! The grocery list that’s probably still on the kitchen table! The eyeglasses you’re sure you left next to the bookcase!
As we age, our memory seems to fail more often. Researchers point to the erosion of the white matter pathways in our brains as the reason. This impairs communication between different areas of the brain.
For a fun exercise try this short-term memory test (slightly modified) developed by the Memory Assessment Clinic in Maryland.
Read through this list just once, and only once, and concentrate on each word. Then look away and have a pen and paper handy.
Here’s the list:
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Milk
- Blueberries
- Peanuts
- Shrimp
- Carrots
- Mayonnaise
- Oregano
- Cucumber
- Papaya
- Noodles
- Ham
- Crackers
- Cottage Cheese
Now write down as many of the foods as you can remember on your sheet of paper.
How many did you remember?
The average person ages 18-39 can remember ten items. From ages 40-59, nine items; from ages 60-69, eight items and for 70 and older, seven items.
If you scored low for your age, there are MANY books and articles available on increasing your memory power. I would give you some names now, but I have forgotten them!
PS If you find you are being forgetful because your life is one big clutter and you are unfocused and distracted, a tool you might want to try is EFT. For more information check out the EFT World Summit starting tomorrow.
April 19, 2009 2:08 pm | 
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