Many people that I have spoken to who are doing the BFP talk about their memory.
- The word that one knows but can’t recall (the ‘tip of the tongue’ phenomenon),
- that feeling of vagueness “what did I come into the kitchen for?”
- “I’m good on paper (i.e.writing), but when speaking I can’t get the words out seamlessly and smoothly”.
You can count me in on all three of these!
As age creeps up, we have to find different ways of doing many things both physically and mentally. It may take more time but you get there! Fortunately those aging muscles (including that “mental muscle”, the brain) can be exercised and there is NOT an inevitable progression into senility. That is a myth!
How do I help my memory?
What is important, when I can’t remember what I came into the kitchen for, is the strategy I use to trigger recall of my intention. In my mind, I search through a relevant group of possibilities. Did I come to get something from the fridge? What was I doing before I came to the kitchen? This is an attempt to make the situation less ambiguous. It would be a bad sign if I were to inanely pick up dirty dishes and put them in the freezer, that would be really inappropriate indicating that I had completely lost the plot…. A relevant strategy to aid recall (that is task-appropriate) is important to develop as we age. It also helps to keep the neural groupings together, “cells that fire together, wire together.”
Try to keep focused if you have a goal in mind, and avoid being stressed about apparent changes in memory. They may be transient. There are many ways to adapt.
” Brain Fitness Australia Note: Does this happen to you? How do you ‘work around’ it? Let us know. “
