NOr, it’s not a camera. Memory is not a recorder who imprints everything that happens to us in the mind since we come to the world onwards. But a complex system that forms memories by remaking experiences, emotions, thoughts: also for this reason it can sometimes be unreliable. When it happens it does not mean every time, however, that we are on the verge of dementia.
Memory is important, but it is also forgetting it
Tells it The neuroscientist and psychologist Charan Ranganoth in Because we remember. Unlock the power of memory to remember what matters (Aboca Edizioni), explaining how Our brain is actually “designed to forget” Because we live in a changing world, to which we must continually adapt: let it slip away non -essential memories helps to think betterpriority, make decisions, be more creative and flexible, reducing the background noise of unnecessary information. Think about it: a super-member like the one who have a few dozen people in the world, capable of remembering by thread and sign what they ate for lunch on a precise day of years and years ago, is actually a hiatus because remembering any pain , regret, traumatic experience imprisoned in an existence of suffering.
Remember in perspective
The “useful” memory This is what we build by forgetting what you don’t need to keep in mind. This is why the memories are malleable, dynamic, they shape us and make us what we are: if the plot of a book already read escapes us, maybe it is only because it has not really “spoken”. Furthermore, Memories change a little every time we recall themso slowly we tend to forget the superficial details to keep those with a meaning. A tendency to the essential that becomes stronger with the passage of time, as the information to which we are exhibited in life increases: for this reason of something that happened years and years ago we will have an even more “scar” memory than that which happened a few weeks ago.
Not always forgetting is evil. Indeed, our brain is actually “designed to forget” because we live in a changing world, to which we must continually adapt (Getty)
When you forget it is not necessarily alzheimer
Memory is therefore really our identityfor this reason we fear so much to lose it: when, especially after the “door”, we do not remember where we put the keys of the house, if we have to buy the milk or the name of an actor, the thought immediately runs to the worst: it will be Alzheimer, Am I losing my head? “There is not always a need to worry” Don’t reassure Annachiara Cagnin of the Neurological Clinic of the University Hospital of Padua, president elected Sindem (Autonomous Association adhering to the Italian Society of Neurology for Dementia).
“Memory “holes” must be investigated if they persistthey worsen and above all, since it is easy to overestimate the entity, if others often notice that we have already said something or that we are careless and forget everything. Talking to the doctor is important Because today you can do a lot to maintain and improve memory with a healthy lifestyle, with specific measures (such as cognitive stimulation exercises or neuroryingeditor’s note) and soon also with drugs designed precisely for the early stages of cognitive deterioration. First real deficits are intercepted, better can be stemmed: the essential is not to hide the head in the sand and not be afraid of being on the verge of losing a piece of oneself ».
The repetition deceives
In short, it should not be denying the difficulties, but not even immediately fear the worst especially because many elements, today, contribute to making us “forgetful”, as Cagnin continues: «Sleeping little and badly, having many concerns, being stressed and tired, having to cope To numerous different stimuli are all factors that reduce the ability of attention, which is the basis of all cognitive functions, including memory ». The interference that prevent us from being concentrated On what we are doing there are many and they can complicate the possibility of remembering thoroughly. Take for example the difficulty in recalling where we parked the car. If we always leave it in the same parking, we will have many similar episodes in the lead and recover the memory of today’s position can be difficult, if there was nothing that made the salient, different event.
Multitasking is the enemy of memory
The same applies when we think of anything else while we do something: then difficult to remember. It is not strange, therefore, forget where we put the keys if while we entered the house we were talking to the cell phone. It is true that the memory over the years lost blows, but these small défaillances are often normal. All the more so if you are women around 50, When dealing with the so -called “Menopause fog”. The brain seems to slow down and it is not an impression. “It does not happen to all but it is frequent, in the years of transition from fertile age to menopause. Estrogen decrease and thus act less on the brain, including important areas for memory such as the hippocampus “explains the neurologist. «This leads to some memory deficits, anxiety and insomnia; Then when the brain also adapted to the new hormonal structure, the ailments are reduced. It must be said, however, that it remains a greater female fragility in the face of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. After 60 years the risk in women is higher, according to some precisely because the protection offered by estrogen is lost ».
Reinforcement exercises
The women, therefore, have to pay a little more attention to the alarm bells of a falter memory, but we can all train and strengthen it. In general, a memory “resists” more if it has an emotional value and if we have felt strong sensations, for better or for worse, while we lived the experience. The same happens if we have a strong motivation to keep an event firmly in the mind, for example if it intrigued us. But also with “normal” memories we can practice. For example, rethinking the past day, telling the plot of a film seen to “fix it”. Memory can also be trained with apps or on specific sites: “There are many and are made on solid scientific bases,” says Cagnin. “Typically, exercises calibrated on the degree of difficulties that can be managed, evaluated by testing, are generally proposed, and are especially useful for those who are older. All then, at any age, We can and have to train the memory by learning something new. Studying a language, an instrument, even planning a journey are all pleasant activities that involve having to train new memories, and therefore exercise and improve memory ».
I woman © RESERVED REPRODUCTION