MEMORY                                                    December 21, 20016   Ag Herman

     Stop worrying about a faulty memory!  I frequently open the refrigerator door and wonder why I did!  Did I want milk, a hard-boiled egg or a piece of fruit?  I cannot remember, I slam the door and worry:  is Alzheimer’s disease around the corner?  There are actions, tricks to embrace to help allay our fears.  I am not a doctor, but nevertheless there are strategies that will help ease the frustration of forgetting.
     Harvard studied the problem.  The first finding is simply keep learning.  No, we do not have to go back to school.  The simplest tools that help are always within reach: read, play bridge, do a crossword puzzle, volunteer to join friends.  Here at Seacrest, it means participate, share an outing, enjoy the music, listen to the lecture, speak up, join the book club, take advantage, chat with your neighbor and learn from each other.  We all have a lifetime of stories to share.
     Next the study suggests we use our senses.  They did a study that supported the theory “The more senses you use in learning something, the more your brain will be involved in retaining the memory.”  They presented participants with a neutral object accompanied by an odor.  When objects were shown without a smell, recall became difficult. The ones most easily recalled were those that had an odor attached.  Find or add an odor, it will help us remember.
     The next suggestion from Harvard is special: “Believe in yourself!”   We are inundated by the myths connected to aging.    Harvard says, “Myths about aging can contribute to a failing memory.”   Listening to the old wives’ stories about what happens as we age, contributes to our failure to remember.  If we believe that we can keep our minds sharp, we have a pretty good chance at doing just that.  I tell myself, “This aging thing is not going to get me!”
     Economize your brain means plan, use a calendar, scatter little sticky notes with reminders, put your keys and glasses in the same place each time you lay them down.  This allows us to focus on learning new things, experiencing new events and prevents us from searching, searching for those doggone glasses or keys.
     Repeat what you want to know.  That is not a novel idea, but it sure helps. When I meet someone new, I try to use her name several times in our conversation.  It works.  Harvard says repeat it out loud or write it down.  If you put anything in its wrong place, tell yourself that that is what you have done, repeat it, write it down and you will know where it is when you are looking for it.
     Space it out, do not repeat something you want to learn quickly.  “Spaced rehearsal improves recall, (every hour or every several hours helps) not only in healthy people but also in those with certain physically based cognitive problems….”. Rehearsal helps on stage and off as well.
     Lastly, make a mnemonic clue, a creative way to recall lists.  The example used by the newsletter was RICE, specifically in matters that involve an injured arm or leg.  Rice stands for rest, ice, compression and elevation.  When I was a child we used to say,  “every good boy deserves fun” to help us remember the scale on the piano: egbdf.  Frequently when I am making an effort to remember something, I take the first letters in each word add a number and I have a clue.   For example: please shop today becomes ps2da.
      It is urgent to understand that the starting place for keeping our memories sharp is a good night’s sleep.  Without that foundation our memories cannot be fine-tuned.  It is also true that stress in our lives erodes memory.  No one lives a stress-free life; there are many ways to handle it.  Talking to a friend or therapist helps; shouting at the wind or the person responsible is reasonable; hitting the air with your fist or pounding a pillow can be therapeutic.
     Memories are precious, but forgetting is threatening!  I suggest, “Forget it, we all do, remember life is precious!”