llealtlifitiless tinfin/gettable Memory doesn't have to be fleeting at any age. EVE GLICKSMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS ou run into a former neighbor. You re- member that she was originally from New York, that she has three kids, that her husband is a dentist . . . but you can't remember her name. Not to worry, assures Dr. Guy McKhann, director of the Zanvyl Krieger Mind Brain Institute of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. You're ex- periencing a recall, not a mem- ory problem, and it's quite Eve Glicksman is a writer in Philadelphia. common. As we age, the brain may need more time to scan its in- formation bank. Dr. McKhann explained, 'We may remember all these things about someone but we can't come up with their name. Ten or 15 minutes later, his name pops up." Fifteen years ago, people used to lump all forms of mem- ory loss into one big pot, Dr. McKhann continues. Today, we're a lot more savvy about dif- ferentiating among Alzheimer's disease, senility, psychological stress and ordinary forgetful- ness. These are some of the common causes of memory loss. Recall Powers The fact is that everyone at times has trouble remembering something he reads or where he parked his car. A recent survey reveals that most of us forget an ob- ject or thought at least four times a month. Doctors call this "benign forgetfulness," and say that it's caused by stress, depression, normal signs of ag- ing or poor listening habits. Dr. Thomas Crook, director of the Bethesda- based Memory As- sessment Clinics Inc., a private test- ing and research facility, says most How would you describe your ability to remember the following? Americans think Very Poor 1 Poor 2 Average 3 Good 4 Very Good 5 their recall powers are much poorer than 1. The name of a person you just met. 1 2 3 4 5 they actually are. What people mistake 2. The faces of people you have met only once or twice 1 2 3 4 5 for early Alzheimer's is more likely a condition 3. Where you placed objects, such as keys, referred to as age-asso- glasses, your purse. 1 2 3 4 5 ciated memory impair- ment. Alzheimer's 4. Specific facts from a newspaper or magazine strikes fewer than 1 article that you read a week ago. 1 2 3 4 5 percent of Americans under age 60, and only 5. Names of teachers or classmates from 1 to 2 percent in the 65 your early grades in school. 1 2 3 4 5 to 75 age bracket. Dr. Crook said, "The 6. What item you were looking for majority of people think when you entered a room. 1 2 3 4 5 their memories are worse than average, but 7. A name or word that is many times it's that on the tip of your tongue. 1 2 3 4 5 they failed to acquire the information proper- 8. A telephone number seconds after it has ly in the first place. If been recited by the operator. 1 2 3 4 5 you don't remember a name, it could be that 9. Where you have stored an important your mind was some- item for safekeeping. 1 2 3 4 5 place else when you were introduced." 10. Where you parked your car in a shopping center or other congested area. 1 2 3 4 5 Signs Of Aging Test Your Memory Scoring 45 to 50 39 to 44 28 to 38 22 to 27 10 to 21 Excellent Above Average Average Below Average Poor Test courtesy of Memory Assessment Clinics, Inc. Just as we lose mus- cle tone, our brain neu- rons, the circuits that control memory, also wear thin. Between age 40 and 50, a person may notice that it takes a lit- tle longer to learn some- thing new or to recite a phone number. Our ability to memorize something in the midst of dis- tractions — say, a name ex- changed at a party — may also fall off. By age 60, 70 percent of us have some memory impairment — typically, a 10 percent or more drop in performance from age 30. By our 70s, we still have vivid recollections of childhood and long-known facts, but our capacity to remember some- thing that happened the week before drops significantly. The better news is that our abstract abilities and vocabulary are more likely to improve with age. Older adults may feel like they're forgetting a lot, but it's partly because they have col- lected more information over time. According to one study, the modern person stores away one trillion pieces of informa- tion during a lifetime. Dr. Joseph Mendels, medical di- rector of the Memory Institute, part of the Philadelphia Med- ical Institute, said, "I'm im- pressed at how much we do remember." The Philadelphia Institute is an independent or- ganization primarily involved in testing new drugs. While our memory banks grow each year, the proportion of it we are able to access easi- ly stays the same. Slower recall is a normal phenomenon of ag- ing, says Dr. McKhann of Johns Hopkins. Perhaps you can't re- member someone's name when you see him, but it may come back to you that night after your brain has more time to scan, he explains. However, Dr. McKhann doesn't believe that memory loss is a given as we age. "Many older people function at a high level. At age 50, there may be subtle changes in the brain, but most people compensate effec- tively," he said. Other Causes Dr. Crook of Memory As- sessment Clinics makes a dis- tinction between "memory" and "remembering." Memory refers to the intake of new informa- tion to the brain. Remembering is the mental process of re- trieving that data. Someone may have extensive knowledge stored in memory, for instance, but have great difficulty calling it up. On the flip side are those who don't remember because they weren't concentrating when the information was pre- sented. Although we are dazzled by those with total recall, there is no link between memory and intelligence. Take the case of the brilliant professor who can't remember his appointments. MEMORY page 14 CO CO LLJ ro LU LU F13