{"id":2313,"date":"2007-01-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-01-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/2007\/01\/25\/is-your-memory-normal\/"},"modified":"2007-01-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-01-25T00:00:00","slug":"is-your-memory-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rakansarawak.com\/v4\/2007\/01\/25\/is-your-memory-normal\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Memory Normal?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experts say that mild memory loss is
\nperfectly normal — especially as we age. That's right, if you sometimes forget
\nsimple things, you're not necessarily developing Alzheimer's disease. There is
\na gang of people walking around just like you who occasionally misplace their
\nkeys, have that deer-in-headlights look as they search for their cars in parking
\nlots, and can't recall the name of one new person they met at their last office
\nparty — yes, the one from last night. And there's a reason for those
\ncharacter-themed floors coupled with the happy-go-lucky music in Disney
\namusement park parking garages. <\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

"If we have forgotten an appointment,
\nwe begin thinking, 'Uh oh, is this the first sign of Alzheimer's disease?' and
\nwe become much more conscious, and it gets kind of a disproportionate amount of
\nattention when it really may be something quite benign," said Stuart Zola,
\nPhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Emory School of
\nMedicine and director of Yerkes National Primate Facility in Atlanta. <\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Memory is the ability to normally recall
\nthe facts and events of our lives, and this takes place in three stages: <\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\n

Stage 1: Encoding. This is when a person
\ntakes information in. <\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Stage 2: Consolidation. This is when the
\nbrain takes the information it encodes and processes it so that it gets stored
\nin certain areas of the brain. <\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Stage 3: Retrieval. When a person recalls
\nstored information in the brain. <\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n<\/div>\n

But differentiating between normal memory
\nloss and Alzheimer's disease can be puzzling for a layman; the kind of memory
\nthat is affected in day-to-day situations is also the kind affected in the early
\nstages of Alzheimer's disease. <\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Time: Memory's Worst Enemy<\/b> <\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Fear not, memory loss and brain aging are
\na natural part of getting older. <\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

But memory loss can happen even before we
\nhit our 50s. Many people even in their 20s and 30s have forgotten a name or an
\nappointment date or some fact that was on the "tip of their tongue."
\nMemory is tricky, and time is its worst enemy, says Zola. In fact, shortly
\nafter taking in information, memory traces begin to deteriorate, he explains.
\n"Some things begin to fade right away, other things fade less quickly, and
\nthey're a bunch of different forgetting curves with different rates of
\nforgetting depending the nature of the material, depending on how important it
\nis for you, depending on your stress level, depending on … all of the things
\nthat can affect memory." <\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

If you've ever gotten into heated debate
\nwith someone about how a past event or experience transpired, there's a likely
\nreason. You may think you have a vivid memory of an experience, but studies
\nshow that after awhile, people probably don't remember events as they actually
\nhappened. Memory distortion — also a side effect of father time — explains
\nthis. This is the phenomenon where as time passes our ability to accurately
\nrecall events becomes diminished — and the longer the period of time that
\npasses between the event and trying to recall it, the greater the chance we're
\ngoing to have some memory distortions and forgetting. Sometimes time distortion
\ncauses us to forget the event totally, Zola explains. <\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Other Causes of Memory Loss<\/b> <\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

But even if you think your slips of the
\nold noggin aren't normal, there could be other reasons for it short of
\nAlzheimer's disease, including: <\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n