How Does Memory Loss Affect The Brain?
January 14th, 2009 Posted in Anxiety and DepressionMemory loss is a universal phenomenon and does not discriminate by age. You might be 30 years old but your memory capacity could be as bad as an elderly grandmother’s. If this is happening to you, then something must be terribly wrong. The only problem is that once you are hit by memory loss, it is pretty tough for you to reverse the entire process. When it hits you, then it hits you for good. Some have the opinion that memory loss and the brain are mutually exclusive and there is no connection between the two. Some people think that memory loss happens because you are not using your brain enough. Are these statements true? We shall reveal to you the relationship between memory loss and the brain.
It’s understandable how frustrating it can get speaking with someone with the memory of a goldfish, especially if the person is afflicted with short-term memory loss. As much as you hate it, a person with short-term memory loss will experience difficulty recalling even something being said within minutes, if they’re suffering from chronic memory-loss. Imagine this scenario: your friend comes up to you about the good soccer game with Manchester leading. You nod with glee at this expected goal. A few minutes later you pause, and innocently ask them “So, who won?”
To this day, the true cause of memory loss still remains a mystery to experts around the world. However they believe that memory lapses such as Alzheimer’s are just the cause of normal wear and tear that happens as you age. Memory lapses due to old age cannot be stopped, but they can definitely be slowed down. As aforementioned, a person suffering from memory loss can face severe inconvenience and embarrassment, without a doubt.
Some have speculated that memory loss occurs when we lose brain cells as we age or when the brain cells lose their effectiveness in communicating with each other. Either way, none of these have been proven true.
However, it was discovered that mental congestion could be one of the causes leading to early memory loss. Mental congestion occurs during periods of information overload, when there is simply too much information for the brain to absorb at any one time. This would mean that you would have a hard time remembering information and other things. The one solution to avoid information overload is to simply not rely entirely on your memory and tax your brain with too much information, be it for your next appointment or for your grocery list. The best way is of course to use the ever-trendy paper-and-pen method and jot all these information down for your future reference.
There are ways whereby you can improve your memory capability by practicing good habits, starting from now. Good habits would include having a balanced healthy diet that is topped with regular exercises. This might seem to you to be another diet guide, but the reality is that eating the proper kind of food will help to boost your memory power. Foods like broccoli, spinach and blueberries will help you with this.
All in all, our memory and how good we are able to retain information depends on a lot of factors. The complexity of the brain restricts us from finding the true relationship of the memory and the brain. However, what is more important is the ability to keep up a good memory and use simple techniques to prevent memory loss in the future.