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In Search of Lost Time (Memory Loss With Age)
New York Times ^ | 5 December 2004 | CATHRYN JAKOBSON RAMIN

Posted on 12/05/2004 7:05:33 AM PST by shrinkermd

A few months ago, as I trudged down the stairs of my office building, deep in my thoughts, I noticed a dark-haired woman waving to me from the window of her car. She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place her. Like quite a few others, she had slipped out of my mental Rolodex. In my brain, the synaptic traces that connected us had frayed. Yet again, I had misplaced an entire human being.

''So wonderful to see you,'' she said, inquiring by name after every member of my family, including the two dogs. Apparently she was not a casual acquaintance. Fending off panic, I proceeded through a mental list: Work? School? Synagogue? I couldn't visualize her in these places. I was about to cut and run with a quick ''nice to see you, too'' when the rear window slid down, revealing a toothy grin.

''We've been to the orthodontist,'' she said. The minute I saw Sam's freckled face, the mystery was solved. Our sons were best pals in nursery school and kindergarten. I had sat in her kitchen, discussing birthday parties. I remembered her backyard dotted with Little Tikes plastic play furniture. I knew what she did for work, and the name of her Portuguese nanny.

''Lisa,'' I said, as if her identity had never eluded me, ''it's terrific to see you

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Unclassified
KEYWORDS: age; ageing; loss; memory
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To: Grannyx4

"BEFORE they hit 40 that their entire body is going to start falling apart when they hit 40...."

I wish I were forty again, I could do things at 40 that I could not do at twenty! I didn't really start falling apart until well past 50 and believe it or not my overall vision is better now than when I was 40, I can read this as I type without glasses, I can read a newspaper in bright light without glasses, my distance vision is 20-20, I just need reading glasses for small print or in low light conditions, at 40 I was nearsighted and had to wear glasses to drive. Now if only my knees had not started giving me trouble in the last year!!!!


21 posted on 12/05/2004 8:29:06 AM PST by RipSawyer ("Embed" Michael Moore with the 82nd airborne.)
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To: shrinkermd

I haven't forgotten but a tiny fraction what I'd like to forget. Working on it.


22 posted on 12/05/2004 8:30:48 AM PST by Graymatter
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To: Graymatter

"Happiness is good health and a bad memory"


23 posted on 12/05/2004 8:43:03 AM PST by expatpat
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To: shrinkermd

One reason is that when you're younger the people you might run into that you know would be family members or from school or the neighborhood. Later you add in people you know from college classes and your first job, then you add in those from second and third jobs. Then you add in all your in-laws, people you met at your kids' school, your night school, your new neighborhood, your latest job, your part-time job, the classes you take in the evening etc. Later with more kids, there are more people from school, and so on.


24 posted on 12/05/2004 8:43:46 AM PST by FITZ
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To: leadhead

25 posted on 12/05/2004 8:46:58 AM PST by timestax
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To: timestax

26 posted on 12/05/2004 8:49:06 AM PST by timestax
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To: shrinkermd

I myself have suffered some memory loss, the good news is I get to meet new people all the time.


27 posted on 12/05/2004 10:21:35 AM PST by trubluolyguy (Co-ed naked FReepin' dude!)
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To: leadhead

Alzheimers/Halfzheimers -- you forgot the z in the second one.


28 posted on 12/05/2004 10:33:30 AM PST by AZLiberty ("Insurgence" is futile.)
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To: oldcomputerguy
That is very helpful information! Thank you.

I noticed, about two years ago that my mental acuity was taking a rapid drop south (I was 32). I couldn't retrieve information like I used to and it was definitely more difficult to process complex information.

In the last two months I've been making it a point to get more sleep and I've started reading again. Things have improved to the point where I'm almost back to my old self. IMHO, sleep deprivation is the single most destructive thing we can do to our minds and I do think that I need more than when I was in my 20's. I've also noticed that it takes longer to recover from as I get older. When I was 25 I could pull several all-nighters with a colicky baby, then get one good night's sleep and be fine. Now it takes me two or three nights to recover from one or two bad sleep attempts.

29 posted on 12/05/2004 10:36:33 AM PST by Marie (~shhhhh...~ The liberals are sleeping....)
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To: Marie; oldcomputerguy

Thanks for all the information...am always willing to try something that may help! The Omega's are so good for everything it seems.

I agree with the need for plenty of sleep- and I'm 51. I also find if I study in the evening, I'm more apt to recall the info the next day than if I'd studied in the early afternoon...which she refers to in the NYT's article as well.


30 posted on 12/05/2004 11:18:13 AM PST by SE Mom (God Bless our troops.)
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To: shrinkermd

Loss of memory is an electrical phenomena! Did you ever notice that when you walk into a room and turn the light on that is when you forget why you walked into the room in the first place?


31 posted on 12/05/2004 1:30:38 PM PST by Don Corleone (Leave the gun..take the cannoli)
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To: Marie

"When I was 25 I could pull several all-nighters with a colicky baby"

This is exactly the reason I feel that women who wait until late in life to have children are playing a dangerous game. In life there is a season for everything and youthful energy is there when you are young for a reason.


32 posted on 12/05/2004 1:48:13 PM PST by oldcomputerguy
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To: SE Mom; Marie
"Thanks for all the information...am always willing to try something that may help"

Vitamin brands are not all the same depending on the substance. I generally use WalGreen's Finest in the case of magnesium, B-6 and fish oil capsules(Omega-3). While they may not be the best, they are satisfactory and inexpensive.

I have found wide variation in B-6 over time between different brands. Thompson used to be the best many years ago but they went south at some point, not sure if they are in business anymore or not.

Another major consideration in multi-vitamins is their compounding. Take copper for example: good quality vitamins use copper oxide, a neutral substance while cheap vitamins use copper sulfate, which also doubles as a agent to kill ponds etc, as it is strongly acid in solution.

Sulfates are cheap, but very acid, avoid vitamins using them extensively
33 posted on 12/05/2004 2:02:29 PM PST by oldcomputerguy
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To: shrinkermd
"What they lose in mental acuity they more than make up for in experience."

Yes, that is true; however...

Isn't is somewhat facile, however?

It's easy to draw a line from a 20-year old math or chess genius to a doddering 95-year old and label the line "cognitive decline." But couldn't cognitive ability vs. age be multidimensional?

Most of us would be uncomfortable with a 25-year old President, if it were legal. But do we really know that 50-year olds have better judgement than 25-year olds solely because they have more experience? Maybe 50-year old brains are better suited to judgement, regardless of experience.

One perspective on the brain is that it is significantly a network, that can be configured in various ways with different strengths, and "deterioration" can also be labelled "reconfiguration."

34 posted on 12/06/2004 3:31:07 PM PST by monkey
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bump for later


35 posted on 12/19/2004 6:32:13 PM PST by Museum Twenty (Proudly supporting President George W. Bush - Proudly shouting "Rumsfeld '08!")
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To: shrinkermd

Sorry, but the complete article is now archived, and they want me to PAY them to read it. I am sure it is very interesting, but I am not giving one red cent to the New York Times.


36 posted on 12/19/2004 6:42:52 PM PST by Miss Marple
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