Trevor Ponder Human Memory

An interesting and free article from the Journal of the American Medical Association follows a particular 60-yr old woman and her memory capability. JAMA. 2008;300(13):1566-1574.

Many older individuals experience or demonstrate cognitive impairment that is significantly abnormal for their age and education yet beneath the threshold for a diagnosis of dementia. This mild cognitive impairment causes minimal functional impairment and is often overlooked in clinical settings, yet affected individuals are at heightened risk for a range of adverse outcomes including conversion to dementia. The case of Ms E, a 60-year-old woman with mild memory impairment and white matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging, provides an opportunity to consider the questions that face patient, family, and clinicians when mild cognitive symptoms prompt a search for diagnosis and management options. Discussion of her case reviews mild cognitive impairment with emphasis on an evidence-based approach to evaluation and treatment, including management of comorbid medical conditions, lifestyle changes, and pharmacotherapy.

You can read the full study here: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/300/13/1566

Memory Loss Memory Loss

What is short term memory?

Short term memory is one of the two types of brain memory. The other one is called long term memory. Short term memory is also known as the primary memory and the active memory. Its process is to temporarily store and manage data which then transfers it to our long term memory or it simply discards it.

How Short Term Memory Loss Happens
Memory loss happens when our brain process failed to retrieve the information that you immediately needed. When we suffer from it, our learning ability decreases. People suffering from short term memory loss should be checked out by a specialist.

Prevention of Short Term Memory Loss
There are tons of ways to improve your short term memory. It is achieved through the food that we eat, our learning capabilities, our daily brain activities, and many more. Living a healthy lifestyle can really help in improving our memory.

Symptoms of Short Term Memory Loss
Short term memory loss is one of the symptoms when you have a mental disorder or disease, suffering or attained a head trauma, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, anxiety, side effects from a medication, and aging.

1. Mental disorder or diseases – one leading cause is having an Alzheimer’s disease. It is the most common form of dementia. It destroys brain cells and very fatal.
2. Head trauma – the causes of head trauma are: car accidents, sporting accident, home and occupational accidents, and assaults.
3. Depression – this occurs when there is an imbalance of neurotransmitters in our brain. It can be brought about by genetics, stress, personality, physical condition, and the social environment.
4. Alcohol and Drug abuse – this causes poor judgment, poor concentration, and other related brain function that is needed for our learning ability.
5. Anxiety – one cause of anxiety is stress. This disrupts the function of neurotransmitters.
6. Side effects from medication – some anti anxiety drugs and sleeping pills are known to cause memory loss.
7. Aging – the most common of all causes. As we age, we suffer from mild forgetfulness. Because this is a natural process, we can improve our memories so that we can avoid being forgetful.

When we know someone who is suffering from short term memory loss, we should not disregard them. Their loved ones and friends should support and help them.

Memory Loss short term memory

Have you ever had a moment where you couldn’t think of the word you were trying to use? Many times the person we are talking with will provide the missing word and we go on about our way. But what if this happens to you with increasing frequency? Should you be worried?

If you find you are having trouble remembering words to use and forgetting other little things in your life you may need to sit down and assess what’s going on. Although probably not serious, lots of little indications of short term memory loss could eventually be adding up to a bigger problem with your health.

For most people the single biggest cause of memory loss is stress. Much of the stress is self induced such as hectic schedules, over spending, too much work, etc. However if you find that you are increasingly struggling with your short term memory it might be time to make some choices regarding the pace of your life.

The most important word you may forget on a daily basis is no. When you are tempted to volunteer at the school, the soccer team, the neighborhood, say no or at least say not right now. By keeping your level of activities to a manageable level you can keep your stress down and your short term memory operating efficiently.

Another reason you may have trouble remembering things could be your body’s chemistry, in particular your blood sugar. Make sure you are keeping your body filled with quality fuel. Your care doesn’t run well when it’s empty and neither will you.

Along this same line of thought getting the appropriate amount of sleep is perhaps the single biggest factor of short term memory loss in otherwise healthy people. Studies have shown most people need between 6 and 8 hours per night of quality sleep. Adults are not able to catch up on sleep by getting extra hours on weekends. The key is 6-8 hours of quality sleep night after night.

People who are sleep deprive experience short term and long term memory loss and it is directly related to their lack of sleep. Experts have studied people with a disease called sleep apnea which inhibits the body from getting into deep sleep. When treated so they could sleep well, these former sleep deprived individuals performed much better mentally and had much better functioning short term memory.

While you may not suffer from sleep apnea, make sure you are getting quality rest. If you still find you are struggling with your vocabulary set aside some time to read every single day. Find books that interest you and make sure to write down any words you don’t know. In this way you can improve your vocabulary and have fun while doing it.

Another way to improve your vocabulary is to take a writing class through your local city, community college, or even online.

Practice makes perfect and that is very true when it comes to vocabulary. You may not even know what words are escaping you but you can catch them if you try.

Memory Loss improve memory, Memory Loss