AUGUST 2006
 Hello!
Nowadays, we have so much more to remember than our parents’ generation. They may have had more children, and so more names to remember but we have pin numbers for bank accounts and passwords for just about everything.
As we get older, we accumulate more and more life facts. So it’s natural that when we can’t recall someone’s name we start to panic – I’m losing my memory!
But apparently, what’s far more common than losing your memory is living with the fear of losing it.
Nina Sunday, managing director of Brainpower Training, says that unless you shift information from the primary or short-term memory to the secondary or long-term memory, it is normal to forget more than you remember.
To commit facts to memory, we need to make up memorable mental pictures or devise mnemonics to help us, such as ‘30 days hath September’.
Whenever I’m travelling overseas, I say to myself PATWAG. Then I remove the vowels, so that the consonants remind me to pack the essentials – Passport, Tickets, Wallet and Glasses. Anything else I forget can be replaced.
“Some 90-year-olds have perfect memories”, says Dr Marie Gibbs, from Melbourne's Monash University. "Memory deterioration varies, and can depend on the amount of stress in your life," she says.
“Also, as we get older and life gets busier, it just gets harder to remember everything you are trying to remember. Doing things that interest you to keep your brain active may be the key to warding off memory deterioration.”
"Doing crosswords, reading and hobbies all increase the number of brain neuromodulators, the transmitters that determine whether something is remembered or not."
Now, can you remember the name of the company Nina Sunday is the director of? If not, maybe you’re not doing enough crosswords!
Happy puzzling!
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