How You Remember
In the box below, type the first five thoughts that pop into your mind when you hear the word dog.

What you’ve written is a great example of how memories and thoughts are made. The concept "dog" isn’t a solitary piece of information stored in a particular part of the brain. Even a simple word like dog evokes a living, changing collection of ideas and experiences borrowed from every corner of the mind. Memories are rich tapestries of information, but they do have their shortcomings. They are far from perfect.

What If Memory Was Perfect?
Look at this chart. Could you memorize the whole thing and recall it perfectly 2 months later?

Patient S., a famous psychological case, could memorize a table like this after just a few minutes of studying. In fact, he could recite the entire thing upside down and diagonally, remembering it years after he first saw it. There seemed to be no limit to what S. could remember. Every little detail stuck with him, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t forget anything he learned.


Still, S. understood almost nothing about the world. He didn’t understand patterns. The legal system didn’t make sense to him. Poetry and prose held little meaning. It was said that he came across as dull-witted and with little sense of purpose or direction in life. He couldn’t form general impressions or make meaning out of his surroundings.

That’s because one of the brain’s most crucial jobs is to throw out non-essential information and assess the big picture. S.’s brain was too occupied with the details, leaving him unable to see the reasoning and order behind things. In a strange way, forgetting is essential to human nature.

Forgetting and Aging
Like the rest of your body, your brain changes with age. Starting in your 20s, your brain begins to lose cells and produce fewer of the chemicals cells needed to make it work. Over time, it can affect the way information is stored and the way it's retrieved. Scientists aren’t sure of the exact connection between aging and memory, but they do know there are things you can do, regardless of age, to keep your mind sharp.

Lapses of memory have many causes besides Alzheimer’s. If you think you've noticed yourself forgetting things more frequently, double check what else is going on in your life. Stress, boredom and depression can all cause memory problems and are common among seniors. Retirement, moving to a new place, the loss of a friend or relative and other major life changes can also take an emotional toll. Remember, there is a big difference between forgetting where you parked your car and forgetting what your car looks like, forgetting where you put your eyeglasses and forgetting that you have eyeglasses.