Think back on your day. Do you remember it as a minute-by-minute timeline or is it blocked off into time periods based on what you accomplished?
A recent study released in Psychological Science has found that problems processing everyday events among older Americans may be due to age-related atrophy of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) of the brain. The researchers found that as we age, we do not segment our memory of the day as it happens, like we typically do when we’re younger.
Participants were asked to segment or “chunk” events in short films as they thought one part of an activity in a film was ending and another was beginning. The films featured people performing everyday tasks, such as making breakfast or building a Lego ship.
Study participants who showed diminished capacity in their MTL (through imaging) had difficulty recalling the content of the films and were not as good at chunking the events as they viewed them.
The research suggests that those who become forgetful due to aging, the development of certain forms of dementia or both, have difficulty segmenting everyday events as they unfold. Researchers hope their findings will help doctors improve older adults’ memories by working on how to better form new memories, even with those with Alzheimer’s disease, which attacks the MTL. The research team will continue to investigate the link between event perception and memory to hopefully combat memory loss among older adults.
Start improving your ability to concentrate and form memories now with these few simple techniques, recommended by Psychology Today.
- Pay attention
- Involve as many senses as possible
- Relate new information to what you already know
- Structure information
- Use mnemonics
- Understand information
- Rehearse information
- Exercise your mind
- Develop a healthy lifestyle – this includes reducing stress!
- Get sufficient sleep
- See a doctor