I’m snapping my fingers, I know your name… but heck, for the life of me, I can’t remember it! Gee… this is so embarrassing!
Ever happened to you that you’re talking to someone, another person walks up to you to say hello… you know that you know this person; etiquette demands that you introduce the two people but for some unknown reason, you just cannot remember the person’s name, your brain seems frozen, and you feel you’re in a spot! Well, you’re not alone, you haven’t gone cuckoo… this may just be a sign of an aging brain, regardless of how old you are! However, the important thing to remember (and yes, you can remember) is that this is not an irreversible situation. You can train this aging brain to retain facts, figures, or at least take in the big picture… at the end of it all, isn’t that what matters most, in a virtual world where you don’t need to clutter your brain with numbers, names or nonsense!
My family of scientists and doctors often speak and discuss these issues and phenomena that we see and experience first hand. A few days back I read an article titled “How to Train the Aging Brain”.
A thought that occurs to me is that it is quite possible that in middle age many folks may lose some of their ability to learn new facts & figures; however, their experiences thus far may allow them to take a view-point that allows a broader perspective. This ability to look at the big picture.. . not just get tangled in the nitty-gritties, is perhaps most important as we grow older.
You may want to read How to Train the Aging Brain by Barbara Strauch, published recently in The New York Times… even if you don’t remember all that the article says… if only to learn that even beyond middle age, it is possible to keep the learning process moving.
Words-n-Motion 