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SIMPLE MEMORY AIDS

Somewhere in our 50s, many of us begin to notice a slowing down in our cognitive processing speed. It may take us a few extra minutes to recall where we left the car in the mall parking lot, or where we placed our keys when we came in from shopping.

According to Dr. Joel Salinas, a behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, the primary areas of the brain involved in memory processing – the frontal lobe, the amygdala, and the hippocampus – can slow down with age, injury, health decline, nutritional deficiency, or as a side effect of certain medications such as Klonopin.1 Anxiety, stress, lack of sleep, and depression can also cause brain fog and adversely affect one or more of the processes involved in creating and recalling memories.

Dr. Salinas recommends the following simple tools to aid memory encoding, transfer, and retrieval:

A simple lack of attention can result in normal forgetfulness of minor details day to day, but if you find yourself having difficulty paying bills, doing basic chores, cooking, or completing other usual, familiar tasks, speak with your doctor.

“4 Tips to Rev Up Your Memory”. Harvard Health Letter, Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School, July 2017. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/aging/4-tricks-to-rev-up-your-memory?utm_source=delivra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GB20171206-Memory&utm_id=733090&dlv-ga-memberid=30662005&mid=30662005&ml=733090