Avoid multi-tasking. It leads to stress and memory loss.
For weeks you’ve been cramming for this exam and you got up early this morning to make sure that you had remembered everything. A lot hangs on this test – your promotion, for one. You can feel the tension rising but say to yourself, “It’s just exam nerves – it’s good stress”, right? Then, when you look at the first question one that you’ve been expecting, your brain goes blank, the words don’t make sense, and you can’t remember a single fact to write down. Read more…
What’s Normal and What’s Not?
Is this forgetfulness normal?
Many people over the age of 50 (and maybe even younger) experience mild forgetfulness.
Although these are a wake-up call to pay attention to your brain and memory, if the forgetfulness includes:
• Forgetting parts of an experience
• Forgetting where you park the car
• Forgetting events from the distant past
• Forgetting a person’s name, but remembering it later
Then, your memory loss is mild and would be regarded in the ‘normal’ range. It’s worrying though and, in the view of Dr. Allison Lamont, the Memory Doctor, “it’s time to take stock of your lifestyle and memory habits. Memory can be enhanced at this stage.” Read more…
What you eat affects how well you think.
When you were growing up, I’m sure someone told you that you needed to ‘eat your greens’, ‘eat up your vitamins’? It won’t be new to you, then, to find out that there are lots of things in food, including minerals that you need in your body if you are to stay strong and healthy.
Just as your body needs to be in peak condition as you approach your 40’s and 50’s, to have a memory that keeps growing and never lets you down, your brain and neurons need the right foods also. Read more…
What a nightmare it is when time is against you and you can’t find your keys, wallet or even your car! Why does this happen? And what can you do about it? Read more…
Sam in control of his life, his job and his stress.
I was just about to grab my car keys and get on my way to the office when my mobile rang. I quickly checked caller ID and was surprised to see a colleague’s name. “Why’s Sam ringing me at this time of the morning – he should be almost at work by now”, ran through my mind. It was Sam,and he said he had to see me – it was urgent. Could I drop by on my way to work? He sounded odd on the phone – spoke kind of disjointed and sounded tearful. Bad enough for me to call Sarah to put my appointments on hold. I set off for Sam’s place and a whole gamut of potential disasters that might be facing me ran through my mind as I drove. Read more…
What was that word again?
A family meal was in progress and there was lively discussion about the latest neighborhood scandal. Forty-something, Ben J. had taken off with the 18 year-old babysitter. Hilarity prevailed as one after the other of us imagined what might become of the odd couple. Let’s face it, Ben wasn’t exactly slim! Then, because actually nor were most of us, a quotation from the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, started tugging at my brain. Something to do with being able to see ourselves as others see us. I knew it real well … how did it begin?
It was on the tip of my tongue. Do you know, try as I might, I couldn’t remember how that quotation began.
Read more…
The computer opens up the world at any age
All in our family have been amazed when visiting to see their 82 year-old GranPop peering at the computer screen, looking for messages from the family. Not only that, he has discovered the Internet and has been looking up Scottish things from all over the world. What a hoot! While not understanding for a nanosecond how the technology works, GranPop has been thrilled to be able to find out all of the wonderful information that would normally have taken him hours of research at the library. Read more…
I was downtown last week when I bumped into a woman I haven’t seen for ages. We were just outside a coffee shop, and we both had time, so we went inside to enjoy a chat. I’d just sipped my cappuccino and glanced up as Megan began to tell me about an accident her brother had a month or so ago. And I knew exactly what she was going to say! The eeriest feeling came over me as my mind was jumping ahead of her sentences and I only just stopped myself from completing them for her. I haven’t seen Megan for at least two years and I only knew her brother as a little boy when we were all at school together. I couldn’t have known about his accident …… could I? Was this what people call déjà vu?
Read more…
I was highly amused the other day to hear a judge say, “it’s amazing how many car crashes happen between two stationary vehicles”.
Everyone has their own version of events and many a court case has been won or lost on eyewitness testimonies that directly contradict each other. One saw a blue shirt, another saw green. One saw a tall offender, another saw a short one. How does this happen? How can two people observe the same event yet have two completely different recollections? Read more…
Shopping - one decision after another!
I’ve just come back from the store where I spent nearly two hours trying to decide which skirt to buy. Would you believe it? I narrowed it down to two but then my brain seemed to go completely blank and I couldn’t remember all the items I already owned that would go with each skirt. So, I left the exasperated assistant with the items to put on hold for me until the next day. And, you know, that’s often the best way for those really big decisions! Read more…
