“Dr. Karen, why is it that it’s hard to come up with even simple words sometimes? I have always noticed this but it seems to be happening more lately and it is frustrating and sometimes embarrassing.” Joel P. —Business Manager Hi Joel. Thanks for your question! I hear this complaint [...]
Memory loss is a scary thought for many, but I have found in my career that a lot of that fear comes from the unknown. So don’t be shy; I’m here to help! Since this is my first column, I’ll begin by answering one of the questions I have heard [...]
• Uneven, downward decline in mental function. • Small infarcts are followed by some recovery. • Onset may be confusion, followed by gradual, spotty memory loss. • Speech disturbances may be present. • Hallucination and symptoms of delirium. Multi-infarct Dementia is sometimes confused with Alzheimer’s disease. With Multi-infarct Dementia, early treatment of hypertension and vascular disease may prevent progression of [...]
New research reported in the Wall Street Journal found that learning to multi-task in a fast-paced environment improved the cognitive ability of older adults, and the improvement was long lasting. Volunteers 60-85 were asked to play a video game called NeuroRacer which required them to steer a car down a winding road. As signs popped up, the volunteers had to [...]
By Amy Overman, professor of neuroscience and psychology at Elon University Amy Overman, professor of neuroscience and psychology at Elon University, is an expert in aging and memory including 15 years researching memory in older adults. I have noticed I am not feeling quite as sharp as I used to feel. Is this normal? The brain’s speed of processing and [...]
Your lifestyle, what you eat and drink and how you treat your body, affects your memory as well as your physical health and wellbeing. Here are five things to keep your mind and body sharp and healthy. 1. Manage stress. Daily stresses such as deadline pressures or petty arguments can distract and affect your ability to focus and recall; however, [...]
“I don’t want to lose my mind.” It’s the plaintive cry of the elderly who begin to recognize a change in their ability to remember. What they really mean is they don’t want to lose their memories, the archive of the past that recreates moments in time. These become more precious with age; “the happy existence” one would go back [...]
The human brain weighs just three pounds, but it holds the sum total of all your memories… what you’ve done, who you’ve known, — in short, who you are. But the brain changes with age as you find yourself forgetting things more frequently or finding it harder to concentrate. The good news is that, no matter what your age, it’s [...]
Seniors with hearing loss are significantly more likely to develop dementia over time than those who retain their hearing, according to a study by Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging. The findings could lead to new ways to combat dementia. Although the link between the two conditions is unknown, the research suggests that a common pathology may [...]
An article on a new direction in dementia care appeared in the May 30, 2013, issue of The New Yorker. It describes the way an Arizona nursing home, Beatitudes, offers dementia patients a unique program which promotes a less rigid schedule than the usual medical model of care. “Often, the advanced-dementia unit, with its pervasive quiet and slow-moving kindly staff, [...]
