This is an article about your memory: how it works and how to improve it Study increasingly tells us that more human engagement delays memory loss as we get older. This is not remarkable because relating to other people exercises the memory at numerous levels. As we discover more about how memory works we discover that earlier experiences are regularly being remembered and combined with current perceptions and thoughts. When the resulting associations are themselves saved for future use, the memory is broadened.
That is why solid social interplay with friends, family and community members can boost our brain health as we grow older. It also reinforces the insight that social separation is a leading risk factor for mental and emotional decline for senior citizens. Recently the Harvard School of Public Health examined information from the Health And Retirement Study which observed adults who were 50 years old or more. The subjects of the examination completed memory tests every two years. The investigators also checked the social pursuits of study participants based on marital status, volunteer activities and contact with parents, children and neighbors. The results showed that subjects in their 50s and 60s who participated in a good volume of social activity also had the slowest rate of memory loss. In fact, when they were compared with folks who were the least socially active, those who had the best socialization scores had less than half the rate of memory loss.
When our aging acquaintances say, "I really want to know how to improve my memory," it is effortless for us to tell them to get out of the house as often as possible. Sadly, the growing importance of social interaction occurs at a period of life when people are most defenseless to isolation. Deteriorating health, declining traditional support systems, the growing independence of younger children and relatives and negative expectations about aging join to produce loneliness and depression, which lead to accelerating health decline, and so forth. This is not necessary.
Persons who are enduring these symptoms of aging are the least capable of helping themselves to escape from of the cycles that are stealing the potential for a wonderful quality of life. It is highly important that those who care for and about them step in, if necessary, to disrupt the cycle of aging, isolation, depression and physical decline. This is not always easy in a culture that values independence and non-interference. However, if we value our aging society we must accept that they are not as independent as they were, or as they think they are, or as they would like to be. We must find new ways to help them keep their socialization opportunities and, thus, their memories. There are many ways to address the problems of aging and memory. Technology is one such means, and social resources can offer many others. Nonetheless, it is quite likely to be up to those of us who owe them so much to pay it back by tenderly pushing them back into society when we see them wandering away.