Not remembering to turn at the usual crossroads, forgetting where the keys are, getting the name of that famous actor wrong: small memory snags are more than natural especially with age, and if they are not too frequent they shouldn’t worry you. But how to distinguish them from more alarming signs, such as the early symptoms of dementia? When is it time to dig deeper?
Don’t think the worst right away. The brain also ages: neurons shrink, maintain fewer active connections with each other, and retain fewer chemicals needed to send signals to other cells. However, not all memory lapses have to do with aging. In many cases they are related to stress, anxiety, distraction or a negative mood that makes it more difficult to concentrate.
In part, then, forgetting is… healthy: too much superfluous information slows down the recovery of “useful” memories and the brain decides autonomously what is worth keeping and what is not. As explained on The Conversation, the brain retains social information (such as gossip) more easily and forgets abstract information (such as telephone numbers) more often.
When to run for cover. Memory blackouts become alarming when they are persistent, get worse over time, and interfere with normal daily activities.
It’s not a problem if we miss a turn; it is if we don’t remember how to drive and why we got behind the wheel. It is if we keep putting objects in the wrong places or if we often miss the words that would be needed in a sentence. In these cases it is advisable to carry out investigations.
A phase to monitor. The transition state between normal brain aging and dementia is called mild cognitive impairment. This condition involves a nuanced difficulty in one or more cognitive functions, for example memory, language or programming skills, and therefore greater problems completing complex tasks such as preparing a meal.
It doesn’t necessarily get worse over time or lead to more serious pathologies: in some cases it remains stable in terms of severity and in others it can even improve (for example if it was linked to anxiety or mood). But in 10-15% of cases, mild cognitive impairment is a prodrome of Alzheimer’s: if diagnosed in time, it can help to better manage the disease and make plans for the future.
Getting lost is not a good sign. Another signal to watch out for is the ability to navigate spatially, one of the first functions lost in Alzheimer’s disease, the most common of dementias. The brain areas that retain the memory of the spaces we frequent are among the first to be affected by this pathology: therefore, an increase in the frequency with which we get lost is a symptom to be taken seriously.