The key to always remembering the important things

Taking care of our health is essential at any stage of life, and not only physical healthon condition Memory is an equally important part As we get older however, just as we can strengthen our muscles and get fit, there are also ways to improve our memory and not forget the most important things.

So said the neuroscientist Elizabeth Kinsinger And a neurologist Andrew Bodson They gave some keys to Harvard Gazette about exactly how to achieve it, Don’t forget the most important things.

As they explain, memory errors usually occur when something goes wrong in any of the different stages that allow us to access those memories, eg Coding, storing and remembering that information. In this sense, Kissinger noted that “Get enough sleep It’s one of the most important things we can do.”

Although many people think that forgetfulness is a bad thing, the truth is that it is Forgetting is important Because if every time we tried to make a prediction about the future or to understand what is happening now, we had to scrutinize everything that happened to us, it would be ineffective.

But to make sure that we remember the most relevant things, we can follow a procedure in four steps, represented by a mnemonic device. fourThis will allow us Encoding information into memory more easily. These four steps consist of: Focus attention; second, Information organization; third, Understand the information; Finally, Connect it to something else we already know.

“It’s much easier said than done,” they noted. Often when someone says: I went to a party, met all these people, and I don’t remember any of their names.. The breakdown was at that first stage, Not paying enough attentionKessinger explains. At the time of recovery, we can also have failures. Any student has experienced this, when they know the content, but during the test, they cannot remember it. Or when you look at someone’s face, and you know that person’s name, but in this case you can’t remember it. Then, rather than trying to generate possible responses, we can use general recall cues, such as thinking about the last time you saw that person, the context, and potential connections.”

memory in old age

Inevitably, memory deteriorates with age, because “with age, there is a transmission to the brain Prioritize the essence of what happened. The brain accepts similarities between events rather than trying to hold on to each event individually. This can lead to a lot of memory frustration, and it can also make us susceptible to some types of memory distortions or false memories where we think something happened, but it was something a little bit different.”

Despite everything, the neuroscientist adds that “it’s also important to point out There are some advantages to this transitionFirst of all, Bodson points out, regardless of age,There is nothing wrong with extracting your memory or using aids to remember.”