Dealing with Memory Changes As You Grow Older A Wise and Reassuring Guide to Memory Maintenance for Seniors, Their Families and Friends

by Gose, Kathleen; Levi, Gloria

• ISBN13: 9780553345971
• ISBN10: 0553345974
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1988-11-01
• Publisher: Bantam

Summary

Separate the facts from the fears about memory loss.
 
For many older people and their families, the fear of progressive memory loss is the chief anxiety about aging. To them, lapses that younger people would laugh off as distraction may seem the early symptoms of an inevitable decline into senility. The good news is that most of these fears are unfounded. Kathleen Gose, a social worker, and Gloria Levi, a gerontologist, both have had years of experience working with older adults. They developed Dealing with Memory Changes to provide upbeat, practical answers to seniors’ most pressing questions:
 
• What memory changes are normal with age?
• How does memory work and what conditions other than age can affect it?
• How does age affect intelligence and the ability to learn?
• What are the best strategies for remembering everyday details—such as house keys, shopping lists, and names?
• What signs indicate a need for help?
 
Plus, invaluable information on how memory is affected by nutrition, depression, stress, prescription drugs, alcohol, exercise—and much more.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. ix
Understanding How Memory Works
You and Your Memory	p. 1
How Memory Serves Us
What This Handbook Is About
Pinpointing Your Difficulties in Forgetting
Feelings and Forgetting
Registering, Retaining, Retrieving
Take Note!--Registering	p. 17
Attitude
Interest
Attention--Using Your Senses
Organizing
Registering--Summary
Storing Your Files--Retaining	p. 27
What Is Short-Term Memory?
How Does Short-Term Memory Work?
What Is Long-Term Memory?
How Does Long-Term Memory Work?
General Knowledge Memory and Personal Experience Memory
Retaining--Summary
Finding the Needle in the Haystack--Retrieving	p. 41
Retrieving
The "Tip of the Tongue" Experience
Recognition
Retrieving--Summary
Why We Forget	p. 51
Absentmindedness
A Few Words About Theories of Forgetting: Disuse, Interference, Distortion, Repression
Summary
Am I Losing My Grip? Aging and Memory	p. 57
Introduction
We Are All Individuals
Memory and Energy Levels
Senility and Brain Disorders
Depression and Memory
Intelligence and Aging
Learning and Aging
Dealing With Memory Changes
Common Practical Strategies for Remembering in Everyday Situations	p. 77
Introduction
Accentuate the Positive
Be Organized: Making Lists, Keeping Appointment Diaries and Calendars
Be Aware/Cockpit Drills
Be Orderly/A Place for Everything/Routines
Other Strategies for Remembering--Using Mnemonic Techniques	p. 91
Introduction
Method of Loci
Peg Word System
What's in a Name--Remembering Names and Faces
Mnemonic Techniques--Summary
Lifestyle and Memory--Putting it All Together	p. 109
Body, Mind and Spirit
How Does Nutrition Affect Your Memory?
Memory and Recreational Drugs--Alcohol, Tobacco, Coffee and Tea
Medications and Memory
Handling Stress and Tension
Physical Activity and Memory
Self-Worth and Memory
Lifestyle and Memory--Summary
Wisdom and Age	p. 131
Wisdom and Spirit/Weaving the Strands of One's Life
Self-Acceptance
Footnotes	p. 137
Selective Bibliography	p. 139
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