Forgetting: often seen as a sign of aging. But how do we know the difference between “normal” memory loss associated with age and memory loss caused by disease? Why does memory even get worse as we age? Let’s start with the second question. Here are a few potential contributors to our forgetfulness:
Now for the first question, I found a couple comparison charts that serve as good visualizations, although please keep in mind that everyone's situation is different: Because the brain does change as we age, memory loss could be a part of aging that we can't avoid. However, there are ways to lessen the impact, by ensuring that we are keeping our brains healthy and active for as long as possible. Alzheimer's and other dementias are not a normal part of aging, so it's important to know the differences.
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Wow, it’s been such a strange couple of weeks! I just started the new school year completely online, and it’s been quite an adjustment. It feels like an awkward stage, between summer and school, because online school just doesn’t feel real. It was also like there was never closure to the previous school year because we ended online. Going through my blog, I know many of my recent posts have been about COVID-19, which I do believe is an important topic to explore, especially with respect to the elderly. However, further past these posts, I came across one about the different types of memories, and this sparked me to search for the opposite: the different types of memory loss.
Amnesia: “a partial or total loss of memory” (please note that this is different from causes of memory loss, which include dementia and Alzheimer’s disease)
Most of the time, amnesia is temporary. However, it is definitely a daunting concept to face. Clive Wearing, as mentioned in Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks, never ceases to inspire me. He’s a musician who, after a brain infection, suffered from devastating anterograde and retrograde amnesia. His memory span is only a few seconds, so he is constantly in a state of confusion about where he is, who he is, and what he’s doing. Every time I come across his story I am both amazed and haunted at the same time because I could never imagine how to live when every moment is like a new moment because I’ve forgotten that a few seconds ago even existed. Wow, it's been such a busy time! The reason I didn't post last week was because I'm in the middle of taking AP tests, which is quite an experience right now. I've already taken four (my hardest ones), and I have three more to go. I'm just glad I'm not encountering problems submitting because I've heard so many horror stories about it! For this post, I decided to write about how music affects different regions of the brain. I'm not going to lie, part of the reason I decided to write about this now is because it helped me review a little for my AP Psychology test coming up. Nonetheless, I do believe it's so interesting that music can reach so many parts of the brain!
Different regions of brain impacted by music:
https://www.ashford.edu/online-degrees/student-lifestyle/how-does-music-affect-your-brain |
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