Memory: Use it or lose it

Can't find your keys, again?

You know you know that face - the one uttering the expectant, "Hi, Joe!" with such enthusiasm your embarrassment is palpable, but you just can't pull the speaker's name out of that leaky memory.

Don't worry. Odds are it's quite normal, at 40, 60, or 80. But you don't have to accept "normal": Studies suggest memory can be improved at any age.

How? The old adage, "use it or lose it." To avoid losing it, use it more.

The latest data was published online July 3 by the journal Neurology. A study at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago tracked 294 seniors for about six years. They found that regular reading, writing, and other brain-stimulating activities, especially throughout a lifetime, help protect memory at advanced ages. Any brain exercise can help, but new learning and problem-solving (as simple as crosswords or Sudoku) help more.

Such activities help the brain's "cognitive reserve" - its ability to cope with decline due to age, disease, or damage. They can slow or minimize impairment. Like any part of the body, the better shape it's in before something goes wrong, the better it can cope.

Regular physical exercise helps too, in large part due to improved circulation. More and freer-flowing blood to the brain means more fuel for its function. We think better; we feel better. More surprising perhaps is evidence that physical exercise can literally grow the brain, even in old age.

In a year-long study, University of Illinois psychologist Arthur Kramer compared two groups of older adults: Those who took a 30- to 45-minute walk three times a week and those who didn't. The walkers "showed substantial improvement on cognitive tests." It's no surprise they also felt less stressed. The surprising part was that the walkers' brain scans showed an average 2 percent increase in the size of the hippocampus, which is involved in memory formation.

So other than walking or hitting the treadmill, what can we do to improve memory?

Walk with a friend. Other studies show socializing and conversation stimulates the brain, so combine them and make the exercise more beneficial.

Sleep. Fewer than six hours nightly increases risk of stroke, among a hundred other negatives.

Eat green. Skip the brain-mushing sugar; more than half your plate should be veggies, especially green and leafy ones. That's according to a 2009 Columbia University study, as well as common sense.

Take the name challenge. Memorize three names (any) per day, and test yourself. Practice makes perfect.

Learn lifelong. Learning anything new - a language, a craft, how to fix the faucet - helps fight Alzheimer's and other brain disease. And just makes life more interesting.

"Wisdom begins in wonder." - Socrates

Sholeh Patrick is a middle-aged columnist for the Hagadone News Network who needs to take the name challenge. Contact her at [email protected].