As people age, parts of their bod
ies deteriorate. One specific part would be their nervous system. This change in mental capacity happens to everyone at all ages – I can assure you that I have short-term memory loss – but the age group that is commonly known for retention loss would be seniors. A study led by the Columbia University Medical Center shows that age-related memory loss might have originated from a lack of a certain protein (RbAp48) that promotes activity in the hippocampus, which is a region in the brain that plays a major role in memory. There are other factors, however, that may lead to memory loss such as inactivity for a long period of time (i.e. no participation whatsoever in any labor).
Actress Lynn Ann Leveridge at the age of 65
In the article “Elderly Acting Just Might Improve…Line, Please!” written by John Hanc, the central idea discussed is that increased involvement with daily life can help maintain good memory skills. Hanc interviewed Lynn Ann Leveridge, who is a 65-year-old Broadway actress. She has played roles in a variety of performances, television shows, and films. She claims that she still has moments when she forgets her keys and glasses, but she still holds the belief that acting is: “It’s a passion, I feel incomplete if I haven’t worked for a while” (Leveridge, Elderly Acting Just Might Improve…Line, Please!). Ms. Leveridge was only one example that Hanc used to illustrate the significance of activity in maintaining mental health. He referred to Helga and Tony Noice, psychologist and theater professor (respectively) at Elmhurst College in Illinois. They researched on how acting produces cognitive effects in the elderly by having a group of seniors volunteer in a “before and after” experiment involving an hour-long acting class. The results indicated that after taking the acting classes, the seniors exhibited an improvement in memory. Helga states that: “Good acting involves retrieving the dialogue and movements from long-term memory but using them spontaneously, that is a highly complex cognitive process” (Noice, Elderly Acting Just Might Improve…Line, Please!). Generally, Hanc does not believe that acting is the only cure to age-related memory loss, but that it is one of the many ways to deal with the mental issue. Aside from acting, Hanc encourages everyone to engage in a variety of activities – especially when older, because that is the time when people are most vulnerable to memory loss.
I believe that encouraging people to be more connected with their surroundings like Ms. Leveridge is imperative because I have had some experience regarding memory. Although there could have been other factors such as genetic and environmental effects, my grandfather had the Alzheimer’s disease primarily because he broke off from communicating with the rest of our family and was barely engaged with daily life. It was extremely painful to see him break himself away from the outside world and sit around keeping to himself. Then gradually he showed symptoms of Alzheimer’s. People should always remain engaged with their hobbies, chores, or learning in general because it keeps our brains working. I remember in my junior year of high school I got slightly lazy with memorizing terms and equations so I tried to find easy ways out of memorizing them. This was also the year I stopped dancing so that meant that I did not have to drill myself with choreography. Within the year I could sense the decline of my memory after I dropped those opportunities to participate fully in my classes and interests. Therefore, I agree that constantly engaging in activities such as acting does not only serve as a gain in experience, but it also helps us – not just elders – to keep our brains healthy.
Works Cited:
Hanc, John. “Elderly Acting Just Might Improve…Line, Please!” New York Times. N.p., 9 Sept. 2013. Web. 9 Sept. 2013.
Columbia University Medical Center. “A Major Cause of Age-Related Memory Loss Identified.” Columbia University Medical Center. N.p., 28 Aug. 2013. Web. 12 Sept. 2013.
I’ve always had terrible memory, so it’s definitely refreshing to learn that it’s possible to improve my memory skills. Being involved in daily activities in order to make something stronger (in this case, memory) reminds me of how exercising daily/weekly/as often as possible improves our health overall. This post and the anecdote about your grandfather definitely inspires me to be more active, especially when I get older. I’ve been pretty active since I was a child and for the first three years of high school since I played the piano and was involved with Kung Fu and had to memorize all the songs/forms. I never really focused on how my memory was during those times, though, so I don’t know if my memory has gotten worse since quitting or not.
Wow! You did Kung Fu? Amazing!
I agree with you in terms of keeping busy as a way of honing your memory skills. Not only does keeping busy help keep our brains healthy, it also helps keep our bodies healthy. I have met several seniors over the age of 80 that are in perfectly good health simply because they do not give up on themselves, and they do not let others complete tasks in their place. One such senior is my Great Grandmother, and to this day she tells stories from her childhood, my grandmother’s childhood, my mother’s childhood as well as my own. She has retained every detail from the stories she tells simply because she keeps telling the stories.
And the most amazing thing is how much her stories have to give. She has lived through both world wars, and is therefore completely adamant at telling stories of how the world used to be. And what better way of learning about history than from a first hand account? I personally enjoy hearing her stories a lot more than reading from a textbook that is written in a dry fashion.
I honestly hope that my great grandmother keeps telling her stories, because her stories have a lot to teach, and they also provide her with a passion that keeps her mind young and fresh. Perhaps it isn’t just acting that helps hone one’s mind and memory- perhaps all it is is just simply doing something that you’re passionate about. And the world could definitely use a little bit more passion in my opinion.
You are so lucky to have such an awesome great grandmother! I agree, I feel that less people are motivated in what they do nowadays. Could it be because of the change in our values?
Similarly to you and Margaret, my memory is not very good. From my own experience, I really agree that being active and continuing to do hobbies that a person enjoys helps with memory retention. When I temporarily took a break from playing the piano, I found it harder to memorize notes and to retain information when I studied. When I started to play piano again after my break, songs that I used to be able to play fluently without a score, I had to pause and look back at the music notes because I had forgotten how to play them.
When you talked about Actress Lynn Ann Leveridge and how she expressed how acting is extremely helpful in engaging the mind and helping with memory retention reminded me of the time I went to watch a Broadway play called The Trip to Bountiful. One of the main characters, Mrs. Watts was over 80, and she was a phenomenal actress. What amazed me the most was her ability to remember all her lines (the play was almost 2 hours long) and how she executed them with such fervor and passion. I feel that if you are truly passionate about what you do, like how Ms. Leveridge and Mrs. Watts are about acting then it can definitely stimulate and improve your memory.
I agree!
I Completely agree with you. My mom always says she has to keep busy or else later in life she will have issues. I believe its not only memory though. I think while you age you must keep up with brain exercises and exercising your body daily or else you will end up with arthritis and Alzheimer disease. I few years ago I read an article in the New York Times about a video game that was made for the elderly so hat they would receive the exercise their brain needs daily. I don’t know how practical the study was but the results seemed effective.
Last year my grandma broke her hip and was unable to perform her every day activities. Before this injury she used to go hang out with her friends and play cards almost every day. Today she is still unable to walk alone and can barely keep up with her friends during a game. I truly believe this was because she sat idle for so long.
What I wondered bout while reading this was what do you think would happen to a recluse while aging. A Hermit I’m sure would not have memory loss because they seclude themselves to study the bible and deal with writings all day along their entire life. A recluse I feel would sit idle while growing up, all alone. Does this mean that while they age their brain would not deteriorate because it was never at its full working ability?
That is a great question! I agree with you that a recluse would most likely show less signs of memory loss only because they are busy doing the same things every day. Sometimes realizing that you forgot something you should have remembered is not always a bad thing because it indicates that you are engaging in a variety of tasks such as communicating with friends, doing work or hobbies, and that you are living life to the fullest! A hermit probably does not need to remember much because everyday is the same routine for him/her. So yes, I totally think you are right that they would not have much of a problem with memory loss because they do not work their brains to the fullest in the first place.
This was a very interesting article! After reading this, I really reflect upon my own life and my family. I remember when I was on sports teams in high school, although I’d be running a lot, I was almost never tired! My thoughts were also much clearer and I was more motivated in school. Once I get home after practice, rather than watch television or eat food, I’d set my priorities straight and finish all my homework and study.
This also reminds me of my mom. She works incredibly laborious 14 hour shifts a day. When she has a day off, which is rare, most of the time she spends it resting and sleeping, but afterwards she always tells me she regrets it because somehow, after resting, she feels sluggish. I guess my mom is an extreme example of how continuously working is better than being idle. I also think about my grandmother, who at age 68 is still working as a home attending. I think it’s incredible that at her age, she is still healthy, up and about. Granted, she does forget silly things like where her phone is, or whether or not she turned off the stove, but everyone has those moments, right? I guess because she works, she’s always moving around and working her brain, so her brain is not deteriorating as quickly as someone’s who is idle. It’s a win win situation! She gets paid to do something that can keep her mind and body healthy :).
I agree! And yes, exercising surprisingly makes me feel more alive too! Sad how I do not exercise much though… No wonder I feel tired easily.
One of my teachers used to say, “Keep exercising your brain else your memory boxes will close!” usually by doing Sudoku. This is evident especially during the summer when we don’t have school. I always find it harder to memorize things when school starts therefore, I agree with your input on how we should constantly train our brains. Not only will this help with our memory but with the speed in which we process our thoughts and actions. I’ve tried engaging my family in activities that are brain stimulating. I always ask them questions that they really need to think about before giving an answer.
During my freshman year of high school, I had an English teacher that would make us memorize 80 terms and their definitions within a short amount of time. Because I was so used to that, I was able to memorize all 80 within 10 minutes. However, I no longer need to memorize lists of 80 words so I have felt some deterioration in my memory but I try hard to keep my brain functioning as well as it did before.
That is such a cute pun! Oh my gosh, my English teacher in freshman year also made us do that! My memory was brilliant after I took her class and then in sophomore year it went downhill.
I never had a good memory. I find memorizing terms and vocabulary to be the most difficult kind of schoolwork for me. I would rather anything over a 200-vocabulary exam. I would study for hours and never remember the terms. Despite my horrible memory I have noticed an improvement over the past few years. After taking many more exams in high school, memorizing terms and definitions got easier. Memorizing still not easy but it is easier.
I believe staying active other than just schoolwork also helps peoples’ memories. I have gone through a summer where I was mainly not active (worked in an office doing almost nothing for a low pay) and one where I went to Israel on a leadership program that kept me active all day. The transition back to school and memorizing for exams was much easier after the summer in Israel then the summer spent doing nothing in an office. I feel this idea of keeping active is even more imperative for the elderly as stated in the article that elderly are more vulnerable to memory loss.
I agree with you! And that’s really nice how you went to Israel. I feel that training to be a leader is a great way to boost memory capacity because of how much thought is needed to be put into making independent and quick decisions, which requires a lot of brain power.
That’s a really interesting concept that I’ve seen played out with the seniorcitizens in my life. For example, my grandfather is 91 now, and though he went to a few senior clubs here and there he was most often occupied inside the house watching television. After retiring he did not participate in any mentally stimulating activities such as the acting mentioned in this article. I have seen his memory deteriorate very quickly. It used to bother him, but I actually think that now he forgot that it bothered him. (What’s odd, though, is that he can’t remember what he just ate for dinner but tells me detailed stories of every job he had as a teenager, remembers the name of his high school, and can still form words in Morse Code from when he was in the navy during World War II!)
On the other hand, my great grandmother in law (sort of distant relation, I know) just turned one hundred years old… yet she is more active and alert than some of my peers. At family gatherings she always insists on helping with dinner, cleaning up afterwards, and doing anything she can to be off of her feet. Reading is one of her most-practiced hobbies (mental exercise). And believe it or not, despite how distantly we are related, and the fact that I have only known her for four years now, she remembers to call me and my parents on our birthdays every year!
Something else interesting I could relate this to is the program Macaulay YES that I recently signed up for. The group goes to senior citizens’ homes semi-frequently not only for the annual holiday parties, but to instruct regular computer classes and even classes called brain aerobics which incorporate puzzles and problem solving. I guess that the community is catching on to the fact that activity may ease the memory loss that comes quickly with old age.
Your great grandmother is so sweet! She is incredible too! To be honest, I sometimes forget the birthdays of my grandparents which is sad and I am less than one-fifth of you great grandmother’s age!
It is very interesting how your grandfather remembers the smallest and older details! That is pretty cool though.
I completely agree with this post! I am also glad that I am not the only one who experiences memory loss at this age. Looking back on my life, I realize that I did memorize things related to school more when I participated in sports and kept my body active. I also think the reason why my grandfather remembers events and other things even at this age is because he never stopped learning or got lazy. He is always moving and doing something, weather it be fixing a broken machine or reading a book.
There are websites that claim that they can stimulate the brain to improve it and keep it from deteriorating. One commercial that I remember from a television advertisement is Luminosity. One aspect that I found from the advertisement is that anyone of any age can join Luminosity. Although, I am not sure if Luminosity actually works, it may be an alternative to those who are physically impaired.
That’s funny, I actually just started using Lumosity recently, and I think I am becoming more alert. I guess it kind of works…you should totally try it! Most of its features are free so yeah.