
Some aspects of memory get better as we age - bookofjoe
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/opinion/sunday/age-memory.html
======
zackmorris
I've noticed as I've gotten older that I can remember people's names as I
first meet them. When I was younger, the name would fade within seconds. But
something changed and now whatever mnemonics I used to remember names seem to
now happen automatically. So if you have anxiety about that kind of stuff
related to interpersonal interaction, don't worry, it gets easier.

If I had to pick a reason why, I think it's because I see the world now more
through other people's eyes. So certain behaviors become easier as empathy
improves. Almost like, remembering someone's name is less important because I
already care how their day went or whatever, so asking them to remind me again
what their name is, is more of an afterthought than a crisis. With the
pressure off, remembering it just happens.

On the other hand, I've acquired a small degree of something like dyslexia, so
sentence structure doesn't just automatically fall into place like it used to.
I also sometimes accidentally swap words like "their" and "they're", which
literally never happened once in decades. I think my brain shifted gears from
being pedantic to letting the small stuff slide. But I think my disposition is
more at ease now, so I'm not sure that I'd go back.

~~~
barrkel
I strongly relate to the issue with homonyms getting mixed up. I don't think I
made a single mistake of that nature between the ages of 15 and 30, but they
started to creep in as more of the thought -> typing pathway get ever more
embedded in muscle memory and other unconscious mechanisms.

~~~
jghn
The same has happened to me. I used to never make mistakes with homonyms but
now do so quite frequently.

I had assumed it was somehow related to changing technology and how that ties
into my mental pathways. Now you all have me curious if perhaps it’s an
artifact of aging

------
troughway
Since we're doing opinion pieces:

I have seen first hand from family and relatives who are well in their 70s and
80s what good memory is like. Uncanny ability to recall dates, times and
conversations at the drop of a hat that occurred anywhere from last week to
decades ago.

Though I've never felt like I've had an above average memory, I've been told
many times I do. One thing I have noticed is that as of the last few years, my
memory over all has improved. I can better remember what things look like,
sound like, smell like. The most vague and abstract of sounds can set off a
reaction of memories that feels like reminiscing to some degree, and yet the
trigger sound has very little, if anything in common with the actual memory.
If I try hard enough, I can pull out a very long-term memory from seemingly
nowhere.

I hope this stays, but hearing intelligent and active people developing
Alzheimer's is something that always saddens.

~~~
majjam
Have you done anything to encourage this improved memory? I struggle to recall
names in particular and have wondered if supplementing omega 3 for e.g. might
help.

~~~
kovek
I believe exercise should help, and that omega 3 is important.

------
irrational
I've never had anyone in my family with dementia, alzheimers, etc., but as I'm
approach 50 I'm finding that there are times that I know that I know the word
for something, but I can't recall what the word is without a lot of effort
(and sometimes a google search). I haven't bothered to look up if that is
common, mostly because I don't want to find out that it is common - but only
for people that are experiencing early-onset something.

~~~
SiVal
No, it's common and it will gradually increase. It has nothing to do with
dementia. I've been working with several people in their 90s who are still
mentally sharp enough that our work is based on my need for their expertise
(nothing to do with their own health), and they universally complain about
this "tip of the tongue" problem, which I began noticing in myself a few years
back. It's frustrating but not a sign of dementia.

~~~
ido
I have a variation of this problem, where I'd speak one language and the word
I'm looking for would pop in another & the same in the language I'm actually
using in the moment will remain frustratingly elusive (I speak 3 languages
regularly - German with my wife & immediate environment, Hebrew with my mother
& other relatives and English online/at work).

~~~
lapnitnelav
Only bilingual but have a similar problem living in an English speaking
country but practicing my native language regularly enough.

I end up forgetting some pretty basic words in both languages quite regularly

------
michaelbrave
I always felt it was more like there was more to search through, so now
searches took longer kind of feeling. Not that the memory was worse but that
there was often more of a pause before finding the words.

~~~
misterprime
Agreed. Up until I was about 20 years old I could remember details about
seeing movies such as which venue (theater, house) and which familiar people
were present. Eventually that started to fade.

Nowadays, after another 20 years, some movies get re-watched and it's like I'm
watching them for the first time. It just seems like the catalog is too large
and the significance of seeing a movie is much lower.

I think we may all have slightly different "file systems" as well too. So one
person's memory might fail in a different way. Similarly, I think we may all
have different methods of facial recognition. Note how some people will say
"oh, this person looks so much like that person" while you might really
disagree.

~~~
shrimp_emoji
I'm _obscenely_ young, but have you ever not remembered something, and then
stopped thinking about it, and a day or two later the memory hit you like a
train out of nowhere?

That's happened twice to me, and it's as if the brain spawned a search daemon
that worked in the background and successfully returned (along with the
context of the query) later. uwu Das cwazy...

Also there's no way computer analogies can't flawlessly capture neurology.

~~~
dredds
It's a good analogy and with a few variants.

As you said, there's the one where conscious and unconscious feel at odds with
each other and can't seem to run the same search at the same time.

One workaround is being close to remembering a name and counting through the
alphabet until you hesitate on a letter then it'll just pop to the surface. It
works well i think because we're visualizing the person while discounting
false leads. (left-brain/right-brain bridge)

------
latchkey
I wonder if this explains why my grandfather would go on and on about the war
(II) as if it happened yesterday.

------
neonate
[http://archive.md/jWyRy](http://archive.md/jWyRy)

