Although it is expected that memory will decline as we age, many young people (20 to 50 years old in their prime working years) lose their mental grasp, making it difficult to retain new information or retrieve old knowledge. There is evidence that they struggle to do so. Experts blame the way we live and the world, which is full of distracting technology that makes endless demands on our time and mind.
Dr. Andrew E. Budson, a neurologist at Boston University who specializes in memory problems in the elderly, encounters young people every time he gives a lecture. Inevitably, someone in their 30s or 40s will then approach him like this: My memory is terrible. . . . I know I am young, but I am worried that I will develop Alzheimer’s disease.
last year, new york times Census Bureau Data Analysis It found that the proportion of working-age adults who reported having “significant difficulties” with memory, concentration and decision-making had increased from just under 3% to just under 4% since the pandemic began. These numbers may not be shocking until you look deeper. The jump comes after 15 years of little change and represents an increase of 1 million young people aged 18 to 44 who say they have difficulty thinking or remembering.
And the census numbers probably don’t include people for whom memory loss is a daily nuisance. Back in 2013, Dr. Gary Small conducted the study in collaboration with Gallup In a survey of 18,500 adults, 14% of those aged 18 to 39 answered “yes” when asked if they had memory problems.
Small, who is chief of psychiatry at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, says he doesn’t know if the incidence has increased since then. However, if we were to conduct a study today, we would find that memory problems among young people are actually on the rise due to lifestyle factors such as increased stress, explosive growth in technology use, lack of exercise, and poor diet. would be his hypothesis, he says. “There’s a lot of data suggesting that our daily actions have a big impact on memory,” Small says.
In particular, stress puts a strain on the brain and reduces concentration. A small point in an experiment in which young volunteers who were injected with the stress hormone cortisol suffered temporary memory loss. “The good news is that it’s temporary. Other studies have shown that meditation, tai chi, and relaxation exercises can not only improve mood, but can also improve cognitive function.” he says.
But without such measures, “chronic stress can have long-term effects,” says Charan Ranganath, a memory expert at the University of California, Davis. “Essentially, you’re bombarding your brain with stress hormones, which in the most extreme cases can actually cause brain damage.”
Another possible contributing factor to this wave of forgetting is the lingering coronavirus. Brain fog and memory loss are key features of this syndrome, with symptoms lasting weeks to years after contracting COVID-19.
However, Dr. Zeina Chemali, a neuropsychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital, estimates that long-term coronavirus-related memory loss is only about 10%. This does not mean that COVID-19 is unrelated. Rather, Chemali points out, the pandemic has hit our brains in a different way. Rates of depression and anxiety are skyrocketing, especially among young people, as well as heavy drinking and drug use, all of which can affect memory and concentration.
It’s part of a more vague malaise. “After the pandemic, people show up with complaints and say, ‘Hey, things aren’t going well for us.’ We’re not what we used to be,” Chemali says.
She recommends seeing your doctor to see if simple, treatable medical causes such as thyroid dysfunction, vitamin deficiencies, or anemia could explain your memory problems. It’s also important to rule out dire possibilities such as early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, which of course is rare, she added. Most cases of Alzheimer’s disease occur after age 65.
When Rose (who asked to remain anonymous using only her middle name for privacy reasons) was working on her Ph.D. in molecular pharmacology, she was extremely forgetful and found it difficult to do things like buy groceries or eat lunch. , I needed a diary to remind me of the simplest tasks. Unable to make plans, she asked her sister to choose a dress for her mother’s wedding. “Everything had to happen 20 minutes ago, I think, because my brain didn’t have the ability to think ahead,” she says. “There was so much stress in the ‘now’ that I couldn’t think about the future.”
Rose said everyone in her PhD program was “in the same boat” and spent every waking moment meeting the expectations of their similarly stressed advisors. That’s what it means. Amazingly, within about six months of completing her graduate degree in 2021 and getting a job at a biotech company in Boston, she felt her memory had fully recovered.
Now 32, Rose is careful about what he eats and is comfortable living in a home in Quincy where he and his wife feel accepted, unlike where they lived before. Her boss is said to be stubborn, saying, “Once I get home at 6 o’clock, I stop working and don’t think about work.” With less stress, Rose no longer has trouble doing multiple experiments at once and keeping track of appointments.
Technology challenges the brain in new ways. BU’s Budson says that throughout history, stories and narratives have helped embed memories. “Right now, we’re being asked to remember websites, usernames, passwords, security codes, PIN numbers, and all sorts of other random things.” Perhaps our memory systems aren’t up to the task of such tasks. He says it didn’t evolve for the sake of it.
Elizabeth Kensinger, a psychology professor at Boston University who studies memory, suspects that memory is actually declining. Instead, young people’s minds may be flooded with “junk” such as social media posts and emails, she says. “All of this creates noise and confusion, and our brains have to work harder than ever to keep track of the one email in this long chain that actually matters. Masu.”
It takes a conscious effort to focus on what matters most. “Remembering doesn’t happen automatically,” Kensinger says. “It happens because we try.”
Lauren, a 44-year-old school counselor and mother of two in Pennsylvania, sees this problem in her own life. “Whether you’re using your computer for work, researching something on your phone, or making a hair appointment and needing to look up information, there’s always so much information out there,” she says. Masu. telephone number. There is so much information coming in that it is difficult to sift through it. ”
Lauren, who asked that her last name not be published, believes information overload is a contributing factor to her inability to remember recent names and events, but she also believes the anxiety she suffers from and the stress of her recent divorce and relocation. I think that it is affecting. When she takes time off from work in the summer and sleeps nine hours a night, her mind clears.
“Right now,” Lauren admitted during the interview. “I have a split screen. I’m working on emails, I’m doing online training, I’m talking to you. All of this is happening right now,” she admits. “Media multitasking” It could also be contributing to her problems.
Multitasking appears to tax the very brain systems involved in attention and memory. a 2020 Stanford University Survey It was found that people who had difficulty maintaining attention and engaged in media multitasking performed worse on memory tests.
In reality, your brain can only fully focus on one thing at a time. People who “multitask” are simply shifting their attention rapidly from screen to screen and project to project, and that constant switching comes at a cost. “It’s like programming your brain to think in a staccato manner,” Small says. “We’re not solving problems by looking deeply into questions.”
Even the presence of a smartphone “can affect people’s attention span,” says Ranganath of the University of California, Davis. “So when you’re distracted, your memory deteriorates.”
Professor Ranganath, from the Center for Neuroscience and the Department of Psychology, recommends a return to “single-tasking.” When you need a break, scroll through social media at scheduled moments instead of switching between them randomly. Ranganath turns off all alerts while she’s working, and when it’s time to fool around, she rewards herself with a little YouTube.
He warns of another danger of smartphones. Smartphones encourage people to take photos and videos of their experiences. It’s counterintuitive, but when you focus on recording an event, you stop forming a memory of that event. “If you take pictures and videos of everything without thinking, you’re not focusing on the sights, sounds, feelings, emotions, smells, and all these parts of the event that give you rich, detailed memories. ” says Ranganath. later. “
For Budson, chief of cognitive behavioral neurology at the VA Boston Healthcare System, a bigger worry is an older device: the television. A study of 500,000 people found that people who watched more than an hour of television a day had worse memory. The average American watches two to three hours a day, and many people stare at the TV for as long as eight hours. “I think television is much worse than smartphones,” Budson said. “Playing with your smartphone is probably a waste of time, but at least it’s engaging, right? It gives you something to do and interact with. With TV, you end up in a trance while doing almost nothing. .”
To stay sharp, your brain needs to be active. And to keep your brain sharp, your body needs to be active, too. The same well-worn advice about heart health also applies to your brain. Exercise regularly, eat mostly plants, avoid processed foods, and get enough sleep.
“When we sleep is when our memories change from short-term, temporary memories to long-term, permanent memories,” Budson says. “And if you don’t get enough quality sleep each night, your memory will definitely suffer.”
A 2013 study by Small, which found memory problems in young people, provided another interesting finding. “Regardless of your age, the healthier you engage in lifestyle behaviors, the better your memory will be,” he says. “It’s clear that these types of behaviors, which are known to reduce memory loss, are important throughout the lifespan.”
There are many behaviors that need to change. To understand where to start, Chemali recommends filling out the following: brain care score Developed by the McCance Brain Health Center in Massachusetts General. The brief survey asks questions about your physical health (such as blood pressure and weight), your lifestyle (activity level, diet), and your social and emotional well-being, including whether you feel a sense of purpose. Each item is assigned a point value, resulting in a maximum score of 21 points.
The ideal is not to reach 21 years old. No one is perfect. Instead, a score card allows you to change one aspect of your life and then choose to change another to start improving your score.
All of this advice sounds great. But the demands of real life can get in the way, especially for parents. Ms. Brown, a music therapist, loves taking walks alone and finding a quiet place to meditate. But her husband works late, their home in upstate New York is small, and their children, ages 1 and 4, need her attention.
Still, Brown can reap the benefits if she can sneak away to enjoy nature, meditate, or take a long shower. “Then you’re like, ‘Oh, wow, I feel like I’m closer to who I want to be,'” she says.
Felice J. Freyer is a health reporter based in Rhode Island. Please send your comments to [email protected].
