People’s memory changes over time and it is important to differentiate between natural changes from changes caused by pathological conditions. This paper explores memory changes during the lifetime.
Forgetting a common experience or someone’s name, misplacing a wallet, losing keys, forgetting a common street name or forgetting a phone number are examples of the symptoms of memory loss or memory changes (Dixon, Rust, Feltmate, & See, 2007). People experience physical changes as they grow, which can cause a glitch in the working of the brain. When this occurs, it may take longer for a person to recall information or learn new things. The brain processing speed also slows down (Park & Gutchess, 2006). However, such changes are just a slowing down of the brain processes and are not linked with memory loss. New neurons develop across the lifespan, even though the brain reaches its maximum size during the early twenties followed by a slow decline in volume (Dixon et al., 2007). Nevertheless, the brain can still regrow, learn and retain new skills and information across the lifespan, particularly for people who exercise their minds regularly through intellectual stimulation (Park & Gutchess, 2006).
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Brain change is a normal aging process. For example, the brain processing speed declines as people age, which can negatively affect performance across different cognitive areas. Semantic memory also declines precipitously as a normal aging process late in life while the working memory capacity demonstrates a noticeable deterioration with normal aging (Park & Gutchess, 2006). However, for people with pathological conditions like anterograde amnesia, their semantic memory is impaired because of damage to specific locations in the brain that eliminates or reduces the ability of their brain to encode new memories (Dixon et al., 2007). Anterograde amnesia is not related to aging because it can be treated.
In conclusion, some brain changes like decline in brain processing speed, decline in working memory capacity and precipitous semantic memory loss are natural aging processes that emerge due to substantial functional and structural changes in the brain. However, some memory problems like impaired semantic memory are due to pathological conditions that can be treated.
References
Dixon, R. A., Rust, T. B., Feltmate, S. E., & See, S. K. (2007). Memory and aging: Selected research directions and application issues. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne , 48 (2), 67.
Park, D., & Gutchess, A. (2006). The cognitive neuroscience of aging and culture. Current directions in psychological science , 15 (3), 105-108.
