Posted: April 29th, 2018

Memory Loss and Advancement in Age

Memory Loss and Advancement in Age
1. Introduction
Memory is the mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experiences. A re-creation of the world we have experienced is the chief function of memory. Among the varied functions that humans and other living creatures have, memory is one of the few that is essential to existence. Without memory of the past and the ability to think ahead into the future, we would be unable to act in the present, for it is largely the influence of past experience that makes it possible to make plans for the future. The extent and vividness with which we remember the past may influence our behavior and emotions in the present. An obvious example is our desire to run away from situations filled with fear and anxiety and seek out a place where we have experienced joy and happiness. Emotional states experienced at some time in the past may be recreated in the present by memory of the same or similar states previously experienced. Memory is necessary for the understanding of the relations and significance of all the experiences in our lives.
Memory is also essential to the development of any lasting and meaningful relationship between one person and another. As two people get to know each other better, their increasing memory of the experiences they have shared together is what cements their relationship. When the memory of shared experiences fades away, the relationship also fades. For a married couple of many years, if one person becomes unable to remember the past shared experiences, then for the other person the relationship has in a sense been lost. This person may find it distressing to take care of the memory-impaired spouse that seems like a different person.
1.1. Background of Memory Loss
The term “memory loss” is used often in society for the simple reason that people do not understand the functioning of human memory. Memory is the mental capacity to retain and recall past experiences. There are several different types of memory: working memory and long-term memory, declarative and procedural memory, and memory storage and memory recall. The many different types of memory are an indication in itself of its complexity. Cognitive psychologists are primarily concerned with memory processes rather than memory structures. Since it is not possible to observe memory processes directly, it is necessary to make inferences about what they are like on the basis of observed behaviour of people remembering and recollecting.
Memory formation is a process involving many areas of the brain. The process begins with perception. There is a brief period between the original perception and the following action where information is held in a temporary ‘holding area’. It is here that a lot of the information is lost, i.e. a person will not remember the telephone number they were told, unless they are constantly rehearsing it until they have dialed it. If the information is encoded and transferred to long-term memory, there is still a possibility that it cannot be retrieved due to the memory traces not being stored properly, so it appears to have been ‘lost’ or it can be lost through so-called ‘interference’ from other memories. This is the basis for understanding how memory loss can occur at any of the different memory phases due to various causes.
1.2. Significance of Memory Loss in Aging
The elderly are more predisposed to memory loss because of what occurs in the brain when aging takes place. It is important for the elderly and for people who care for the elderly to understand why memory loss is more prevalent with older age. This understanding helps provide the knowledge and proper coping methods for prevalent memory loss for the elderly. In a study published by Springer, it is mentioned that memory loss can be related to information that was never deposited. This happens when older people are taking in new information but forget it soon afterward because the new information is interfering with the old. Memory loss then ensues when the new information then becomes lost. This theory is specifically related to “cognitive aging” which deals with the decline in cognitive processing. This type of memory loss cause is similar to when a computer has too much data and not enough memory, thus taking longer to process data. In addition, memory loss can often occur with Alzheimer’s disease in which it has been found that the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease significantly increases with age starting at 65. With this, there is a substantial lease of research into understanding this type of memory loss and for likely prevention.
In general, the elderly have several coping methods to help cover up for memory loss. However, if the memory loss becomes serious, it can cause great pain and difficulty for the elderly. Memory loss prevents the elderly from doing many of their daily activities. For instance, an elderly person may misplace their keys and then forget where they were going. At other times, memory loss can cause stress for the families of the elderly. Memory loss can cause the elderly to repeat the questions, not remember having the same conversation earlier, and perhaps not remembering the names of their own children. Families may become irritated and frustrated when they have to constantly remind the elderly of certain things, but it is important for family members to realize the cause of the memory loss. This could also eventually cause the elderly to lose some sense of who they are. This seriousness of memory loss has a significant impact on many elderly because they may try to access medical help to cure this problem even though that is not where the real help may be.
2. Causes of Memory Loss in Aging
Biological changes:
Memory is the ability to take in information, encode it, store it, and retrieve it at a later date. The first process, in taking in information requires attention and concentration. Research has shown that the most consistent finding in cognitive aging is the decline of speed in cognitive processing (Salthouse, 1996). This has often been attributed to the slowing of the central nervous system. This means that information, whether it be an event or a fact, is less likely to be attended to and this has an effect on whether the information is stored. Encoding information relies heavily on the meaning of the information. The more meaningful something is to an individual, the more likely they are to remember it. The storage of information is relatively permanent in healthy young adults, but with age comes various types of structural and functional brain changes, and these can affect the retrieval of information. All these cognitive processes can be affected by various different biological, cognitive, and environmental factors. These factors can also cause memory loss. This essay will primarily focus on memory loss described as the loss of ability to bring stored memories to conscious awareness. It will discuss the causes of this type of memory loss in relation to biological, cognitive, and environmental factors. It will be shown that biological factors are the most detrimental to memory loss. This can be seen in healthy aging adults and is particularly prevalent in adults suffering from dementia. I will discuss the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, a disease which accounts for over half the cases of “primary memory loss” in older adults. While this type of memory loss is irreversible, the effects of normal aging on memory are of great concern to many people, and research in this area has shown to be very positive. This type of research has often compared both healthy older and younger adults and younger and older adults suffering from dementia. Studies have shown that memory loss is not an inevitable part of aging and that healthy older adults are quite similar to younger adults in terms of their ability to use stored knowledge and experience to make better decisions, solve problems, and achieve goals (Hess, 2005). The reason that there is a belief memory loss is inevitable is that there is much more pronounced memory loss in unhealthy older adults compared to unhealthy younger adults. This is due to the fact that older adults are more likely to encounter situations that invoke the memory processes, and their diseases are more likely to hinder this type of information processing.
2.1. Biological Factors
Biological factors that can cause memory decline in aging include the overexpression of stress hormones. Stress affects memory and learning ability. The hypothalamus, a part of the brain that secretes the stress hormones, is actually induced by changes in the pituitary gland, which is located at the base of the brain. The development of the hormones and the changes in the pituitary gland affect the limbic system by causing damage to the neurons located in the hippocampus, an important part of the brain involved in the formation of new memories. Changes and damage to these areas of the brain can cause alterations in the regulation of stress hormones and result in cognitive impairment. Some ways to improve potential memory loss caused by these stress hormones would be to attempt to reduce stress in your daily activities and possibly seek medical treatment.
Another biological factor that leads to memory loss is the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly. Alzheimer’s is a primary degenerative disease of the brain that affects the neurons in the brain, resulting in loss of memory and cognitive changes. Alzheimer’s is still poorly understood and there is no cure for the disease, but the more that is understood can help in prevention and finding a cure. Through neurogenic research, Alzheimer’s has been linked to the accumulation of an abnormal protein called beta amyloid. This protein tends to clump together and is toxic to neurons by causing inflammation and overexcitation of cells. Beta amyloid is created by cleaving amyloid precursor protein by an enzyme called beta secretase. This disease affects over four million people in America today and is costing an estimated hundred billion dollars to care for those afflicted. Furthermore, it is projected that the disease may affect over fourteen million people by the year 2050, so continued research is important to reduce the impact of this disease.
2.2. Cognitive Factors
Cognitive factors in memory loss include memory storage failure and slowed processing speed. The connection between memory storage and aging is one of the most studied topics in cognitive psychology. In regards to the location of memories, many studies have found that the capability to remember context-based information decreases with age, as does the ability to remember the temporal order of a series of events. Older adults are still able to remember general knowledge, or information that is well learned and has been rehearsed over the years, because this type of information remains accessible due to strong neural pathways. Studies of semantic memory show that older adults have a greater tendency to falsely recall information that was not presented to them, and they also have greater difficulty than younger adults to remember the source of a remembered fact. These results have been attributed to a decrease in the divided attention that is required to store episodic memories. This is supported by the distinct decline of source memory in older adults. An older adult’s prospective memory or memory to remember to do things in the future, remains an area of debate with some studies showing little difference from younger adults, while others find an increased difficulty. This inconsistency may be due to varying methods of testing, but it does suggest that some aspects of prospective memory are more difficult for older adults. The decline of memory storage abilities can be primarily linked to a decrease in mental processing speed. This has been supported by many studies which have shown a strong correlation between memory tasks and speed measures. High levels of processing speed are required to encode and retrieve memories, thus if speed is decreased then the quality of memory will also decrease. This has been shown to be true for short term memory and working memory, which are forms of memory that are highly reliant on an attention-based construct. Because high memory the quality of memory storage failure can often go unnoticed by the individual whose memory is decreasing, or by others. This is because long-term memories can often not be retrieved at a later time, yet it will not seem apparent that the memory is gone. For instance, a person may fail to remember an event that they were previously aware of, or they may think that they are meeting someone for the first time, when in fact they had met the person on previous occasions. This aspect of memory loss can be quite frustrating and confusing for older adults and it has important implications for competence in old age, as well as for issues surrounding informed consent.
One theory on the relationship between aging and memory take more “global” approach focusing on the overall decrease of cognitive resources that are available to older adults. The limited cognitive resource (LCR) model predicts that a variety of memory tasks will be more difficult for older adults because the tasks exceed the amount of cognitive resources that are available to them. Empirical evidence has shown this to be true for older adults in comparison to younger adults on a variety of attention and memory tasks. Though there is strong support for this theory, it has been criticized for its lack of depth and at present there is not a universally accepted view of how global theories such as this one fit in with other specific cognitive theories on memory.
2.3. Environmental Factors
This includes the factors that affect memory via the person’s environment and many times are direct causes of memory disorders that affect the person’s daily living. Maintenance and repair of one’s home has been associated with memory in older adults. Wilson et al. found that self-reports of difficulty locating things around the house were related to reports of problems with memory and instrumental activities of daily living. They found that objective measures of difficulty and increased time were associated with the presence of memory disorders. Another study found that home repair was an important predictor of long-term care placement for older adults diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Those in the study with frequent need for home repair were more likely to be placed in long-term care within 18 months. These studies demonstrate that difficulty maintaining one’s home due to memory problems is an important predictor of placement in long-term care for older adults. The avoidance of home repair and maintenance due to inability or incipient memory problems often leads to increased inability at later dates as well as hazardous living conditions. Cognitive-behavior theories can be used to explain the effects of environment on memory. Using the theory of memory discounting, Hess Furhman and Putallaz have stated that perceptions of cognitive failures are influenced by the effect on subsequent loss of security and impaired functioning. Thus, there is a temporal order between an environmental event and subsequent effects on memory. This is called the failure-memory effect. For example, someone slipping on icy steps will perceive that the slipping event happened due to inability to remember to put salt on the steps. Also, if given a multiple-choice test regarding the occurrence, he/she will learn that answering questions requires recollection of the event and as a consequence, the memory task will have a return memory effect. Thus, there is a loss of identity on a part of the memory that cannot be recovered due to a failure in remembering. With age, this has important implications. The more remote learning becomes from ability to recall it, the less likely it will misinform. This is the most detrimental case for memory regarding traumatic incidents and the PTSD effects on older adults.
In a quasi-experimental study on the association between traumatic head injury and memory, Mausbach et al. found that participants who had previously taken part in a traumatic brain injury rehabilitation program had improvements in hopelessness and memory compared to those who had previous head injury but had not taken part in a rehabilitation program. Program participants’ perception of greater improvements in memory were associated with better immediate recall scores. Their conclusions were that improvement in memory function is predicted by reductions in emotional distress drawn from self-comparison with premorbid function and success at activities requiring physical and mental effort. This study suggests that if successful rehabilitation programs for those with traumatic brain injury can be developed, there will be lasting effects on rehabilitation of memory and success at the aforementioned activities will enhance memory and new learning’s durability. The effects of traumatic brain injury at previous points in time and attempts to recover lost memories on the elderly will become more and more common as society continues to grow older.
3. Impact of Memory Loss on Aging Individuals
Memory loss is perhaps most associated with aging, and as the prevalence of memory loss increases with age, it is vitally important to understand the impact it has on older individuals. Memory loss in the form of amnestic disorders leads to functional impairment; the ability to carry out everyday tasks. Memory loss prevents sufferers from not only learning and retaining new information, but also erases previously learned information. This directly impacts everyday activities such as driving, cooking, and taking medications. The severity of functional impairment depends on the type of memory lost, with semantic memory (knowledge of general facts) decline causing the most severe functional impairments. It has been found that memory loss in older individuals is often aware of their deficit, and as a result generally becomes anxious and frustrated when trying to complete tasks that were once simple. This awareness also makes these individuals more prone to depression, when they realize there is no cure for their memory disorder. An additional danger of functional impairment is the risk of injury, due to forgetfulness of safety precautions and procedures.
This injury risk is most prevalent in the memory loss effect on instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), such as financial management and use of the telephone. As functional impairment increases due to memory loss, the burden placed on family and professional care providers also increases. In terms of global functional impairment, memory loss is a contributing factor in the decision to place a family member into a nursing home. In a study by Gaugler et al. (2005) it was found that memory loss caregivers reported a much quicker decline in physical health, and increased nursing home placement when compared with caregivers of persons without memory loss.
3.1. Functional Impairment
Memory loss has also been associated with a higher risk of elder abuse and the most vulnerable are those with severe memory impairment and those who have carers with poor emotional health. Changes in brain function can lead to alterations in behavior with aggression and agitation being common. These behavioral changes can be extremely difficult to manage for carers. A study conducted in the Netherlands found the prevalence of abuse towards patients with dementia in the previous year to be 11% compared with 5% for controls of the same age living at home. The same study found the rates of abuse in institutional settings to be even higher. This is a significant public health issue as elder abuse is associated with increased mortality.
The spouse is the most common provider of care for an individual with memory loss. It has been shown that memory loss can have dual effects on the marital relationship. There is an upside in that providing care can be a rewarding experience for the spouse and can bring the couple closer together. However, the increased levels of stress and the changes in role and communication mentioned earlier can have negative effects on the marital satisfaction and the health of the spouse. This is most concerning should the spouse also be suffering from a chronic illness. In a study of patients with dementia and their spouses, patients’ cognitive impairment was a significant predictor of mortality for the spouse.
Functional impairment also has a large impact on the individual’s physical health. There is strong evidence to suggest a link between lower physical functioning and cognitive decline in older adults.
Memory loss can have widespread effects. It can reduce the quality of life not only for the individual with the memory loss, but also for their carers and families. Impairment in memory has been associated with inability to perform instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) including following medication regimens, making telephone calls, shopping, preparing meals, doing housework, and managing finances. The inability to complete these basic tasks can further increase stress on families still trying to adapt to the changes in role and communication. The resultant caregivers’ communication style has been found to be more negative and the caregiving relationship less satisfying when compared to caring for an individual without memory loss. Memory loss not only affects the individual’s daily functioning, but can also greatly affect the individual’s ability to participate in society.
3.2. Emotional and Psychological Effects
This is the commonly seen symptom and it disturbs the person a lot. There is a characterized feeling of sadness which does not seem to stem from the person’s current circumstances. On the other hand, such sadness can also be a normal grief reaction to the losses brought about by the encroaching impairments in his cognitive capacities. The losses in cognitive abilities can create a sense of vulnerability and anxiety. If the person with MCI develops Alzheimer’s disease, he may feel like he is living with the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head. On the other hand, some people with memory loss due to MCI can also experience a sense of relief because they have discovered an explanation for problems they have been experiencing, and they can receive empathy from family members and friends.
There are also cases where some people have improved mood in spite of their memory loss. Like anyone else, individuals with MCI or early dementia can experience feelings of elation when something goes well, or general contentment with life. This can be due to their neurobiological makeup or to a sense of acceptance and coping with their condition, but in some cases the improved mood is the result of pharmacological or psychosocial treatments targeted at depression or anxiety, which are commonly experienced by older people and which may be brought about or amplified by MCI and dementia.
4. Strategies for Managing Memory Loss in Aging
Finally, while more research is needed to clearly understand the relationship, social engagement and support has been consistently associated with better cognitive function in later life. The “use it or lose it” hypothesis is likely to apply here, where mental stimulation received from social interaction and activities can contribute to cognitive reserve. Time spent with others can also provide emotional and physical stress buffering effects, which may be an additional way to reduce the rate of age-related cognitive decline.
Similarly, training and rehabilitation to improve specific memory impairments can be done – and there is evidence to support the effectiveness of these programs. Memory training programs can be found both in books and computerized formats and can vary from learning specific mnemonics or using imagery to more general strategies for attention and information processing. A recent review of cognitive training with healthy older adults found that training improved memory and other cognitive functions and these improvements were maintained for a period of time. However, there was variability in the duration of the effect.
There are several strategies for managing memory loss due to aging. While these can be effective, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. It may be helpful to try a combination of these strategies while being mindful of personal frustration and changes in mood. Lifestyle modifications, including physical exercise to improve cardiovascular health, and changing or simplifying daily tasks to reduce stress and free up time and energy for other activities are an essential element to maintaining cognitive function. Studies have demonstrated that aerobic exercise can be particularly effective in improving brain function and possibly slowing the rate of cognitive decline related to age. Exercise may also have a greater effect for those individuals who start off with an existing memory impairment. Engagement in mental activities has been shown to build or preserve cognitive vitality. It is important to find an activity that is interesting and challenging, but also doable. Oftentimes success in the activity is dependent on the individual’s belief that they can master it.
4.1. Lifestyle Modifications
It is age, not work, that weakens memory. Although all work environments have their own demands and stressful features, memory loss is primarily age-related. People may become less efficient in multitasking as they age. Reality orientation or memory reminding techniques such as leaving notes, using calendars, and carrying day planners help reduce the frequency of forgetting. Simplifying medications and reducing the number of tasks that one must remember at a given time will also be helpful. It is important to slow down and take one task at a time to give full attention to that task, particularly for the completion of forms and questionnaires. Although quality of work is better when not rushed, additional time should be allowed in case the person has difficulties due to memory loss. Setting up a regular routine will help the person remember what to do each day. Having a consistent location for commonly used items such as keys, glasses/wallet, and for important items such as bills and appointment book will be helpful. Using external memory aids such as large detailed wall calendars are useful for some individuals. Although not specifically tested, smartphone apps could be considered as an alternate memory aid for individuals who are familiar and comfortable using this technology.
4.2. Cognitive Training and Rehabilitation
Data, based largely on non-brain-injured populations, has shown that training in strategies, rather than the repeated practice of a task, is more durable and effective for generalization. Schuster and colleagues compared the differential effectiveness of rote repetition and the method of loci in mental patients. Here the method of loci involved better training in imaginal processing, but this also has been shown to aid memory in the elderly.
Behavioural rehabilitation and psychiatric maintenance have largely been influenced by models of disability in cognitive psychology and have received support through the use of outcome research. Cognitive training has been misunderstood as a system of routines designed to exercise a variety of cognitive functions. Only recently have studies identified specific cognitive problems in psychiatric and neurological populations and developed training programs to remediate these problems. Memory is usually at the top of the list of problems, and memory training has been seen as a panacea for a variety of syndromes. Early work was characterized by the training of elderly populations in a mass of techniques in the hope that some would be effective. More details are required.
4.3. Social Support and Engagement
In conclusion, the relationship between social activity and memory is complex and multifaceted. It is influenced by factors such as the type and frequency of social activities, the quality and quantity of social networks, and individual differences in memory status. Understanding this relationship is important for promoting healthy aging and developing interventions to improve memory function in older adults.
n in the relationship between social activity and memory. This model suggests that individuals with higher levels of social activity will have better memory performance, but this relationship will be stronger for individuals with higher memory status. In other words, social activity may have a greater impact on memory for individuals who already have good memory abilities.

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