Relax, work out, it’ll improve your memory

“How to Improve Your Memory While You Sleep.” Or “Brain Exercises Guaranteed to Supersize your Memory in Just 10 Days.” Or how about “Memory Secrets of Millionaires – Revealed”?

It has not escaped the notice of opportunistic and clever marketers, who want to sell their “memory improvement programs,” that aging Americans are worried about saving their brains from the ravages of age or whatever.

This concern not only is reaching a fever pitch, but it also is becoming a national obsession.

I am not saying these programs don’t work – they probably do – but their proliferation and their mighty promises do highlight the “bandwagon” effect. And they’re all contributing to this burgeoning neurosis that’s affecting everyone over age 50 or 60.

Naturally, we are not immune to the implications in the nightly newscasts that bring us up-to-date on the latest research on the cause of the worst of all dementia diseases, Alzheimer’s. (Subliminal programming?)

But settle down – worrying about getting one of these diseases just makes matters worse. The more we stew about forgetting, the more forgetful we become. It’s the classic “vicious circle.”

How does stress interfere with memory?

All memory begins with a new source of information to our brains – from what we see, hear, taste, touch and smell. Our brains continually are being subjected to millions of bits of information, and if we remembered everything, we could not focus on anything.

Nature intended for us to “forget” – actually, to filter out – things our brain deems unimportant. Filtering is a vital step in the memory process.

Memory experts believe that stress and worry cause a breakdown in the filtering process. When this occurs, none of the stimuli from the environment gets filtered out – and bang! Overload.

Now that you are in “overload,” you can’t really pay attention to anything, plus nothing gets transferred into (the necessary) long-term memory.

Research reveals that we more readily remember unfinished tasks than completed tasks. When we think about our bills, do we think about the ones we’ve paid or the ones we haven’t paid?

In our busy little minds, unfinished business hangs around, filling our consciousness and resulting in worry, jamming our filters and hampering our memories big time. Is it any wonder we forget a friend’s birthday or a luncheon appointment?

These memories of all the “shoulds and oughts” in our lives are the demons of our memory.

But some kinds of memories add pleasurable dimensions to our lives – for example, our memory of smell. When we get a whiff of ozone, doesn’t it trigger memories of snuggling into our beds as children, reveling in the delicious fragrance of freshly washed sheets that had been dried outside on a clothesline in the fresh air?

Worry demons are not the only things that can affect our memory. Excessive alcohol consumption, marijuana use, persistent depression, mental and physical illness, anger, anxiety, dwelling on past hurts, some drugs, inattentiveness, advancing age and isolation also can affect our memory.

Advice on how to keep our brains sharp, alive and vital abounds in magazines, books and television talk shows. The crux of their advice rests on staying involved in activities, developing interests that both satisfy and stimulate our minds and our bodies, and exercising daily.

Sometimes, the remedy being touted is an expensive, exotic pill from the mountains of Nepal – all natural, of course. But I am confident that if there were a “magic bullet” for memory loss, the drug companies would be front and center with it.

Programs on how to improve our memories are helpful, for sure, but they’re just one part of the equation. We have to mellow out – give up all our destructive worrying and get more physical exercise, too.

When we do all three, the results definitely will be greater than the sum of the parts.