The Downs and Ups of My Memory

March 10, 2018

The other day a friend asked me how my year was going. I told him I’d had my up and downs but I couldn’t complain. If my brain had been working—and that’s really the topic of this blog—I would have declared instead that I’d had my share of downs and ups.

Mostly they occur at home. It goes like this. I go down the stairs to the basement to get something. By the time I hit the bottom step I forget what it is. Then I go back up to the kitchen to recall it.

What goes down must come up

You’d think I could back up just a step or two and remember. Nope. I’m forced to climb back up every single one.

It used to happen only once in a while. Now it’s on my daily to-do list: Retrace steps to where your thought originated. Repeat as many times throughout the day as necessary. Sound familiar? I’m sure I’m not alone.

There is some hope for us, however. An article I read recently stated that regular exercise increases the size of the hippocampus. A bigger hippocampus means more brain power. Which means that, even though unwittingly, I have been fighting back. Every time I climb back up the stairs.

Maybe the next time I go to the basement and forget why I went, I need to increase the exercise segment. I could continue through the basement, go out the garage door, circle the block, then come back in the front door. If I exercise enough, I might at least maintain my present brain function.

Once my memory failed just going from the kitchen to the living room. Both rooms are on the same floor. My forgetfulness is progressing, but not always in steps.

I’ve had memory lapses outside the house, too, especially on Sundays. It happens the days Bonnie and I need to drive down to church separately. How could this cause a problem remembering? Just wait. I’m getting there . . . now, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, the cars.

We always eat out after church, and we take one car. The plan is to stop by the church after we eat and pick up the other car. Countless times we’ve pulled into our driveway and sensed there was something missing. After the light comes on in the attic, we drive back up to the church for my car. On one occasion, neither of us noticed a vehicle was missing until the next morning. It must have been my early morning exercises that caused my hippocampus to kick in and save me an embarrassing call to the police.

Thought-robbing threshold from kitchen to dining room

 An article I found on the web, What Sugar does to Your Brain, shed more light on what may be happening on Sundays. It’s the hippocampus again.  Sugar and fat can cause inflammation in this region which results in memory loss. I always get a large dose of sugar and fat when we eat out. The article said a hippocampus not firing on all cylinders affects navigation, too. Double whammy.

I could try eating more fish on Sunday. Mom always said it was brain food. And if my navigation declines too much, I might try some worms. In recent years, scientists mapped all the neuron connections in the brain of a roundworm. Then they simulated the brain and uploaded the software into a Lego robot. The robot movements were controlled by the worm brain. (I know you want to Google this one. I’ll save you the time. Click here.)

Besides exercise (and maybe eating worms), there are other proven ways to increase brain function. One is to take up a musical instrument. I’m planning on picking up my guitar again.  The delay so far is that I keep it in the basement.

I’m trying to fight memory loss, but I’ll admit there are times I just give in. At the bottom of the basement steps is a freezer . . . stocked with ice cream. I mean, that might have been what I went down there for.

Can anyone assure me I am not alone? And does anyone know of a restaurant with worms on the menu?