Your Memory: How It Works And How To Improve It As A Result Of Greater Social Contacts And Enhanced Group Interactions

Posted: Mar 17, 2010 |Comments: 0 |

This is an article about your memory: how it works and how to improve it.   Research increasingly informs us that more group engagement delays memory loss as we get older. This is not surprising because relating to other people exercises the memory at numerous levels. As we understand more about how memory operates we recognize that earlier experiences are steadily being recalled and associated with current perceptions and thoughts. When the resulting associations are themselves saved for future use, the memory is extended.

That is why solid social interaction with friends, family and community members can strengthen our brain health as we get older. It also reinforces the insight that social seclusion is a key risk factor for mental and emotional decline for seniors. Recently the Harvard School of Public Health reviewed data from the Health And Retirement Study which observed adults who were 50 years old or more. The subjects of the research completed memory tests every two years. The researchers also evaluated the social pursuits of study participants based on marital status, volunteer activities and contact with parents, children and neighbors. The outcomes showed that folks in their 50s and 60s who pursued a significant quantity of social activity also had the slowest rate of memory loss. In fact, when they were compared to folks who were the least socially active, those who had the greatest socialization scores had less than half the rate of memory loss.

When our aging friends say, "I really want to know how to improve my memory," it is not difficult for us to suggest to them to get out of the house as often as possible. Sadly, the growing importance of social interaction occurs at a time of life when people are most vulnerable to isolation. Deteriorating health, decreasing traditional support systems, the increasing independence of younger children and relatives and cynical expectations about aging merge to bring about loneliness and depression, which lead to accelerating health decline, and so forth. This is not necessary.

Those who are dealing with these symptoms of aging are the least capable of assisting themselves to break free of the cycles that will inevitably take away the potential for a great quality of living. It is critically important that those who care for and about them intervene, if necessary, to disrupt the cycle of aging, isolation, depression and physical decline. This is not always easy in a community that values self-sufficiency and non-interference. However, if we value our aging populace we must admit that they are not as independent as they were, or as they think they are, or as they would like to be. We must find new ways to help them preserve their socialization opportunities and, thus, their memories. There are many ways to address the problems of aging and memory. Technology is one such means, and social resources can offer many others. Nonetheless, it is quite likely to be up to those of us who owe them so much to pay it back by considerately nudging them back into society when we see them slipping away.

For more information on this and other topics of interest to senior citizens, see our website Going Strong Seniors!
For recreational and entertainment opportunities see Senior Fun!
Want to know more about aging, memory loss and brain health?  Click the link!

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    Source:  http://www.articlesbase.com/anti-aging-articles/your-memory-how-it-works-and-how-to-improve-it-as-a-result-of-greater-social-contacts-and-enhanced-group-interactions-2003330.html

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