Why We Remember

By Shlomo Maital

     For us seniors, few things are as troubling as memory loss.  We know the statistics of dementia…  and, for me personally, mental decline is far more worrisome than physical decline.  I can deal with running slower, walking slower, and a variety of aches and pains.  But an addled brain?  Oh, boy.

     That is why I and a large number of us seniors found the New York Times Op-Ed piece by Charan Ranganath, regarding the Republican special prosecutor’s gratuitous comment on Biden’s poor memory.  Dr. Ranganath expanded on his insights in an insightful interview with Terry Gross, on the Fresh Air podcast.

        Here are a few of his insights:

        * The issue is not why we forget… but why we remember.   We remember things that are significant to us.  The part of our brain that focuses attention is the pre-frontal cortex.  As we age, it works less well.  (By the way – same problem with teenagers – their prefrontal cortex hasn’t yet fully developed, which is why they tend to do really dumb things…which their parents just don’t understand!). 

          When we are less mindful of events, we remember them less well.  Conclusion?  Mindfulness.  If you really want to remember something, consciously focus on remembering it.  Find a mnemonic trick (I remember Sandra Bullock’s name by linking it to an ox-cart (Bullock) ).  In general, practicing mindfulness (paying close attention to what is going on at the present) is important for seniors, precisely because our brain is less mindful and more distracted.  This is especially important when we drive our cars. 

         Ranganath makes a brilliant point.  The question is not why we forget – but why we remember. We remember, because we regard the memory as very important, one that we will need to retrieve.  And so many recent events (what I had for breakfast) are just not that important to us.  And repetitive!  So the brain just doesn’t bother with it!

        Often, I want to remember a name (e.g. Sigourney Weaver, star of Alien) but for the moment, cannot retrieve it.  This is a memory that is not lost – but simply harder to retrieve.  If you worry about it, the worry itself will hamper your memory.  So – file it. Tell your brain, I want you to dig this memory up…take your time, you can do it!  And it can!   It will pop into your head, later… moments or hours or even days.  But it will come…as long as you do not let it worry you.  

      Evidence?  Here is what the neurologist explains: “There is forgetting, and there is Forgetting. If you’re over the age of 40, you’ve most likely experienced the frustration of trying to grasp that slippery word on the tip of your tongue. Colloquially, this might be described as forgetting, but most memory scientists would call this retrieval failure, meaning that the memory is there but we just can’t pull it up when we need it.”   

       Having problems with dates?   Remembering that an event took place is different from being able to put a date on when it happened, which is more challenging with increased age.   Partly because those of us who are 80 and over have two times more dates to remember than spring chickens who are 40.  Biden of course recalled the tragic death of his son Beau – but not the date.  So what?   The reporters who tormented him about this should…well, burn in Hell. 

         Think about it.  In our digital age, everything is digitized and recorded.  We simply do not NEED to remember.  Silicon does it for us.  Why waste valuable pre-frontoal cortex brainpower on remembering when everything is recorded for us and at our fingertips (or Google’s fingertips)?  

          At the same time —  judgement.  Would you prefer the judgment of an experienced, wise leader, who made vital decisions for many decades, over a Harvard-trained 40-year-old whiz kid who has no experience and probably, scores below sea level on EQ (emotional intelligence)?    Or, a foul-mouthed lying 77-year-old insurrectionist whose business success has turned out to be utterly fraudulent, according to a Federal judge, and who mistakes Nikki Haley for Nancy Pelosi?

* Dr. Ranganath is a professor of psychology and neuroscience and the director of the Dynamic Memory Lab at the University of California, Davis,