Memory impairment is a pathological condition characterized by the inability to fully remember and use received information. According to statistics, about a quarter of the world's population suffers from memory impairment of varying degrees. The most pronounced and most common problem is faced by older people; they may experience both episodic and permanent memory impairment.
Causes of memory impairment
There are quite a lot of factors and reasons affecting the quality of information assimilation, and they are not always associated with disorders caused by age-related changes. The main reasons include:
Memory decline in older people
Complete or partial memory loss accompanies 50 to 75% of all older people. The most common cause of this problem is deterioration of blood circulation in the vessels of the brain caused by age-related changes. In addition, in the process of structure, changes affect all structures of the body, including metabolic functions in neurons, on which the ability to perceive information directly depends. Also, memory impairment in old age can be the cause of a serious pathology such as Alzheimer's disease.
Symptoms in older people begin with forgetfulness. Then problems arise with short-term memory, when a person forgets events that just happened to him. Such conditions often lead to depression, fears and self-doubt.
During the normal aging process of the body, even in extreme old age, memory loss does not occur to such an extent that it could affect the normal rhythm. Memory function declines very slowly and does not lead to its complete loss. But in cases where there are pathological abnormalities in the functioning of the brain, older people may suffer from such a problem. In this case, supportive treatment is required, otherwise the condition may develop into senile dementia, as a result of which the patient loses the ability to remember even basic data necessary in everyday life.
It is possible to slow down the process of memory deterioration, but this issue should be addressed in advance, long before old age. The main prevention of dementia in old age is considered to be mental work and healthy image life.
Disorders in children
Not only older people, but also children can face the problem of memory impairment. This may be due to deviations, often mental, that arose in the uterine period. Genetic diseases, in particular Down syndrome, play an important role in congenital memory problems.
In addition to a congenital defect, there may also be acquired disorders. They are caused by:
Short-term memory problems
Our memory consists of short-term and long-term. Short-term allows us to assimilate the information that we receive at the moment; this process lasts from a few seconds to a day. Short-term memory has a small volume, so over a short period of time, the brain makes a decision to move the received information to long-term storage or erase it as unnecessary.
For example, information about when you cross the road and look around, you see a silver car moving in your direction. This information is important exactly until you cross the road to stop and wait for a car to pass, but after that there is no need for this episode, and the information is erased. Another situation is when you met a person and learned his name and remembered his general appearance. This information will remain in memory for a longer period, for how long it will depend on whether you have to see this person again or not, but it can be retained even after a one-time meeting for years.
Short-term memory is vulnerable and is the first to suffer when pathological conditions develop that can affect it. When it is violated, a person’s learning ability decreases, forgetfulness and the inability to concentrate on a particular object are observed. At the same time, a person can remember well what happened to him a year or even a decade ago, but cannot remember what he did or thought about a couple of minutes ago.
Short-term memory loss is often observed in schizophrenia, senile dementia and when using narcotic substances or alcohol. But there may be other causes of this condition, in particular tumors in the brain structures, injuries and even chronic fatigue syndrome.
Symptoms of memory impairment can develop either instantly, for example, after an injury, or arise gradually as a result of schizophrenia or age-related changes.
Memory and schizophrenia
Patients with schizophrenia have a history of many disorders intellectual abilities. Organic damage to brain structures is absent in schizophrenia, but despite this, dementia develops as the disease progresses, which is accompanied by loss of short-term memory.
In addition, people with schizophrenia have impaired associative memory and the ability to concentrate. It all depends on the form of schizophrenia; in many cases, memory is retained for a long time and its impairment occurs years or even decades later against the background of developing dementia. Interesting fact Moreover, people with schizophrenia have a kind of “double memory”, they may not remember certain memories at all, but despite this they can clearly remember other episodes from life.
Memory and stroke
In the case of a stroke, when a blood vessel is blocked by a blood clot, many people suffer. 
functions. Often, the consequences of this condition include memory loss and motor and speech disorders. After such a condition, people may remain paralyzed, the right or left side of the body is taken away, facial expressions are distorted due to atrophy of nerve endings, and much more.
Regarding memory, in the first time after a stroke, complete amnesia may be observed for all events that occurred before the onset of the disease. With extensive strokes, total amnesia can be observed, when patients cannot recognize even the people closest to them.
As a rule, despite the seriousness of the pathology, with proper rehabilitation, the patient’s memory in most cases returns, almost completely.
Therapeutic actions
Memory loss or its deterioration is always a secondary process caused by one or another pathological process. Therefore, in order to prescribe appropriate treatment, one must initially identify the cause that led to such consequences and treat it directly. Further memory correction occurs during treatment of the underlying disease. To restore memory functions you need:
- treatment of the primary disease;
- drug therapy to improve brain activity;
- balanced diet;
- refusal bad habits;
- performing special exercises aimed at developing memory.
As a medical treatment, nootropic drugs are prescribed to improve thinking and brain metabolism. The most common nootropic medication is piracetam. Among herbal remedies, bilobil is used; it indirectly affects metabolism in the brain and, as a rule, is well tolerated.
The diet should be designed in such a way that it contains a sufficient amount of acids, B vitamins, and magnesium.
Note! For any pathological changes, only a doctor should prescribe treatment; uncontrolled use of nootropic drugs can aggravate the situation.
If you want to keep a good memory for long years and even in late old age not to feel the discomfort associated with excessive forgetfulness, it is important to deal with this issue from youth. By maintaining a healthy lifestyle, watching your diet, sufficient sleep By giving up bad habits and engaging in self-education, you can achieve significant results in improving not only memory, but also thinking, attention and intelligence.
Reading strengthens neural connections:
doctor
Memory and memories
It is difficult to say what the norm is in relation to memory. This is individual for each person. There is no upper limit for memory. There are descriptions of supermemory, when a person remembers the smallest details everything he encounters, but it's rare.
In official sources, memory is defined as the ability to receive, store and reproduce life experience. This is not only a physiological, but also a cultural process.
It is known that memory is divided into long-term and short-term. Their ratio also varies from person to person. If you have a predominant long-term memory, then most likely you have difficulty remembering material, but you can easily reproduce it after a significant period of time. If, on the contrary, you quickly memorize on the fly, then you probably forget quickly. This is a feature of short-term memory. RAM allows you to remember information up to a certain point.
A person takes memory for granted until he is faced with the problem of forgetfulness. There are many types of memory impairment, and many factors influence this process.
Causes of memory impairment
For simplicity, you can divide them into groups.
1) Associated directly with brain damage. These include lesions such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke (acute cerebrovascular accident), and oncological diseases of the brain.
2) Deterioration of brain function due to diseases of other organs and organ systems.
3) External unfavorable factors, such as lack of sleep, stressful situations, sudden changes in living conditions, increased stress on the brain, including memory.
4) Chronic intoxication. Alcohol abuse leads to memory impairment, medicines(especially tranquilizers, sedatives), smoking, drug addiction.
5) Age-related changes in the brain.
Memory is associated with different modalities. There are visual, auditory, motor modalities. Their combination and predominance are individual. Some people will remember it easier if they speak the material out loud. It’s easier for someone else to remember what the page on which the necessary information is written looks like or to imagine the file cabinet drawers where he supposedly put the necessary file. The third person will easily recall information using a logical diagram or associative connection. The fourth will write a summary.
Different areas of the brain are associated with different memory-promoting functions. For example, the temporal regions are responsible for the perception of hearing and speech. The occipito-parietal regions create visual and spatial perception, with the parts of the right hemisphere giving color, optical-spatial and facial perceptions, and the left hemisphere - letter and object perceptions. The lower parietal areas are responsible for the actions of the hand and speech apparatus. When they are affected, a person cannot recognize objects by touch (astereognosia).
And depending on which area of the brain is affected, the corresponding types of memory will be impaired.
Recently, more and more reliable information has appeared about the influence of hormones on the processes of thinking and memory. There is a positive effect of vasopressin, testosterone, estrogen, prolactin on accelerating learning, stimulating attention, and transferring information from short-term memory to long-term memory. Oxytocin, on the other hand, has the opposite effect, which causes memory deterioration and forgetfulness in women after childbirth and when breastfeeding.
Diseases leading to memory impairment
Let's look at the diseases that most often cause memory problems.
First of all, as the most common, these are traumatic brain injuries. With them, complaints of memory impairment almost always appear, and the more serious the injury, the more serious they are. TBI is also characterized by the phenomena of retrograde and anterograde amnesia. In this case, the person does not remember not only the moment of injury, but also the events preceding and following it. Sometimes confabulations and hallucinations appear against this background. Confabulations are false memories produced by the person themselves. For example, when asked what he did yesterday, the patient will tell you that he went to the theater, walked in the park and ate ice cream. In fact, he did not leave the apartment or ward, since he had been ill for a long time. Hallucinations are pathological images that did not exist and could not exist.
A fairly common cause of memory impairment is cerebral circulatory disorder. causes a decrease in blood flow to all parts of the brain and disruption of its functioning, including memory impairment. Recently, atherosclerosis has become common cause memory impairment in young people, although previously it was detected mainly in the elderly. In addition, this is a provoking factor in the development of acute cerebrovascular accident. develops in one or another area of the brain, stopping blood access to it almost completely. This grossly disrupts the functions of these zones and memory among them.
Similar symptoms can be observed with. One of its serious complications is angiopathy - vascular damage, in which there is thickening of the vascular wall and closure of small vessels. This leads to impaired blood circulation in all organs, including the brain, and as a result, memory deteriorates.
Memory deterioration may be the first a sign of disease thyroid gland associated with a lack of production of its hormones (hypothyroidism). The latter are 65% iodine. Decreased memory in this case is combined with an increase in body weight, the appearance of depression, apathy, edema, muscle weakness, and irritability. To prevent iodine deficiency, first of all, you should adjust your diet by adding foods such as iodized salt and dairy products (the latter are preferable), seaweed and sea fish, persimmons, hard cheese and nuts.
It is possible to use physiotherapeutic methods, for example electrophoresis with intranasal (transnasal) administration of glutamic acid preparations.
Psychological and pedagogical correction is also successfully used to help patients with memory impairment. With the help of a teacher, the patient learns to remember using other brain functions instead of the affected ones. For example, if a person cannot remember words spoken out loud, then by imagining a visual image meaning the same word, memorization is possible. This is difficult, long, painstaking work. It is necessary not only to learn to remember using other connections in the brain, but also to bring this process to automaticity.
This symptom is dangerous only as an unfavorable prognostic sign, indicating the progression of another disease. In addition, this disrupts the patient’s social adaptation and worsens his quality of life.
Which doctor should I contact if my memory is worsening?
If you suspect you have a memory disorder, then you should contact a neurologist, neuropsychologist or therapist who will conduct an additional examination. But there are some things you can do yourself and start right now.
It is known that most often, when a patient complains of memory impairment, it turns out that the main reason is impaired attention.
This is very common among older people and schoolchildren. Events and information are underestimated and perceived fleetingly, especially if the situation is familiar to the person. And this state of affairs is quite difficult to change. The only way out is Full time job over yourself, training attention and memory: record important data on paper, keep a diary, master verbal counting in excellence.
This method of training the brain is well described in the book of American professor Lawrence Katz. These exercises activate the brain, promote the creation of new connections and associations, and engage various parts of the brain.
Here are some of these exercises:
Try to perform your usual actions with your eyes closed.
- If you are right-handed, try doing something with your left hand (for a left-handed person - with your right hand): combing your hair, writing, brushing your teeth, putting on clothes. wrist watch to the other hand.
- Master Braille (a reading and writing system for the blind) or sign language, at least the basics.
- Learn to type on the keyboard with all ten fingers.
- Master the new kind handicrafts.
- Learn to distinguish coins of different denominations by touch.
- Read articles about things you’ve never been interested in before.
- Try to go to new places, meet new people.
- Try to speak in unfamiliar languages.
The brain also constantly needs training. And remember that how long you will be “of sound mind and solid memory” depends largely on you.
Moskvina Anna Mikhailovna, general practitioner
Video on the topic
As one famous movie character said: “Here I remember, here I don’t remember.” Common situation? Memory problems—temporary or permanent—occur in both children and adults. And in living conditions in modern cities When the nervous system malfunctions and chronic fatigue syndrome becomes our constant companion, complaints of memory impairment are becoming more and more common.
Moreover, it’s impossible to concentrate... Why more problems it’s overwhelming, the more demanding the boss at work, the more difficult it is to pull yourself together, remember something, force yourself to muster your will and complete the task...
What to do in such situations, and why do they arise?
Leaky memory: why is it like that?
So, what are the causes of memory impairment?
- Asthenic syndrome (what we call chronic fatigue). Overwork, stress, spring vitamin deficiency - all this can affect your memory and concentration.
- Diseases that cause disturbances in the blood supply to the brain. In particular, these include spasm or atherosclerosis of cerebral vessels, stroke, etc.
- Head injuries.
- Brain tumor.
- Varied mental illness.
- Alzheimer's disease.
- Alcoholism.
Unfortunately, realizing that remembering something is no longer as easy as it used to be, people rarely go to the doctor. In our culture, there is still a stereotype that says that nothing terrible is happening and a person should pull himself together and not play the fool.
However, the problem is much more complex than it seems. Memory deterioration can be one of the symptoms of a serious illness, and timely contact with a specialist will allow you to effectively combat the disease.
But if asthenic syndrome is the basis for problems with memory and attention, then without the help of a doctor the condition nervous system will worsen every day, and terrible diseases such as depression, stroke or heart attack may develop.
Brain training: restoring memory
Once you decide to take care of yourself and your nervous system, a person can take a number of simple but effective steps.
Exercising “gray cells”
You can train not only your body. A set of exercises for training memory and attention is an effective method that will restore flexibility to your mind.
Let's list just a few of the possible tasks: pronouncing words backwards (without peeking!), performing the usual manipulations with your left hand, remembering phone numbers and a shopping list... It is important to read a lot, and after you have finished the book, you should say the main ones to yourself or out loud plot elements.
A large number of exercises can be found on the Internet, in addition, the best complexes To train your memory, the specialists of SMC Best Clinic will advise you.
Eating right
As they say, you are what you eat. If your memory fails, you need to reinforce it with foods that are rich in microelements that are good for the brain.
So, what should you include in your diet: dairy products, fruits and vegetables (especially green leafy ones), potatoes, bananas, wholemeal flour, whole grains, seeds, nuts, dark chocolate, fish, blueberries. Don't forget about vitamins and herbs, such as pine buds and elecampane.
And - water, which is not only the source of life, but also the key to the normal flow of all processes in the body. Drink at least 1-1.5 liters of water a day and your brain will thank you.
We follow the regime
It is extremely important to get enough sleep, lead an active lifestyle, go for walks fresh air, do physical education. This will not only strengthen the body, but also improve blood supply to the brain.
Taking medications
By visiting a doctor, a person with memory problems will receive recommendations on what medications to take. Amateur activity is not allowed here. Only a neurologist or psychotherapist can prescribe the necessary medications that are suitable for your case.
It is important to follow the medication schedule and dosage.
Making IVs for the brain
An unusual method for most—drips for cerebral vessels—is nevertheless very effective. With it, drugs enter directly into the blood and are absorbed almost completely.
SMC Best Clinic specialists select a unique composition of drugs for each patient, depending on his condition and physiology. As a result, the blood vessels are restored and strengthened, and memory and attention return.
We go to a psychotherapist
Stress and nervous tension are mental conditions that are best treated by specialists such as psychotherapists. Really, drug treatment, proper nutrition and vitamins - all these excellent techniques sometimes give only temporary results - especially if the original cause of the problem is not eliminated.
Girl's memory: not our option!
The human brain does not allow itself to be joked with. And, if suddenly you begin to forget something more often than to remember, then it is better not to delay solving this problem.
The surest option is to consult a doctor and act on the nervous system comprehensively. Best Clinic gives you the opportunity to undergo consultations and examinations with a neurologist, psychotherapist and other specialists. If necessary, you will be prescribed medications, a course of IV drips for the brain vessels will be developed, or other treatment methods will be offered depending on the causes of the problem. In addition, our doctors will advise you on the diet and daily routine that is most suitable for you.
Impaired memory and attention are a sure sign that the nervous system requires ambulance. Contact us and we will provide it!
What is memory? This is the ability to retain and reproduce previous impressions and experiences in the mind.
Experts say that children, teachers and... spies have the best memory. Maybe you are right. And this is understandable. But I would like to talk about the special specificity of memory in elderly and senile people, when recent events are forgotten and long-past events are well remembered.
I remember one incident from my distant childhood. I was seven years old. In the summer of 1942, when the Germans were driven away from Moscow, my mother took me to a remote village near Moscow to feed me a little. There we - ten or twelve children of different ages - sat down at a large table made of boards three times a day. And a cast iron pot with boiled potatoes, sauerkraut and pickles was placed on the table. The hungry guys, burning their fingers, grabbed the potatoes, trying to snatch the largest ones, somehow peeled them and stuffed them into their mouths as quickly as possible in order to grab another. Kind woman— the mistress of the house, looking at us, cried quietly...
I remember all this down to the smallest detail: I see the steam rising from the pot, I smell a pleasant smell sauerkraut. I remember it like it was yesterday. But more than sixty years have passed!
And now sometimes I not only don’t immediately remember what I ate or drank yesterday, but what I did, what movie I watched on TV.
Another example. Not long ago I attended the 80th birthday of my beloved teacher. She was left completely alone - no children, no relatives. And she shared with me that her greatest fear was physical weakness and age-related dementia.
To avoid this, every day, in any weather, she takes walks both in the park and along remote streets, measuring the distances she has planned with a semi-athletic step. He stops somewhere in a secluded place and does what he can physical exercise, sits down on a bench to rest and moves on. Regardless of the weather, the sometimes overwhelming laziness and malaise. He overcomes himself and goes. An elderly woman have already noticed, many envy her willpower, but not everyone can repeat it.
Students still come to her classes to this day. And it’s not the material incentive that plays into this main role, but the struggle to preserve the mind and memory. She memorizes one quatrain every day, while always repeating the ones she has already memorized. Which is what she urged me to do too. And one day the neighbors put a piano next to the elevator to be thrown away. We helped bring the instrument into my teacher’s apartment, and now she plays music every day, remembering the works that she played in her distant, distant childhood.
It is about such people that they say: “A bright mind and a clear memory.” But this is not given just like that, but through hard work, daily work above oneself.
We and our memory
People's attitudes towards memory loss vary. Some people simply don’t notice this about themselves - happy people! Others, finding that their memory is getting worse, become depressed, nervous, irritable, even whiny. Still others treat age-related memory loss as something inevitable, sometimes even laughing. Within an hour, having not found the glasses or the necessary piece of paper, they begin to joke about themselves.
Many people return home two or three times to check whether they turned off the stove or closed the door. My colleague, manager surgical department, one day he was forced to cancel the operation and urgently go home out of town, because it seemed to him that he had forgotten to turn off the iron.
Hundreds of medications and dietary supplements are now advertised against sclerosis, for cleansing blood vessels, and for restoring memory. But it’s better not to self-medicate. True, medications offered by a doctor in a clinic and treatment in a hospital do not always help either.
What to do? First of all, don't despair. Secondly, continue monitoring and treatment with your doctor. You can also consult with other doctors.
And to prevent memory loss, I will also remind you of some useful tips.
Any doctor will tell you that memory impairment in older people occurs primarily due to a decrease in brain nutrition, and this, in turn, is the result of a narrowing of the arteries approaching it and the brain vessels themselves. At first, this is caused temporarily, as a result of vascular spasms, and later permanently - with the development of sclerosis in them. Therefore, we will begin our advice with a diet that reduces its development.
How to eat
Sometimes it seems to us that the laws proper nutrition We have already learned by heart: we include vegetables in the diet, we remove fats, we reduce carbohydrates, we don’t eat eggs at all. And yet I think something needs to be clarified.
More vegetables is right, because they contain vitamins, micro- and macroelements, and fiber. But a large number raw vegetables may negatively affect the health of those who have gastrointestinal problems.
But you should eat as little fatty meat, sausages, and fatty dairy products as possible, because these foods are a source of cholesterol. Its excess is known to lead to atherosclerosis - narrowing or blockage of blood vessels. But you can’t completely give up fats - they help absorb necessary for a person fat-soluble vitamins A and E.
Reduce your carbohydrate intake. Give up simple carbohydrates, which are easily absorbed by the body (sugar, sweets), but do not forget cereals, bread with bran.
People often ask me: “Can an elderly person drink?” I answer: “It’s possible.” Strong alcohol- no more than 50 ml per day. Better yet, a glass of red wine in winter and white in summer.
And we must not forget about taking vitamins. I can recommend a cheap but effective multivitamin complex, well known since Soviet times - Undevit.
Laziness and sleep
I'll continue my simple tips. It is necessary to take walks every day, covering at least 2-3 km a day. Until the age of 70, I walked part of the walk at a brisk pace - so that my heart rate increased by 10-15 beats. Lately there has been some laziness. However, Cicero also warned: “You should beware of nothing more in old age than laziness and idleness.” Now I walk at a slow walking pace. But this is also healthier than sitting in front of the TV or lying on the couch for half a day.
Let me remind you once again that age-related memory loss is often associated with a deterioration in brain nutrition as a result of narrowing of the supply blood vessels, so it is necessary to do physical exercises for the neck and self-massage of the neck muscles. But first you should consult with your doctor and physical therapy instructor.
For the same reason (spasms, constriction of cerebral vessels), older people should keep their heads warm. With age, there is less hair on the head, and it gets colder faster, which often leads to vascular spasms. Remember the old films: elderly counts always wore nightcaps, and elderly scientists always wore caps.
Any person, and even more so with the beginning of a weakening of memory, needs to remember about the rest of the brain cells, that is, about sleep. After all, sleep is essentially a physiological state of rest and rest, in which the work of consciousness almost completely stops, reactions to external stimuli. Leonardo da Vinci also said: “A day well spent gives a restful sleep.”
Every day before going to bed, closing your eyes and sitting comfortably under the covers, try to remember the whole past day: what you did, who you met, who you talked to on the phone, what you bought, ate, etc. In this process of watching a kind of “movie about yourself,” blessed sleep comes much faster.
Along with the weakening of memory, absent-mindedness is also inevitable. I just put my glasses somewhere and can’t find them anymore. IN in this case This technique helps - put the glasses on the chair, be sure to say out loud several times: “The glasses are on the chair.” Didn't catch what your son or grandson said to you? Don't be shy, apologize and ask to repeat the information again. It's better than missing something important.
Always remember the words of Cicero: “Memory weakens if it is not exercised daily.” Therefore, solve crossword puzzles every day, learn poetry, and in the morning remember what movie you watched the day before, its plot, the names of the characters. Remember what you read: everything storylines, the actions of the main characters. Get creative: paint pictures, compose pieces of music. And communicate more with friends.
But the most important thing is to try to show interest in life, no matter what happens. Life is the greatest gift that should be cherished. Trite words, but look around. Among your and my friends, almost all older people do not know how to do this, they do not know how to enjoy friends, the sun, flowers. They live, having lost all interest, as if mechanically, cursing everything around them, and heavily “carrying their cross.”
Johann Goethe, a long-liver who understood a lot about life, spoke about this: “When you lose interest in everything, you lose your memory.” Don’t isolate yourself, talk more, even with your cat, chat on the phone. According to neurophysiologists, to compose a three-word phrase, the brain, like a computer, independently processes up to 40 thousand words! This is also a good brain training.
Finally, being happy is very important to preserve memory. You can and should feel happy and be self-sufficient if you put in some effort. After all, becoming happy is also a lot of internal work.
Concluding my discussion about memory, I would like to quote a joke from the wonderful actress Faina Ranevskaya: “Sclerosis cannot be cured, but you can forget about it.”
And when Ernest Hemingway was asked in his declining years what he needed to be happy, the famous writer answered: “Good whiskey, good fishing and a weak memory.” Perhaps so as not to remember anything bad?..
The causes of memory impairment can be divided into five groups.
1. Brain lesions
Everyone knows that memory “lives” in the brain. But where exactly?It depends what we are looking for. If there is long-term memory, then the cortex is responsible for it. But in the hippocampus, located deep in the temporal regions, there are mechanisms for transferring information from short-term to long-term memory. In general, there are a lot of memory centers in the brain, so any damage to this organ can lead to memory impairment. Therefore, the most common causes in this group are:
a) traumatic brain injury. Everything is simple here: wherever the blow lands, the probability of it negative influence on any of the memory centers is very large.
b) stroke (cerebrovascular accident). Blood does not flow, memory centers cease to function fully. Moreover, a study by Dutch scientists from the St Radboud Medical Center showed that memory can deteriorate even if its area - usually the temporal lobe - was not damaged.
c) oncology. A formed neoplasm (even a benign one) puts pressure on the areas of the brain adjacent to it. In addition, cases of metastasis to other parts of the organ are not uncommon.
G) infectious diseases (encephalitis, meningitis). Inflammatory processes occurring in the brain negatively affect both individual memory centers and the entire brain as a whole.
2. Diseases of other organs
Memory can also deteriorate as a result of diseases of other organs:a) Heart diseases and of cardio-vascular system in general (even if it is “just” an increase in blood pressure). The blood supply to the brain deteriorates, and consequently, it ceases to fully perform its functions.
b) Diseases internal organs (kidneys, liver, lungs, etc.) We won’t dwell on all the organs, let’s just talk about the kidneys. Scientists from the USA have discovered that kidney disease is a cause of cognitive decline, incl. deterioration of verbal memory.
The study was conducted based on measurements of glomerular filtration rate ( GFR - determines the cleansing ability of the kidneys) and creatinine level ( end product of protein metabolism) in blood. After five years of observation, a pattern was noted: the volunteers’ memory deteriorated in direct proportion to the increase in the level of creatinine in the blood and the decrease in glomerular filtration rate, i.e. with the progression of renal diseases.
c) Metabolic disorders. For the brain to function well, it is necessary that it receives all the necessary substances. As soon as the metabolism of the entire body is disrupted, the brain begins to experience a shortage of them and redistribute its “resources”, and memory centers are far from being at the beginning of the “queue”.
3. Adverse environmental factors
These factors include:a) information overload. Each person has his own “limit,” and as soon as the brain receives more information than it can process, it “freezes.” Moreover, information may not be purposefully received, but “chaotically bombing”: the environment is now completely permeated with information flows.
b) lack of vitamins. Of course, many vitamins are important for excellent brain function, but group B dominates. These vitamins:
support the functioning of the central nervous system;
protect brain cells from stress, overload and premature aging;
participate in oxygen exchange;
reduce blood clotting rates;
participate in the synthesis of certain neurotransmitters that trigger nerve impulses between neurons.
And if all this ensures the functioning of the brain as a whole, then the latter is directly related to memory: no impulse, no brain function, no memory.
c) stressful situations. The universities of Calgary and Exeter have proven that stress ( but not easy, but extreme) blocks physiological processes associated with memory. Despite the fact that the study was conducted on the snails Lymnaea stagnalis, the result is quite indicative: after enduring a huge number of irritating factors, the experimental subjects forgot absolutely everything that they had been taught earlier. In addition, if one stressful moment only reduces the quality of memory, then a “massive” stress attack creates a cumulative effect, and information generally ceases to be retained in memory.
d) lack of sleep. In a dream, the body, incl. the brain is restored: new cells grow to replace the dead ones. Accordingly, the higher the quality and sleep longer, the longer and more effective the recovery is. Otherwise, the brain does not have time to “rest” and loses the ability to both memorize and recall.
d) unhealthy food . Many foods are stored and prepared in aluminum cookware. Food dyes also contain aluminum. As a result, by consuming products of the “aluminized” industry, a person provides his body with excess aluminum, which, by the way, is excreted extremely slowly and difficultly. As a result, headaches appear, thinking becomes sluggish, and memory deteriorates.
“Stimulants” such as energy drinks and tonic drinks also contribute. Stimulation, of course, gives a short-term effect, but with regular use the brain becomes “lazy”.
4. Chronic intoxication
The reasons for this group include:a) smoking. It practically “decomposes” the brain, impairs the ability to reason, learn, and impairs memory. Moreover, not only active but also passive smoking has a detrimental effect. Scientists from Northumbria University, who conducted a study on three groups of volunteers ( smokers who constantly breathe smoke and rarely come into contact with smoke), proved that normal memory characteristics were observed only in the healthiest group, while in smokers this indicator was reduced by 30% , and for passive smokers – by 25% .
b) alcohol abuse or complete abstinence from it. Experts from University College London have proven that drinking more than 36 g of pure alcohol per day leads to early memory impairment, but drinking up to 20 g of alcohol per day does not provoke such changes. It is also interesting that complete abstinence from alcohol is harmful to memory. Thus, the optimal “schedule” for drinking alcohol is 2-4 glasses of wine per week.
c) drug addiction. Even with a single dose, drugs can cause irreparable damage to the brain. For example, after a single dose of “harmless” ecstasy - the most neurotoxic synthetic drug - the serotonin system of the brain is so damaged that it can never fully recover. Some drugs continue to work after you stop using them. In any case, these substances disrupt the impulse transmission system itself, interfering with the order in which nerve cells receive, send and process information.
d) intoxication with heavy metals (lead, mercury, thallium, copper, manganese).
Lead occupies a leading position among the causes of industrial poisoning, because there are a lot of places where it is used: lead smelters, battery production, printing houses, production of lead paints, leaded gasoline, ceramic products, crystal glass, etc. In addition, there is a threat of lead damage nearby major highways.
Mercury has three main sources:
Amalgam ( in dental fillings). An average sized filling contains 750,000 mcg of mercury, of which 10 mcg is released daily. Plus, mercury is released faster if the amalgam is heated to the temperature of hot tea.
Vaccines. Merthiolate – organic compound mercury - found in vaccines against influenza, hepatitis B, DTP and is more dangerous than its vapor.
Fish. The mercury contained in it has already reacted with protective molecules and does not pose a significant health hazard. But still, you shouldn’t overeat tuna.
Additionally, thermometers, thermostats, mercury switches, and barometers are potential sources of mercury in the home.
e) drug abuse. Memory impairment is side effect many drugs. If these drugs are abused, a cumulative effect will be created, which is especially pronounced after taking tranquilizers and sedatives.
The list of such pharmaceutical groups also includes antipsychotics, anticholinergics, “heart” drops, barbiturates, anticholinergics, antidepressants, and antihistamines.
5. Age-related changes in the body
The main changes that influence memory deterioration in old age are sclerotic: the walls of blood vessels in the brain, other tissues and organs gradually lose their elasticity and become rigid. In addition, the lumen of the vessel narrows, microstrokes develop (hemorrhages, albeit small, in different lobes of the brain). An additional reason is changes in the brain that interfere with sleep quality: the prefrontal cortex loses its volume. If we add to this the many brain diseases called “senile” ( Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease), memory deterioration becomes obvious with age.To stop or slow down the course of sclerotic changes, doctors often prescribe nootropic medications. The original nootropic drug of central action is Gliatilin. It is produced on the basis of choline alfoscerate, which improves the condition of the central nervous system (CNS), thanks to its phosphate form, it penetrates faster into the brain and is better absorbed. 
Gliatilin improves the transmission of nerve impulses, has a positive effect on the plasticity of neuronal membranes, as well as on the functions of receptors. It helps slow down aging and brain degradation, which are the cause of the development of all kinds of disorders and memory impairments. Choline alfoscerate also has a neuroprotective effect and accelerates the process of memory recovery after damage caused naturally, as a result of mechanical influences inside or outside the body. Before use, you should consult a specialist.
