Earlier this year I blogged about the familiar phenomenon of having a name or piece of information just on the tip of your tongue, but beyond immediate recall.
When this happens to older people, our culture of ageism puts the blame on failing memory. The reality is much more complex. We know that the changing, age-related distribution of memory and cognition makes it more likely that our memories will sporadically “misfire” as we get older.
Neuroscientists have done considerable work on this “tip-of-the-tongue” phenomenon. They define it as a failed attempt to retrieve a word, number or name from memory (partial recall sometimes produces a letter or syllable) combined with the feeling that recall is immanent. Our ageist culture leads non-neurologists to call this a “senior moment.”
People do become anxious whenever an age-related word retrieval hiccup occurs. Tellingly, the resulting flustered confession of failure emphasizes speed rather than accuracy. Also common are (sometimes joking) rehearsals of ageist stereotypes. The function of these protestations is to shift the emphasis from a failure of accuracy (Lost your hat did you?) to a speed problem. This is why they are referred to as “moments.” These events can, and should, be used to help people better understand the distinctive contours of the elder mind.
An Enthusiast’s approach to age-related word finding glitches runs something like this. First, remain calm and carry on. There is no reason to panic and no cause for anxiety. This is normal. Second, don’t struggle to find the word you need, consciously slow down. This is an opportunity for you to widen the activation of your mind; who knows what new ideas and interpretations might emerge out of this process. Third, if you are in the company of others, use this opportunity to dispel ageist stereotypes. Something like this will do:
“People use to call them ‘senior moments’ but it’s really more like ‘mind expansion.’As we age we use more of our brains, which helps us see general patterns more clearly, but it can also make retrieving a particular word more difficult. Anyway, as I was saying…”
The important loss of mental agility can also give us valuable new abilities, if we know where to look for them.
Day-to-day interactions with elders and research studies both indicate that age can increase our ability to extract the essential meaning of a story, event or social situation. Older people are better than young people when it comes to capturing the gist of things. How do they do this? Having seen similar situations in the past is helpful but having more experience is just part of the answer. As we age, our brains distribute memories across a wider range of brain structures compared to when we were young. Retrieving and using these memories therefore requires the simultaneous engagement of multiple cognitive systems.
This more global activation helps older people see a “big picture” that younger people often miss.
I’m curious if our more sage readers can testify to this?
Debbie Phillips says
September 16, 2016 at 1:06 pmI find as I grow older that I am far more interested in trying things that used to frighten me, heights, rough water, speed etc. At 61 my sister (57) and I have zip lined several times, driven expensive (rented) sports cars, white water rafted, painted, done adventure things as walking across swinging logs and bridges, tight rope walking (assisted by ropes), dry tubing, alpine sliding and more. All this in just the last 3 years. I cannot believe that we have done all these things that we would have never done in our youth. We have found that younger people working as guides and staffing of these experiences are often hesitant at first but once they see we are ready and willing to work at accomplishing our goals they are extremely supportive. We figure out how to do to accommodate for our weaknesses. We have accomplished these tasks not because we are in great shape but because we thought ahead on if and how we would accomplish our goals. Often we have seen much younger folks fail at the tasks that we have succeeded in. We look forward to our adventures and plan them in advance with the knowledge that things may change. I have never enjoyed doing these things as I do now.
I retired early due to health issues but try to keep busy. I care for my parents and volunteer at my club and the Senior Center. My husband still works and I worry that when he retires it will be difficult since he does not enjoy my adventures. I have not read much on the quandary of retiring spouses that find they are not compatible yet due to financial issues cannot afford to divorce. I hope this does not become the case but it is the biggest fear I have. There are several people I know that are finding themselves in this situation.
Woobum Han says
March 10, 2013 at 7:17 pmI am an AGNG 200 student at the Erickson School of Aging from UMBC. We are learning about aging. These days we are discussing about this topic which is as people aging, the ability of memory and cognition is declined. I thought this opinion is definitely true, and believed that most of physical ability also declined as well. To me this article showed a very difference perspective about bring working when we age. Older people need more time to remember something, because brain distributes memory with experience across a wider range of brain, not loss of ability of brain. Be caused by that, older people are better than young people for getting gist of things. It seems easy to see that around us. For example in any company, people who have age and experience are charged in their division. Even if their memorizing ability is less then young employees, they can build up big picture with accumulated knowledge and experiences over the years. I think mind expansion is really good word for describe that phenomenon.
Kristen says
March 9, 2013 at 10:15 pmI am a student attending the aging 200 class being offered at the Erickson School of Aging, University of Maryland Baltimore County. First, I strongly agree with the information in this post because it alerts people in our society about the stereotyping of agism which is a topic that we have studied previously. I think its important for people to understand that its true we all have times that we cant figure out a word or times that we forget details in our stories. However, a younger person is seen as just forgetting but, an older person’s forgetfulness is attributed to age which is not always the case. Furthermore, we have studied ways that older people can analyze problems or understand the bigger picture of a story more accurately than younger people and this can be for reasons such as crystallized intelligence which increases as one gets older.One component of this intelligence is the emergence of wisdom which is one of the valuable characteristics seen in our elders whom have accumulated a variety of knowledge’s and experiences over their years. Crystallized intelligence reaches its peak in older age which is a reminder to our seniors that new facets of the brain can be better activated and for the areas that lack compensation can be used to fill in some of the blanks in our memories.
Wanida says
March 9, 2013 at 1:15 pmI am currently an Aging 200 student at the Erickson School of Aging, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. We have learned that as people age, memory starts to decline. This leads to forgetting a word or number from memory. They can also temporarily get lost in familiar places. I agree that the elderly should take their time finding the right word that they are looking for. Even though memory is declining, the brain is still expanding. The youth tends to believe that a person with a declining memory, has a slower brain function. Though, the opposite is occurring.
Olga says
February 21, 2013 at 11:36 amThis is the most comforting post I have read in a long time. I do experience that word loss blip sometimes. I have never heard anything about this one though–I cannot remember numbers, and that has been noticable since my 40’s. i am thankful for speed dial and phone memory.
Robert Albert says
February 21, 2013 at 1:52 pmPerhaps just slowing down a bit in general could be a goal:
Is one having a loss for words, or just carefully choosing the right words? “The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter–it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” M. Twain
When word quantity is less important than word quality, the pace of the conversation may slower but the patience required to engage each other is certainly more memorable than just babbling along all day. The fact that one or both speakers may not be able to speak at a rapid pace is ‘hidden’ from plain view as well.
Kort Nygard says
February 20, 2013 at 11:49 pmTwo thoughts. Strategy: because our memories are stored in a neural network, it is helpful to think of all the related details you can…while relaxed and attempting to recall the name or number. Often the memory will emerge while musing related details.
Also, related to your comments, neuroscientists are finding that older (65 yo) adults are better at problem-solving than younger (25 yo) adults.
darlene87 says
February 20, 2013 at 4:15 pmI recently read that the frontal part of the brain atrophies as we age. Since that is the part of the brain that controls short term memory it’s no wonder that we forget oftener than we used to. I find that these hiccups occur more often at the end of the day when I am tired. Sometimes the lost word can be retrieved in a few moments; other times it is gone forever.
Kay Van Norman says
February 20, 2013 at 3:59 pmLoved the post. It strikes me as well that we have “forgotten” things our whole life. When my kids were little I’d remind them 3 times in 10 minutes to take their backpack, homework and gym clothes to school and yet they would often forget at least one. Should I have had them evaluated for memory impariment? Of course not – can you imagine…Dr. he keeps forgetting his gym shoes!! Distraction, anxiety, many wheels turning at once all impact memory so there is no need to attach sinister meaning to “forgetting” just because of age.