I have a variety of systems in place to help me remember things. For instance, when I wash my hair, the bottles of shampoo and conditioner start out on the right side of the sink. After I pump shampoo into my hand, I put the bottle down on the left side. I follow this same game plan with the conditioner. Who knows how many times I would shampoo and/or condition my hair if I didn’t have this system in place?
Such shenanigans on my part make me wonder about two things: What is normal for a brain in its eighth decade, and what can I do to keep this brain as young as possible?
As I say about most things, my answers are just a Google search away. So, off I Google-y go!
Giving me confidence that my fluky brain is fine as is…
Here’s an interesting article from the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Liberal & Professional Studies. It gives “seven fascinating facts about the brain.” Two of them really speak to me. The first gives us this great news: In order to function properly, the brain needs to forget! We make countless memories in a lifetime, and can’t possibly remember them all. Using painful life experiences as an example, it says if we were to remember every excruciating detail of life — such as an embarrassing moment in elementary school — mental health would suffer.
Therefore, memory loss is not a dysfunction of the brain, but a functional feature instead.
The San Diego Brain Injury Foundation (SDBIF) backs this up by mentioning the brain generates up to 50,000 thoughts per day. Clearly, we can’t remember them all, not to mention the fact that most are worthy of forgetting!
The second interesting thing from the PennLPS report is that in spite of some memory loss as we age, other cognitive functions improve as the years pass. Comprehension, conflict resolution, emotional regulation, and vocabulary are wonderful examples. Vocabulary skills may peak as late as the early 70s! Therefore, it is just the natural order of things when I start throwing around sesquipedalian words!
Seriously, though, my brain is just following the natural order of things. For this I need to be grateful, and I need to help it along whenever I can.
Since helping me understand my brain will help me care for my brain…
Here are some facts from Northwestern University via their Northwestern Medicine’s website. An article called 11 Fun Facts About Your Brain included these elements:
– When a neuron in the brain is stimulated, it generates an electrical impulse that travels from cell to cell at a speed of 268 miles per hour!
– The brain can generate 23 watts of power, which is enough to power a lightbulb!
The already mentioned article from SDBIF adds these tidbits:
– Your brain is 2% of your body weight, but it receives 20% of your blood supply.
– 73% of your brain is water. It takes only 2% dehydration to affect your attention span, cognition, and memory.
– Chronic stress and depression can cause measurable brain shrinkage.
From this I learn:
– Such a hardworking organ surely needs rest.
– A heart-healthy diet keeps the blood flowing and is therefore a brain-healthy diet.
– Hydration is vitally important.
– As is controlling my mental state.
I started with a personal story about my brain function and I will close with one as well:
I am a person who scribbles many a note in order to remember the things I need to do. For recurring tasks, it was ridiculous to throw the note away only to have to re-write it next time. Thus I have a stack of recycled notes I can sort through — refill a prescription, post a blog on my website, turn the heat down or air conditioner up when I go out of town, or take out the garbage on trash night. In my stack you will also find a scrap of paper for each significant person in my life which I can pull out whenever it is necessary to remember to call one of them.
But here’s the deal, though my dad and my aunt and my sister-in-law died years ago, their names are still in my pile. Thus, I experience the crazy paradox that thanks to my forgetful brain, I am remembering them!
Yes, that’s a very positive spin to put on my brain at 72! But that’s the point. Like the facts I chose to include from my Google search, I am choosing positivity — along with lots of rest, a healthy diet, lots of water, and a yoga session or two.
