Memory Loss and Brain Decline

Why the brain declines as we age

Memory loss and brain decline is caused by crossed wires or problems in transmitting messages throughout the brain, a decline in brainchemicals known as neurotransmitters and a general slowing down of the brain,

Senior Moments - Signs of an Aging Brain

Do you often misplace your keys or your glasses, find odd things in your refrigerator and walk into a room to get something, only to find you have forgotten what you went in there to get. If you are over 50, more so if you are 60 or more, you’ll probably recognize yourself here. But when this memory loss occurs more and more often, it can be worrying. The irony is just when you have got all this experience under your belt, your memory starts forgetting things at the oddest moments.

According to xxx, Researchers at Harvard, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Duke, UCLA, and other top universities recently discovered three hidden triggers that cause frequent memory lapses and mental decline. They're the missing links which scientists have been trying to identify for years and a recent breakthrough is helping to clarify the problem. So now it is possible to reverse the trend and restore memory and focus.

Here are the Triggers which have been identified to provoke the above symptoms of brain decline.

Crossed or blocked wires

Now scientists know why you are continually losing things as you age: they're due to a common brain-wiring problem that starts in middle age and makes it harder for your brain to transmit messages. Scientists believe this is due to myelin, a white matter that protects nerves. Myelin wears with age and, once the myelin is worn down it the nerves lose their ability to conduct messages from one part of the brain to another. As a result, you become more and more forgetful.

Declining Brain Chemicals

As one ages, a decline in neurotransmitters, the brain chemicals that promote memory, enhance learning, and help you concentrate, compounds the problem, resulting in increased memory loss.

As myelin starts to wear out, you also produce fewer neurotransmitters because you only make these vital brain chemicals when brain cells receive messages. So as you reach middle-age a decline in both myelin and brain chemicals affects your memory and thinking.

Double-Whamy Results in Memory Loss

Harvard University researchers studied a group of adults between the ages of 18 to 93 to test their memory, thinking, and learning. They had the participants fulfill specific tests and took pictures of their brains. This research proves that older adults have more myelin damage and fewer neurotransmitters, which is why they scored lower than the younger participants.

Slowing Brain Function

Does your mind wander when other people are talking. This might not be rudeness or because you are not interested in what they have to say. Researchers compared two groups, one with participants between the ages of 18 and 30, and a a second group of older adults aged 60 to 77.

They were given memory tests which also had information intended to distract. The research showed that younger adults were more able to block irrelevant information, but with age it became more difficult to focus. This is because older brains are slower than younger ones around 200 milliseconds. This slight difference is enough to affect both memory and focus. Hence the problem of forgetting what you came into a room for.

Long before you start to these changes, something just as sinister is happening in your brain. Exposure to free radicals and other toxins cause can cause dangerous amyloid plaques to form in your brain and destroy mitochondria, the energy-producing substance found in your cells. The resulting loss of energy creates a lack of efficiency in the working of your brain. This problem is magnified by exposure to heavy metals and toxic matter such as lead, mercury, aluminum, arsenic, pesticides. And studies show the damage from these toxins begins years before you notice any changes in performance.

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