We all have times when we find ourselves upstairs with no idea what we went up for and, as the years go by, such episodes tend to become more common. Everything we have ever experienced is stored away somewhere in our brain, but as Ron Bracey, consultant in clinical psychology at the Brain Injury Centre, Banstead, explains: ‘There are minor changes in the brain′s processing speed, beginning in our 20s, which mean that certain things become harder to recall. Episodic memory — the ability to update your brain′s “diary” — becomes less reliable and as the years pass you may forget things unless you write them down. Working memory for things like telephone numbers also becomes less efficient.’

All sorts of physical factors can affect memory: diet, illness, the menopause and dementia, which affects 1 in 20 people aged 65. But according to Mr Bracey, many of us develop a kind of mental hypochondria, when we imagine that our memory lapses are more sinister than they really are.

Dr Chris Moulin, lecturer in cognitive neuropsychology at the University of Leeds, agrees: ‘On the whole you are aware of your lapses in memory and attempt to put them right. Stress, tension and worry are the biggest memory saboteurs. Anxiety about being forgetful can make things worse.’

Fortunately, as you′ll see below, researchers are finding more and more ways to boost memory capacity.

Nine ways to boost your memory

1. Challenge your brain
   ‘Mental stimulation keeps your brain healthy and helps improve mental capacity,’ says Ron Bracey. ‘Try puzzles, crosswords, Sudoko, learning a language and computer games. They all create new pathways in the brain and help increase mental focus.’
2. Get fit
   Half an hour of physical activity three times a week can cause a significant increase in brainpower, according to research from the US Duke University Medical Centre. Exercise increases circulation to the brain and in particular to areas in the forebrain, which are concerned with planning and organisation.
3. Get creative
   Creative activities such as painting can help improve memory. ‘Anything new engages the brain and helps to strengthen memory,’ says Mr Bracey. Better still, choose an activity that uses both brain and body — like learning to dance. Research shows that muscle activity helps activate brain cell receptors.
4. Sleep tight
   Bob Stickgold, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, discovered that for optimum learning we need a period of deep sleep at the start of the night and a period of REM or dreaming sleep towards the end. He found that if sleep is cut short, learning is impaired.
5. Try ginkgo
   Ginkgo biloba has been used to enhance memory in places like India and China for thousands of years. US women′s health expert Dr Christiane Northrup says: ‘It appears to work by increasing blood flow and is widely used to treat blockages of the small arteries in the brain.’
6. Go Med
   A Mediterranean–style diet may help stave off age–related memory loss in healthy people. Fruit and vegetables rich in antioxidants help protect brain cells against free radical damage, while oily fish, nuts and seeds are rich in the fatty acids that make up brain cell membranes.
7. Get a berry boost
   According to the Journal of Science, Food and Agriculture, blackcurrants could help prevent Alzheimer′s disease. They contain the compounds anthocyanins and polyphenolics that could block the damage which can lead to dementia in brain cells from the hippocampus — the part of the brain associated with memory.
8. Beef up your Bs
   The B–complex vitamins (particularly B12, which is only found in meat and animal produce) are vital to mental clarity. The B–complex vitamins are needed for the formation of acetylcholine (a brain chemical crucial for memory function), and are found in liver, cabbage, eggs, cauliflower, lentils and soya.
9. Brew up a cuppa
   For a short–term memory boost, it′s hard to beat a cup of coffee. Austrian researchers found that consuming 100mg of caffeine — equivalent to a couple of cups of coffee — increases brain activity in the frontal lobe, which is responsible for short–term memory. But, for a more sustained effect, why not try green tea? A study of more than 1,000 Japanese adults aged over 70 found that the more green tea they drank, the lower their odds of mental decline.

What′s normal… and what′s not

‘The early signs of dementia can be subtle and there′s a huge grey area but by and large it′s the quantity of memory lapses that may suggest you have a problem. We all occasionally forget why we went into a room but if you are constantly doing it or forget not just your neighbour′s name but that of your grandchild, there may be more cause to worry,’ says Dr Chris Moulin. Clues include:

• Recent memory loss. It′s normal to forget an appointment and then remember it later but someone with more serious memory loss may forget things like this more often and never remember them afterwards.
• Difficulty with familiar tasks. It′s easy to get distracted and forget to turn off the dinner. Someone with more severe memory loss may not only forget to serve it but forget they even made it.
• Language problems. We all have problems finding the right word occasionally but someone with dementia may forget simple ones like ‘house’ or ‘car’.
• Disorientation of time and place. When you′re busy you may forget the date or where you′re going. People with more serious memory loss may become lost in their own street.
• Lack of judgement. Dementia affects memory and concentration, which in turn impacts on judgement. This may be manifested in acts such as dangerous driving.
• Difficulty with abstract thinking. It′s normal to find it hard to balance your bank account but it becomes more serious if you forget what the figures mean and what to do with them.
• Losing things. Everyone loses their keys or glasses but someone with serious memory loss may constantly put things in strange places.
• Changes in mood or behaviour. We all have bad moods but someone with more serious problems may have dramatic mood swings for no clear reason.
• Personality change. Personality can change slightly as we get older but suddenly becoming suspicious, fearful, or uncommunicative is more worrying.
• Loss of initiative. It is natural to get fed up with doing the cooking or to find certain social activities a chore but someone with dementia may become uninterested in things they used to enjoy.

(Based on Alzheimer′s Australia Warning Signs of dementia — www.alzheimers.org.au)

Memory work–out

Try these practical strategies from memory experts Dr Jo Iddon, of the department of academic neurosurgery, Addenbrooke′s Hospital, Cambridge, and Dr Huw Williams, clinical psychologist, Oliver Zangwill Centre for Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, Cambridge.

• List it. Listing what you have to do each day helps you remember and achieve your goals.
• Get tidy. If you′re constantly losing things like your keys, always keep them in the same place.
• Concentrate. If you often forget what you went into a room for, focus and don′t let your mind wander. If you do forget, stop and mentally retrace your steps.
• Make connections. If you have trouble remembering names, listen, repeat and try to think of a visual cue to aid your memory.
• Cue it. If something is on the tip of your tongue, go through the alphabet or think of a context or related item as a prompt.