LiveScience, others: Memory worries? Forget about it!
Older Americans who concern themselves with the stereotype of older Americans losing their memory perform worse on memory tests than those who don’t. Researchers at North Carolina University figure that the worry itself fulfills the prophecy, that mental resources are diverted from memory to worry.
As lead researcher Tom Hess told LiveScience editorial director Robert Roy Britt, in “Worrying Over Fading Memory Makes it Worse,” focussing on the negative stereotype is the key. “They may not necessarily buy into it, but the simple concern that they themselves might be stereotyped by others is thought to lead to the sorts of effects we observed…”
Accentuating the positive, confidence breeds better performance. Britt notes that other studies have shown that there are several ways for most people to keep their brains, and memories, sharp, including continuing education, improved diet and exercise.
A North Carolina University news release and a mere abstract of the article in Experimental Aging Research drew a scattering of other coverage on the subject.
pic: UC Davis, Jay Leek and Karin Higgins
-JDC
