Are Older People Aware of Their Cognitive Decline?

[Ronstar]

The Medicare cognitive test is tough. The one where the nurse gives you 3 words to remember, then asks you a bunch a questions, then asks you where the hands of the clock are at 11:10. Then after about 20 minutes of all of this, the nurse asks what the 3 words are. I failed it once because I misreported one of the words.

But there is a fix to this. I now take the online questionnaire before I go in the doctor. So I’m given the 3 words, then the nurse jumps to the hands on the clock deal because I answered the other questions online. Then the nurse asks me what the 3 words are - about 5 minutes after she told me at the beginning. Very easy to remember the words now.

 

[Dtail]

One concerning example for me is not being able to remember the name of an actor or something in a movie. I'm talking major stars like Tom Hanks who I obviously know. But I'll sometimes sit through an entire movie unable to recall the actors name. Then it usually pops in my head a couple hours later when I don't need to know anymore.

Memory is weird. The memories are obviously up in my brain somewhere, as they'll pop up unexpectedly years later. If only I could retrieve every thing I have learned in my life. But, use it or lose it I guess...

Haha, my fiance and I also go through that name recognition concept with major actors. One example was Robert De Niro. However we both knew who we were talking about and just left it at that until it came around later. This does happen more with aging but is not any form of dementia.

 

[big-papa]

I quit balancing my checkbook maybe twenty years ago or more. At 74, I think I'm still 100% cognitive, but who really knows?

I'm only in my early 60's but quite balancing my checkbook sometime in my early 40's. Why? Because I'm significantly more likely to make a stupid math error during the balancing process than the computer that created my statement did. Instead, I make sure that I understand all of the expenditures that show up on my statement, then get on with my life...

Cheers.

 

[big-papa]

Haha. I don't balance my checkbook either but only write ~6 checks a year.

I write fewer than that, but I still have a significant number of expenses paid for out of my checking account - it's just not done by checks I write...

Cheers.

 

[Dtail]

I write fewer than that, but I still have a significant number of expenses paid for out of my checking account - it's just not done by checks I write...

Cheers.

A lot of automated expenses for me too, but paid out of a specific credit card.
Why not go the card route, as you get reward points, plus highly unlikely to get the CC infiltrated.

 

[big-papa]

A lot of automated expenses for me too, but paid out of a specific credit card.
Why not go the card route, as you get reward points, plus highly unlikely to get the CC infiltrated.

It's not a question of "why not go the card route" because I do. But I have a number of items for which that isn't possible.

Cheers.

 

[audreyh1]

Haha, my fiance and I also go through that name recognition concept with major actors. One example was Robert De Niro. However we both knew who we were talking about and just left it at that until it came around later. This does happen more with aging but is not any form of dementia.

I started having trouble remembering names of famous people and places back in my 40s. The only good thing is it hasn’t gotten any worse, I think…..

 

[Rianne]

Multitasking is definitely harder.

The brain operates best at one task at a time. It's a myth to think anyone can juggle multiple tasks effectively. I used to think if I took a long time to decide or consider a response I was slow. I don't mean less intelligent. The brain is not a computer. And when there's a lot on your mind you forget stuff. I'll start to worry when I don't recognize my DH. I'm always amazed at moms with two or three kids at the store. Thinking, reacting, disciplining, and making sure they don't run off!

BTW, the Gene Wilder documentary is fascinating. He had Alzheimer's. The documentary takes you on that journey with him and his wife. Seeing that, I realize the decline is obvious to those who know you well.

Multitasking doesn’t work—here’s what does. [2024]

Believe it or not—multitasking is a myth. Attempting to do two or more tasks at once actually takes MORE time than doing each task individually. Here are a few ways you can regain focus back on tasks.

asana.com

 

[Andre1969]

One concerning example for me is not being able to remember the name of an actor or something in a movie. I'm talking major stars like Tom Hanks who I obviously know. But I'll sometimes sit through an entire movie unable to recall the actors name. Then it usually pops in my head a couple hours later when I don't need to know anymore.

Memory is weird. The memories are obviously up in my brain somewhere, as they'll pop up unexpectedly years later. If only I could retrieve every thing I have learned in my life. But, use it or lose it I guess...

Yeah, it's really weird, the stuff that can stick in your mind. I'll go through that sometimes, where an actor I KNOW I should know, just escapes the tip of my tongue. But then, sometimes the flip side of that happens. I was watching a movie with some friends the other night, and a minor character, when asked her name, said "Diana Hyland." And I immediately thought of the actress, Diana Hyland. Without looking her up, I know her from a Twilight Zone episode "Spur of the Moment," where at just the right angle, she looks kind of like Elizabeth Montgomery. She was also in a couple episodes of "The Invaders." I'm sure she was in more famous things than that, but that was what I immediately thought of. And I'm sure that movie made it a point to reference her on purpose, as that just doesn't sound like a name you'd come up with at random!

They mentioned another name, "Carol Findlay," and it made me think of Adrienne Barbeau, who played Maude's daughter Carol, in "Maude." But, Carol was from a previous marriage, well before Walter, so it probably wasn't a reference to her. Unless the writers just forgot/didn't know that Carol wasn't Walter's daughter.

But then, I was just thinking of another actor, who played the second Harry Morton on "Burns and Allen" and went on to play Roger Addison on "Mr. Ed." I don't know why he popped into my mind, but for the life of me I could not remember the actor's name. But then, suddenly, it came to me. Larry Keating.

It's amazing, the useless details that can stick in the brain.

 

[Rianne]

DH can meet several people for the first time and remember their names. He can watch multiple sports shows (tennis, football, basketball, etc.) and remember the names of players old and new. If we attended a social event I'd say the guy in the blue shirt with glasses and he'll remember his name. This is a memory trick he developed over many years called a Mnemonic device. He thinks of jingles, rhymes, and many things to put together names and events. I try to do this and it never works. He would say to think of something else familiar and tag it to that person. Still can't do it.

 

[Car-Guy]

BTW, the Gene Wilder documentary is fascinating. He had Alzheimer's. The documentary takes you on that journey with him and his wife. Seeing that, I realize the decline is obvious to those who know you well.

Seems we read about famous folks (e.g. actors) that suffer from dementia/alzheimers all the time. Fortunately, it also seems their "families" take care of them and remove them from the public's eye, "most of the time". It's sad, but better to remember them as they were, not as they are.

 

[Letj]

I started having trouble remembering names of famous people and places back in my 40s. The only good thing is it hasn’t gotten any worse, I think

 

[Letj]

Every 2nd article you read is about Alzheimer’s. I think this is making a lot of us paranoid. I’ve always had a terrible memory. At least I think so due to an automobile accident I had as a very young child. I’ve been paranoid all my life that I would get Alzheimer’s disease. When I was only 35 I got anxious because I saw a woman, whose name I should know, and I couldn’t recall it and for weeks after I was terribly worried that I was coming down with Alzheimer’s. The fact is that I was never able to recall the names of most of the people I went to highschool or college with much less elementary school. However, decades later no drastic changes in my memory. Now I don’t worry about. I think memory problems don’t always lead to Alzheimer’s or dementia. I think you can still have pretty good executive functioning with poor memory even into old age.

 

[CaptTom]

I've always had a terrible short-term memory, too. Some of my earliest school memories are elementary school, thinking I was the dumbest kid in class when the teacher brought out the flash cards. I couldn't memorize the times tables the way everyone else had. I had to actually think. Always the last one to get the answer.

Likewise names. Again going back to an early age, I've been embarrassed because I didn't know someone's name, or sometimes even recognize them.

But we all compensate for our weaknesses. At least, the smart ones do. To paraphrase Einstein, I don't bother trying to memorize things I can look up. By high school I was placed in a college calculus class. Not because I was brilliant. Because I'd been forced to actually do math, rather than just memorize and repeat, like most of the other kids.

But now as I approach the other end of life, I worry about those stupid memory tests. I can't pass one. I couldn't pass one at age 8. Or 18. Or 28. So, yeah, now you're gonna put me in a home and take away my keys?

 

[Koolau]

I had a little moment over the weekend, that got me thinking about getting older. Saturday morning, I drove the truck to Aldi. When I got home, I parked in front of the garage, windows all the way down, and unloaded it. Got busy doing something else, and forgot about the truck. I didn't go anywhere else during the day, but was in and out of the house a lot. Every time I saw the truck, I kept thinking, I gotta put it in the garage, but then would get distracted with something else. And in the evening, I was in the pool with some friends, truck in plain view, and I was thinking "damn, I still gotta put that thing in the garage," but then it slipped my mind.

Totally forgot about it, and it sat out overnight, windows down. No big deal, as there was no rain, and little crime. I could probably leave it running overnight with a sign that says "Free to Good Home" and it would be there in the morning. But still, it bugged me, as that's not something I'd normally do.

I could excuse it if I got drunk overnight, or was really exhausted from strenuous yardwork or something, but neither one applied here. It just slipped my mind. I guess those little slips of the mind do pop up from time to time, with everyone. But, it did get me thinking...was it just a momentary slip of the mind, or is my mind really slipping?

ca 1970 I left my convertible out one night - top down - and it rained. Nothing to do with age.

 

[Koolau]

One concerning example for me is not being able to remember the name of an actor or something in a movie. I'm talking major stars like Tom Hanks who I obviously know. But I'll sometimes sit through an entire movie unable to recall the actors name. Then it usually pops in my head a couple hours later when I don't need to know anymore.

Memory is weird. The memories are obviously up in my brain somewhere, as they'll pop up unexpectedly years later. If only I could retrieve every thing I have learned in my life. But, use it or lose it I guess...

Both parents had Alzheimers. Every once in a while, they would have lucid moments where they remembered amazing details. It occurred to me that they hadn't actually "forgotten" anything. Rather, they were no longer able to access memories on demand. I don't know how that w*rks, but sometimes I wonder if I'm in the same boat when I can't recall someone's name (when I think about it.) Later, that name comes to mind.

I do worry about Alzheimers, but then I'll have very good memory recall about something challenging and think "Well, not yet!" YMMV

 

[jldavid47]

DH can meet several people for the first time and remember their names. He can watch multiple sports shows (tennis, football, basketball, etc.) and remember the names of players old and new. If we attended a social event I'd say the guy in the blue shirt with glasses and he'll remember his name. This is a memory trick he developed over many years called a Mnemonic device. He thinks of jingles, rhymes, and many things to put together names and events. I try to do this and it never works. He would say to think of something else familiar and tag it to that person. Still can't do it.

I have never been able to remember someone's name unless I have seen them and heard it three times. I remember faces easily. I'll know if I have met someone before, but putting a name to that face? It takes 3 times. Not cognitive decline. Just the way it's always been with me.

 

[MarieIG]

Part of the "plan" regarding cognitive decline, is to arrange finances for greater automatic income, i.e. social security (later) and triggering annuities (later), to reduce the need to for either DH or myself to generate income. Another part of the plan will be choosing one child and a back-up to oversee our finances.

The children joke that without Dad, I will be helpless getting anything done around the house, and without Mom, DH will be helpless with finances.

In addition to augmenting automatic income, I'm also considering a trust with DH as the primary beneficiary, i.e. to allow up to the full amount to be used for his care but with some safeguards . . .

 

[Route246]

My mom has dementia, as did her brother. Hers is a long, drawn out affair that started being obvious 10 years ago. She’s 86 now. My uncles came in fast, and he was gone in less than two years. Bigger than life guy, Hollywood actor and national VP of the screen actors guild. Gone in two years. Hard to bear, but there it is. I too have an intense engineering robotics job. On the go constantly and always jousting with the to get folks on my team. It keeps me sharp but still, I do forget things. It’s part of the aging process I believe. It does not mean you have dementia if you are a bit forgetful. If you look in the mirror one day and don’t recognize yourself, this is a good sign something is brewing!!

Glad you mention the intense engineering job. I've had that for 45+ years, too. My job has plenty of metrics and key indicators including response times to issues. I am acutely aware of my own performance vis-a-vis these metrics and KPI as are all of my peers. If there is fall-off on my part the numbers won't lie. I can discern occassional laziness or lapses in concentration but trends should make things clear for me. Hopefully when I retire next year those KPI will still be above the trigger points.

 

[Tadpole]

Multitasking is definitely harder.

Bingo. I was thinking that loss of multitasking limberness would be a good descriptor. The differential between assembling tasks and remembering tasks seems to increase. So, you go to the kitchen for something, say a knife, and along the way you are distracted by a list of four other items you either meant to do or need to do. Then, when you get to the kitchen you don't have a clue why you went there. If your multitasking differential is still young, all will be done in time. As I got older it went from all to most to some to a couple and now, often, it is just one task at a time. I am learning to go directly to the original task and do the multitask collection on the return since I will, at least, get the immediate need taken care of. But I still consider myself one of the sharpest knifes in the drawer when it comes to mental acuity, even when I forget the knife. Go figure the human imagination.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, I am easily distracted these days which makes multitasking almost impossible. If I switch to something else I often can’t remember what I was doing right before that wasn’t completed.

And I often have to go back to the doorway to remember why I came into the room in the first place.

 

[braumeister]

If it might help, this is one of my favorite visual aids on the topic.

 

[MissMolly]

New research from University of Notre Dame Psychology Professor Gabriel Radvansky suggests that passing through doorways is the cause of these memory lapses.

“Entering or exiting through a doorway serves as an ‘event boundary’ in the mind, which separates episodes of activity and files them away,” Radvansky explains.

Walking through doorways causes forgetting, new research shows.

 

[Koolau]

I have never been able to remember someone's name unless I have seen them and heard it three times. I remember faces easily. I'll know if I have met someone before, but putting a name to that face? It takes 3 times. Not cognitive decline. Just the way it's always been with me.

I am the reverse. I don't recall faces well but remember names (huh?) At Megcorp, one of my duties was to deal with various safety issues which required me to send my people into the plant for testing or interviews. I had a master list of the people and I made reports. To this day (25 years later) if someone mentions one of these people by name, I recall that I dealt with them though I may have never even seen them.

Obviously, I'm not talking common names like Joe Smith, but I'm guessing I am familiar with 1000 names I dealt with back in the day. Every few weeks I'll see one of their obituaries and check - sure enough, they w*rked at my plant site. Probably wouldn't recognize 5 of them today by face. Weird what we remember.

 

[CaptTom]

Interesting point. I remember lots of written names. I, too have had jobs where I wrote a lot of names and maintained lists of names. I'm pretty good at spelling even the odd ones. I'm often asked "do you know so-and-so?" More often than not, I recognize the name but can't connect it to the person.