Ever been at a party and can’t remember the name of the person you’re talking to? Or you find yourself tearing apart your house trying to find your keys?
While these experiences can be unnerving, some degree of forgetfulness is a natural part of aging. Still, there are ways you can help support your memory and cognitive functioning. Here’s what research says about the causes of memory loss and how certain lifestyle changes may help.
3 Causes of Age-Related Memory Loss
1. The Volume of Your Brain Shrinks
Your memory naturally declines with each decade of life. However, normal age-related memory loss may not be as dramatic as previously thought, according to the Stanford School of Medicine.
A reduction in neurons due to slight shrinking of the brain along with loss of protective myelin may cause changes in processing speed.
“It’s due to the shrinking of your hippocampus, the part of your brain that stores memories,” explains neurologist Majid Fotuhi, MD, an adjunct professor at the Mind/Brain Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
2. You Have Chronic Health Conditions
Chronic conditions can increase your risk of dementia as you age, which affects memory and other cognitive processes.
High blood sugar, such as with diabetes, can damage blood vessels in your brain over time, potentially leading to problems with memory and cognition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
High blood pressure, especially in middle age, is associated with a higher risk of dementia later in life, according to the American Heart Association. Untreated hypertension narrows and blocks arteries everywhere, including in your brain, Dr. Fotuhi says.
Elevated cholesterol is also toxic to your brain: High cholesterol increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, according to the National Institute on Aging.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, early symptoms of dementia include:
- Forgetting recent events or information
- Misplacing commonly used items
- Experiencing a change in mood, behavior, or interests
Other conditions, including untreated sleep apnea, can also affect your memory, Fotuhi says.
Mental processes such as attention, stress, pain, lack of sleep, and low levels of depression and anxiety also play a role in cognitive processing and can affect memory.
3. Your Hormones Fluctuate
The profound hormonal changes and symptoms that accompany menopause may be related to cognitive decline, according to a 2021 research paper. The researchers believe that one reason for this is that estrogen, which dips during menopause, may play an essential role as a neuroprotective agent.
5 Ways to Support Your Memory as You Age
While some parts of age-related memory decline are outside of your control, there are things you can do to help support a healthy memory into your golden years.
1. Break a Sweat
Exercise-related physical activity is associated with increased brain volumes, suggesting potential neuroprotective effects, such as reducing cognitive decline, according to a 2024 study.
“A third of your brain is made up of blood vessels, so it should come as no surprise that there’s a link between physical fitness and brain volume,” Fotuhi says.
A 2021 study found a correlation between regular exercise and working memory in particular. Working memory is the mental process of temporarily holding a limited amount of information in your mind for immediate use. Following a recipe and remembering a phone number are examples of when you use working memory.
In other words: “It’s never too late to start [exercising],” Fotuhi says.
2. Limit Sitting
It’s also important to avoid sitting too much during the day, even if you tend to be physically active.
Research looked at adults between the ages of 45 and 75 and found that those who sat for anywhere from three to seven hours each day had a substantial thinning of their medial temporal lobe (MTL), which is where the brain forms new memories. It also usually precedes dementia, says Gary Small, MD, chair of psychiatry at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey and author of The Memory Bible (he was also one of study’s authors).
3. Practice Mindfulness
Stress itself is toxic to brain cells: “It kills them off and shrinks both the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus, both areas of the brain responsible for memory and learning,” Fotuhi says.
One research review that followed almost 30,000 people for at least 10 years found that people who reported “clinically significant anxiety” were more likely to develop dementia later in life.
But practicing mindfulness techniques such as meditation or yoga may help. According to a 2023 article, evidence suggests that meditation can stimulate changes in the brain — a phenomenon called neuroplasticity — that may lead to growth in the hippocampus, a region vital for memory. The article also concluded that meditation contributes to stress reduction and may boost memory by reducing the harmful effects of stress hormones on the brain.
4. Dine Mediterranean-Style
The Mediterranean diet — which is loaded with fruits, veggies, and healthy fats like olive oil and fish as well as legumes and whole grains — offers heart-healthy benefits. But the Mediterranean way of eating also appears to benefit your brain for many of the same reasons.
According to a 2023 study, the Mediterranean diet was found to slow cognitive decline and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
“It makes sense that any diet that also helps to lower your blood pressure and cholesterol would help your brain, too,” Dr. Small says. “The healthy fats in the diet also reduce brain inflammation, while the antioxidants in many of the foods help protect brain cells from wear and tear.”
Alternatively, a study of almost 500,000 people in the UK found that those who ate 25 grams (g) of processed meat a day — the equivalent of just a slice of bacon — had a 44 percent increased risk of developing dementia.
5. Get Enough Sleep
While you’re sound asleep, your brain’s busy strengthening connections between its cells, transferring info from your hippocampus (responsible for short-term memory) to your neocortex (responsible for long-term memory), according to the Yale School of Medicine.
“This process essentially shifts memories and skills to a more efficient brain region so they become more stable and you can easily recall them, a process called memory consolidation,” Small says.
Small says sleep also allows your brain to clear out waste like beta-amyloid, which raises Alzheimer’s risk.
If you have trouble sleeping, you may be tempted to ask your physician for a prescription for either antianxiety or sleep meds. But try to avoid this if you can, Small says. People who regularly take benzodiazepines — drugs such as diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan), or alprazolam (Xanax) — may be 50 percent more likely to develop Alzheimer’s, according to one review. However, there currently isn’t enough evidence to confirm a connection between these medications and the development of Alzheimer’s.
Instead, practice good sleep habits, including going to bed and waking up around the same time each day and avoiding screens (like your phone or the TV) for a couple hours before bed.
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