The older we get, the more sensitive we are about forgetting things. Knowing that some memory loss is normal and how to boost your recall can help you relax.

Everyone has memory lapses—forgetting where they parked the car at the mall or where they put the cell phone the night before. Fortunately, occasional memory blips are considered normal and nothing to worry about.

Severe memory impairment, however, can affect your ability to function at work and home. You may have a problem, for example, if you get lost driving in a familiar part of town or you can’t remember how to do something you’ve done many times before, such as balancing your checkbook.

Learning about the possible causes of memory impairment can help you adopt behaviors that may improve your memory.

Causes
Memory can be affected by anything that affects cognition—the process of thinking, learning, and remembering. Common causes of memory problems include:

• Medications. Over-the-counter and prescription sleeping pills and antihistamines, anti-anxiety medications, antidepressants, and narcotic pain medicines can impair memory.
• Alcohol and illegal drugs. Both can change brain chemistry that powers memory.
• Stress or depression. These conditions can cause a lack of attention and focus that can affect memory.
• Head injury. Memory loss can result from a blow to the head.
• Sleep deficit. Not getting enough sleep can affect concentration and memory.
• Mild cognitive impairment. People with this condition have severely impaired memory but don’t meet the criteria for dementia.
• Dementia. This condition causes increasing impairment of memory and other aspects of thinking. Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke are common causes.

Memory Boosters
To help improve memory:

• Exercise your body. Physical activity can reduce stress and depression and help maintain blood flow to the brain.
• Exercise your brain. Challenging your brain by reading, learning a new language, skill, or hobby, and playing word games creates connections between brain cells.

When to See a Doctor
See your doctor if your memory loss is impairing your ability to function on a day-to-day basis or is getting progressively worse. Many causes of memory impairment can be reversed.

For more information, visit the National Institute on Aging at www.nia.nih.gov and search for “memory loss.”

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