you said what? huh?

A friend of mine from church lent me a book 'Remember' by Lisa Genova.

She lent it to me after we had had a conversation about her husband who is in the early to mid-stages of Alzheimers. 

There were a number of points raised in the book that were not new to me, but a few that were.

We have physical memory (how to ride a bike, how to play piano, how to swing a golf club, etc.), semantic memory (our home address, our phone number, the capital city of our and other countries, etc.), episodic memory (our autobiographical experiences, what happened in our lives yesterday, last week, last month, etc.) and finally the memory for things to come (our upcoming weekend plans, our to do list for the day, etc.).

Physical memory seems to stick and stay with us through Alzheimers, we did not tend to forget our physical abilities. We may become less adept at them over time and lack of usage. To gain physical memory it isn't about memorizing something, but rather, doing that physical activity over and over again until it is known.

Semantic memory also seems to stick, but the total number of semantic facts that we have will slowly diminish over time through lack of recall. The author noted that we should not ever hesitate to Google a semantic fact. If we use glasses as a visual aid, why not use the internet as a memory aid?

Episodic memory is problematic as each time we retell a story about a memory, our brain is actually reliving that as if it was happening all over again, and when we retell the story we invariably leave out details or make very small fabrications and this new version overwrites what was the original. The next time we tell that same story about a memory, the same process takes place again, so our episodic memory over time becomes less and less accurate; even becoming wrong eventually. There isn't much that can be done about this except to either accept it, and/or keep as detailed a diary as possible and refer back to that diary often to keep the episodic memories stable. Looking back through past photos can also help with making our episodic memories more accurate over time.

The memory for things to come is very limited as we can only remember in our short term memory a small fixed number of things. The author recommends making full use of tools like a Google Calendar, to-do-lists and any other technological aid. Again, if we use glasses as a visual aid, why not use the internet and technology to help us remember things we need to do?

The last item that I'll mention, though I knew this already from past experience, is that to avoid losing items when you put them down anywhere (like your keys, your mobile device, your wallet, etc.) either have a very specific place where these items always go, or, pay very close attention to where you put them down. By paying close attention and noting the surroundings of where you have put this thing, you will better remember that you put it there.