We’ve all had moments when we, for some reason, can’t remember something minor — the name of that hotel in Miami we loved, when Beyoncé’s third album came out, or which cheese we ate last holiday season that didn’t agree with us.
These experiences are irksome but they’re not generally an indicator of something more nefarious, Dr. Wendy Suzuki, neuroscientist and dean of neural science and psychology at New York University, told us — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, hosts of HuffPost’s “Am I Doing It Wrong?” podcast.
Listen to the full episode by hitting play:
“That is normal. That happens,” Suzuki said. There’s no need for alarm or to visit a doctor unless “memory problems start to affect your job and your ability to care for yourself and your family.”
If it does appear to be the latter, definitely reach out to a neurologist — do not rely on those janky internet memory quizzes to diagnose yourself. Dr. Google simply doesn’t have the qualifications Suzuki and her peers do.
But knowing that occasional memory blips aren’t cause for panic is a relief — especially when we begin to break into a sweat looking for our car keys and find ourselves wondering if it’s all downhill from here.
As we age, our brains experience structural changes, Suzuki noted, and that’s absolutely normal. We also could be dealing with other very common issues that are secretly contributing to our memory lapses.
“Many of us are sleep deprived,” Suzuki, the author of “Happy Brain, Happy Life,” said. “I really focus on giving myself what I need, which is about eight hours.” Significantly less than that can cloud your memory and leave you feeling physically and mentally depleted.
“I’ve also learned that too much [sleep] is almost as bad as not enough [for optimal brain function],” Suzuki said.
“This is something that everybody can do,” she emphasized. “This is an experiment that I did on myself during the pandemic. I was home. What else could I do? I’m going to do a little sleep experiment on myself and see what duration makes me feel best the next day … It was very, very helpful for me.”
Sleep isn’t the only thing we can concentrate on to improve our memories.
“It’s so important to think about — not just think about — but do something about your sleep, your regular exercise, your nutrition, your hydration, your social connection, all of these things are everyday things that everybody can do.”
Other potential memory troublemakers? Stress and anxiety.
“[They’ll] really do a number on your ability to remember things,” Suzuki said. “This is why speaking in front of an audience is one of the most scary things because that fear will make you forget what you’re going to say and then it makes it all worse.”
So, if you’re noticing periodic memory issues, consider doing a lifestyle audit to assess how much sleep you’re getting and the amount of negative stress you’re grappling with. Then look into ways to help protect and improve your brain’s health, like physical activity.
“Exercise builds up that growth factor that goes directly to the hippocampus and grows new brain cells,” Suzuki told us. “The beautiful thing is that it also works across [ages]. There have been studies that people in their 90s still have new brain cells that grow in their hippocampus, which is so optimistic. I think it’s such a beautiful vision that even in your 90s, you have these new brain cells growing and your little walk that you’re going to take as a 90-year-old is going to help that.”
We also chatted with Suzuki about ways to improve memory recall, her favorite daily practice for brain health, and how she feels about brain supplements.
Listen to the full episode above or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also watch the full episode on YouTube.
For more from Dr. Wendy Suzuki, visit her website.
Have a question or need some help with something you’ve been doing wrong? Email us at AmIDoingItWrong@HuffPost.com, and we might investigate the topic in an upcoming episode.
