Such courses can include learning tricks like associating names with sounds, grouping words in a pattern or linking words with a visual image. Making lists also becomes more important as a memory aid as people age, Kahn says. Other tricks, like wearing your watch upside down, are the equivalent of tying a string around your finger as a reminder. A natural progression Kahn adds, however, that most people can expect to experience some decline in memory and intellectual abilities as they pass age 50. How much is lost depends upon such things as level of education, as well as physical and mental health.
People process and retrieve information slower as they age.
They also can have trouble responding to multiple stimuli, such as receiving oral and visual instructions at the same time. Still, people in their 40s, 50s and 60s often worry the first time they forget a name. They shouldn't, says Dr. Ronald Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Research Center in Rochester, Minnesota. A problem may be beginning only if there is frequent, repeated forgetting of important information. The cause of such repeated forgetfulness could be stress, depression, prescription drug use or overuse of alcohol.