OFF THE RAILS

“Can’t recall the name of your third grade teacher? Don’t worry—it’s just your brain clearing the debris.” (Corrine Purtill, “Forgetting,” TIME MAGAZINE, May 9, 2022).

Neuroscientists who study the biology of forgetting have determined that forgetting is not just a failure of memory, but that the brain has its own molecular tools working to clear what is no longer relevant. It makes sense that since we absorb, “hundreds of thousands bits of information in the course of a single day,” that the brain disposes of some of the useless stuff.
However, this memory loss is not connected to Alzheimer’s Disease which goes way beyond routine forgetting.

Consequently, it’s obviously not serious when you have forgotten the name of the doctor who removed your tonsils when you were six years old, but maybe your first kiss left an indelible impression—or maybe not!

Some people blame their age on forgetting a name or where they misplaced the house keys. However, I have observed that some of the most forgetful among us are teenagers who forget their homework, lunch or where they dropped their stinky gym clothes. Forgetting the time they were supposed to come home is a cop out! That’s a senior moment for seniors in high school.

I am told that Hacienda at the Canyon, where I live, now has 244 residents (capacity 300). That’s a lot of names to remember! So far, there are seven Nancy’s living here. Consequently, it is safe to call everyone, “Nancy.” Eventually, you’ll get it right.

Forgetting is frustrating. There are all kinds of tricks recommended such as, “Go through the alphabet.” If that doesn’t work, do it again, but this time try the English alphabet. Association is also a good trick, but if someone’s name is “Minnie” don’t call her “Mouse.” The brain is like a computer that stores information, and I guess at some point, unless a memory is revisited, it will slowly delete what is less necessary to focus on what is being delivered.

Often, when I forget a name or search for a word, it will come to me later. Eureka! it’s been there all the time, but it isn’t immediately there..there. However, I have found that once it has been recollected, it is easier to remember the next time if I write the word (or name) on a piece of paper and make a concerted effort to remember it.

Someone once asked me, “What’s the secret of a happy marriage?” I said, “Selective hearing and selective memory” Of course, you really don’t know how good your memory is until you try to forget something.

Along with other scientists, Oliver Hardt, a professor at McGill University suspects that, “The culling of nonessential memory is one of the key purposes of sleep.”  In other words, a good night’s sleep produces a clearer mind.

Sometimes it’s weird which old memories I can recall. For instance, many years ago, when browsing in a bookstore, I noticed two young women enter the front door. They were covered from the head down with  a myriad of colorful tattoos. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a patch of clear skin left. They seemed a bit confused as they looked around, so I said, “In case you are looking for books on tattoos, I think they are on aisle 3.” As I left, I heard one girl say, “Do you think she’s psychic?” Perhaps, that memory should have gone into my brain trash can, but it was just to colorful to forget.

Forgetting and remembering are two sides of the same coin. Steven Wright said it best,
“Right now I’m having amnesia and deja Vu at the same time. I think I’ve forgotten this before.”

Esther Blumenfeld