Sometimes my 13 year old son will look at me in disbelief at a question I’ll ask him — not because I’m being overprotective or old fashioned, but because I just asked the same question 5 minutes before. Sound familiar? How about forgetting the name of that thing –oh yeah, the glove compartment!
Our society has found humor in these increasingly common bouts of forgetfulness with the term ‘Senior Moments’. But when you are relatively young and you are cognizant of the very real change in your brain’s capacity to remember things, it’s worth a little investigation.
There seems to be quite a bit of research on memory boosting exercises and supplements but it seems that these things would be treating the symptoms and not the cause. What could possibly be the cause of so many 40 -50 year olds having Senior Moments?
One possible explanation that fascinates me is what I heard Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (currently treating Pres. Clinton) say regarding mini strokes happening to even young and otherwise healthy people. You can be driving, sleeping, working, and not realize that anything has happened. Moreover, you will not see any real symptoms because you still have the capacity to redirect function to other parts of your largely healthy brain. Watch this clip of Dr. Esselstyn from minute 27 to hear it explained by this renown physician.
With low blood pressure and no cholesterol or weight issues, I thought I was safe from cardio-vascular illness. This is definitely not the case. With the brain and heart inextricably connected in function and wellness, improving circulation in the veins and arteries through diet makes a whole lot of sense to me now. Pass the broccoli and hold the fried chicken!
New gift items have arrived and we are so excited to give you a first look.
1. Ladies Who Lunch, Insulated Lunch Tote with Bamboo Handles
A lunch tote elegant enough to use as a purse!
2. Almond Delight, Chocolate and Almond Dipped Cookie Sticks
A favorite snack in Korea, these crispy delights from Lotte Confectionery are simply heavenly.
3. My Own Lunch Bag, Cotton Reusable Lunch Bag that You Decorate Yourself
Colorful Fabric Markers are included to make lunchtime an eco-fun activity.
4.Sushi Snacker, Sheets of Roasted Savory Seaweed
Everyone who loves sushi knows that seaweed is an amazingly delicious and nutritious food. Now enjoy the crispy savory goodness anytime with these roasted seaweed sheets. Just cut with scissors and enjoy alone or with steaming hot rice. Yum!
The tools we have at our fingertips to stay connected and to instantly find information are truly incredible. Yet I know from personal experience how easy it is to abuse these tools and waste a heck of a lot of time. This fascinating video by Frontline really explores how technology is changing not only our behaviors but also our brains. At one point, a professor at MIT talks about her personal experience of a typical technology filled day. Going through emails, organizing her calendar, and doing various other internet related things makes her feel great. Really on top of things. Then she realizes that the day is gone and she hasn’t done anything significant, hasn’t thought about anything hard. (The entire video is a long but riveting 90 minutes.)
When humans adapted to the written word, we soon lost the ability to memorize and repeat vast amounts of knowledge passed down orally from person to person. But it appears that we managed just fine and now use books to replace our diminished capacity to memorize. With technology and mulittasking becoming the norm, we may be losing the ability to focus on one thing at a time and think deeply about things without distraction. Fast Company also recently had a great article about how some kinds of multitasking costs you more time than you save.
We are immigrants to the digital world, but our kids are natives. Are we doing them a huge disservice by allowing them to use available technology at a very young age? Are we unwittingly creating the dumbest generation? Or is this just a natural progression of the human race with changes that are inevitable like those that took place after discovery of the written word?
As a mom of 2 tweenage boys, I constantly worry about the internet and too much “screen time”. When I say no more tv, they move to the computer. Chased away from computers, they move to their ipods or confiscate my Blackberry to play games. Even doing homework on a computer is not safe unless the internet is somehow turned off and they are not constantly interrupted by friends wanting to “chat”.
A big part of the problem was that the kids would take laptop computers to their rooms to do homework and ended up doing who knows what else for who knows how long! Yesterday, we finally took action and officially made a permanent home for our two laptop computers right in the study. Now all computer use is in a public space and the place where I spend the most time is also the place they do their homework. I guess we are all pioneers in this new world of technology and will have to adapt to the digital wilderness as we go!
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