Memory and Forgetting: A Comprehensive Analysis Memory loss is a huge problem in an aging population.

No substantive cure for memory loss.

Forgetfulness does not always accompany aging.

Different types of memory loss:

Forgetfulness

Dementia

Alzheimer's

Confusion

The memory impairment that comes with aging may be due to confusion as well as memory loss.

Memory loss and forgetfulness may be preventable.

There are a number of different approaches to reducing forgetfulness

Background music

Categorization

Control

Daily behavioral changes

The goal of the paper began as a meta-analysis of efforts aimed to reduce forgetfulness

Too many promising approaches to aiding memory impairment to engage in a traditional meta-analysis

Look at the theoretical overlap of different known approaches that may enhance or impair memory

F. Not engaging in a meta-analysis of a single therapy because single therapies do not have therapeutic efficacy.

G. Examine the hypothetical overlap between various treatment modalities

II. Literature Review

A. Three types of memory as defined by Cowan, 2008.

1. Long-term memory

2. Short-term memory

3. Working memory

B. Repetition

1. Does repetition move information from short-term to long-term memory?

2. Does repetition lose its importance with brain changes?

C. Control

1. Inhibitory control in memory impairment

2. Inhibitory therapies can impair cognitive functions, including memory

3. Schilling et al.'s 2014 study of retrieval-induced forgetting

a. Someone is only .75 times as likely to remember an item after induced forgetting

b. Even people with poorer inhibition are subject to retrieval-induced forgetting

c. People can be taught to forget

D. Categorization

1. Connotations and denotations

2. Vlach and Kalish study of categorization (2014

a. Manipulated timing

b. Preference for massed over interleavened features disappeared with passage of time

3. Chunking

E. Emotion

1. Memory is not neutral

2. Salience is critical to memory

3. Walter and Meier, 2014

F. The Role of Sleep

1. Sleep seems to enhance memory

2. Lo et al. studied daytime napping and nocturnal sleep

a. Nocturnal sleep has a greater impact on memory consolidation for related word pairs

b. Both nocturnal sleep and napping benefit unrelated word pairs equally

G. Sleep and emotion

1. Emotion impacts the ability of sleep to improve memories

2. Cairney et al., 2014

a. A memory's emotional elements should be linked to its central constructs to optimize sleep-related enhancement

b. Sleep spindle cycles impact memory for negative emotional constructs

H. Hindering recall

1. Can people try to forget?

2. Spitzer, 2014

a. The relative baseline contributions of R. To F. appear to have a 2:1 ratio

b. RIF can impact recognition memory

I. Physiological changes

1. Many brain disorders are believed to be linked to physiological changes in the brain

2. Tu et al. looked at changes in the thalamus and its impact on memory

J. Other memory impairment

1. Not all memory impairment is forgetfulness

2. Confusion is a predominant form of memory impairment

3. False recognition study by Pidgeon and Morcom, 2014

K. Background music

1. Background music is believed to improve memory

2. Bottiroli et al. examined the impact of different types of background music on memory and other cognitive exercises

L. Ginkgo biloba

1. Examine use in patients with Alzheimer's and certain sub-types of dementia

2. Weinmann et al., 2010

III. Methodology-

In this comprehensive analysis, the author is going to explore the possible interactions between different existing interventions aimed at improving memory and reducing forgetfulness.

1. Additive

2. Multiplicative

3. Subtractive through interference

4. The author will compare the different possible interactions of multiple interventions, beginning with two different interventions and then adding additional interventions.

IV. Analysis

A. Table one- memory interventions

B. Table two- retrieval practice

C. Table three- retrieval induced forgetting

D. Table four- napping

E. Table five- nocturnal sleep

F. Table six- Mozart

G. Table seven- Mahler

H. Table eight- white noise

I. Table nine- no noise

J. Table ten- Ginkgo biloba

K. Table eleven- nocturnal sleep and Mozart

L. Table twelve- napping and Mozart

V. Discussion

A. Four interventions stand out as the most helpful

1. Repetition

2. Sleep

3. Classical music

4. Ginkgo

B. The combination of interventions may be the most helpful

C. The role of retrieval induced forgetting

1. Can retrieval induced forgetting serve as a proxy for forgetfulness?

2. Could interventions increase retrieval induced forgetting?

a. Table thirteen- Retrieval induced forgetting

VI. Recommendations

A. Get adequate sleep

B. Engage in repetition

C. Positive classical music in the background

D. Supplement with Ginkgo

VII. Conclusion

Rather than a meta-analysis examining a specific intervention, the study looks at multiple interventions and the possible range of impact that they could have if combined into a single therapeutic intervention. It finds that four interventions have tremendous potential for being used alongside other interventions: repetition, sleep, classical music, and Ginkgo biloba supplementation. These interventions are isolated because of their efficacy and also because they can be added to the existing treatment regimens of most people suffering from memory impairment without interfering with other forms of treatment. In addition, the treatments are affordable, do not require the intervention of a specialist, and can be handled in a wide variety of settings. The paper also looks at developments in memory care and suggests areas for further research.
Table of Contents

Introduction

Literature Review

Methodology

Analysis

Table one

Table two

Table three

Table four

Table five

Table six

Table seven

Table eight

Table nine

Table ten

Table eleven

Table twelve

Discussion

Table thirteen

Recommendations

Conclusion

Introduction

Memory loss is one of the most pressing problems linked to an aging population, with forgetfulness and the associated problems that it brings among the top concerns for the elderly and their caregivers, who must find ways to make lifestyle changes and adaptations that can keep people self-sufficient in the face of memory loss. Of course, the elderly are not the only members of the population vulnerable to memory loss. As people become more stressed, they suffer from cognitive problems, including memory impairment. The United States also has a serious problem with getting adequate rest, which is a barrier to memory. Furthermore, people with traumatic brain injuries, stroke, and other physiological changes to the brain may suffer from memory loss, forgetfulness, or confusion as a result of those injuries.

However, at this point in time, there has been no substantive cure for memory loss, nor have any treatments been found that can completely prevent memory loss. As a result, memory loss is frequently considered an expected part of the aging process, so much so that many people mistakenly believe it to be an inevitable part of the aging process and resign themselves to the memory loss process, assuming that short-term, long-term, and working memory impairments are inevitable. This acceptance of memory troubles as people age or as a side effect of other issues has led to a society that deals with memory loss and not really a society that challenges the memory loss paradigm.

While some people may joking refer to Alzheimer's as "old timer's" disease, in a nod at the memory loss and confusion that often co-occur with aging, it is critical to remember that forgetfulness does not always accompany age. Furthermore, the degree of forgetfulness that co-occurs with aging ranges wildly across people; some people experience no memory impairment or confusion as they age, which other people develop severe problems, including Alzheimer's and dementia, which are both associated with dramatic memory loss and confusion. Furthermore, the onset of memory loss can also vary dramatically from person-to-person, with some people noticing the onset of gradual memory loss in middle age while others do not notice any perceptible memory loss until old age. What these variables make clear is that memory is complex and memory loss, while clearly correlated with aging, is impacted by a number of different factors that are not necessarily age-related. Genetics, lifestyle choices, environmental factors, and brain usage over the lifetime all seem to be related to whether or not a person experiences memory loss and the extent of that memory loss. This is not to suggest that memory loss is completely forgettable; as with other health conditions that have genetic and lifestyle components, life style choices can only have a partial impact on disease onset. However, it is important to keep in mind that healthy behavioral choices can help preserve memory and forestall cognitive impairments.

Moreover, the memory impairment that comes with aging, which is often characterized by confusion and considered a precursor to dementia, may not actually be the result of pure forgetfulness as was once believed. People once assumed that old people lost short-term memory ability and long-term memories as they aged, which led to the confusion associated with memory impairment in the elderly. On the contrary, much of the confusion linked to old age may actually be due to memory confusion, so that novel experiences that are similar to prior experiences become confused with the prior experiences.

What this suggests is that ending the confusion associated with old age may actually be a separate challenge than ending forgetfulness and may actually require techniques that are not so much aimed at increasing memory but at decreasing memory confusion, which may, in fact, require directed forgetting. Understanding the relationship between confusion and apparent memory loss may, in fact, provide one of the keys to helping ameliorate some of the negative impacts of the more severe forms of dementia, which seem to be characterized at least as much by confusion as they are by generic memory loss.

While helping people deal with the symptoms of memory loss is the current therapeutic approach, it is important to keep in mind that both memory loss and forgetfulness may be preventable,…