Memory loss probably affects the majority of us in one way or another. More often than not, it is a momentary memory lapse; nothing to worry about – it happens to the best of us. However, when memory lapses begin to become a regular occurrence, it is wise to dig a little deeper and seek .

Memory can be affected by a number of factors, some more sinister than others: it may simply be lack of sleep; fatigue due to over-work, lack of exercise, or poor diet; or stress-related. These are all issue about which we can do something constructive to help us. However, memory problems can also be the result of deeper-rooted issues such as brain disease, tumours, or the onset of a brain cell deteriorating disease such as Alzheimer’s. Sufferers that have any doubts at all should always seek medical advice with regards to continued memory lost

The Tenuous Past: Memory and the Ways it Fails
Dana Bakalar
" I remember it like it was yesterday!" you say. But how well do you really remember it? How well do you remember yesterday? Here's a quick quiz: What time did you have lunch yesterday? What exactly did you eat? What did you say? What did the people around you say? If you read the paper yesterday, name all the stories you read and summarize them briefly.

Don't remember yesterday as well as you thought? Don't worry, nobody does. Our memories are often thought of as recording devices, mechanically noting what has happened during the day and replaying these events like a tape. In truth, memory is a function of the brain, which is constantly in flux, organic, and does not behave like a machine. Your memory can be affected in many ways by many things, which can cause you to forget, to change memories around, to repress memories, and even to invent completely new ones!

How Memory Works
Doctors think memory works in three steps, first is registration, sensory memory comes into play here, we perceive our surroundings and make our observations ready for storage. Retention is the second component followed by recall. If sensory memory is considered important it is rehearsed, repeated, mulled over, and kept in STM for a time. Generally, we can only juggle about seven facts at a time in STM. When new facts enter, they displace the old, which are either lost or, if they have been rehearsed enough, saved in LTM.

Dr. Daniel Schacter of Harvard University lists "7 Sins of Memory," ways in which our memories fail us. His list features :

Short-term memory- (STM), immediate, or working memory is the ability to remember a telephone number for the time it takes to dial it. The item you are going to the closet to get is stored in short-term memory until you get there and retrieve it. You are supposed to forget these things after a brief period, otherwise your head would be full of trivial facts.
Sensory memory- also in the immediate category, includes the ability to recognize smells, sounds, and sights. Unless considered important, visual memory usually lasts only half a second and sounds last a few seconds. Sensory memory is only lost in cases of brain injury and is usually considered as part of the process of perception. Recent memory- is the ability to recall day to day events and is involved in learning new information
Long term memory- (LTM), or remote memory, concerns itself with the more distant past, life events such as your childhood, or your visit to Paris last fall or the doctor last week.
Declarative memory - or is often considered part of remote, or LTM it includes semantic memory -the ability to remember the meaning of words, facts, and a generalized knowledge of the world and episodic memory- your autobiographical memories. Episodic memory is often effected by amnesia.
Procedural memory- another part of LTM consists of remembering motor skills, knowing how to do things, such as how to walk, ride a bike and eat.
Prospective memory-refers to the ability to remember that you need to do something in the future such as planning, organizing, i.e. remembering to bring your purse with you when going to the store.

To this list, some would add " repression," the conscious or unconscious suppression of traumatic memories. Repression was first conceived of by Freud, who felt that people could push memories out of their awareness (1). This theory enjoyed new fame in the 1990's, when hundreds of people, mostly women, 'recovered' repressed memories of abuse, fueling a Satanic Ritual Abuse scare during which many people were convicted of heinous crimes they may not have committed.

Besides the more everyday ways memory fails, there are many diseases which can affect it. Alzheimer's is probably the most well-known of these. Alzheimer's impairs judgment and changes personality as well as affecting memory .. It occurs most often in older people, who make up about 50% of the population with the disease, and is very rare in individuals under 40 .. The memory loss in this disease, as well as in other brain-altering diseases, comes form changes in the physical structure of the brain, rather than from normal brain mechanisms.

Memory - What is it? Webster's defines memory as "The mental capacity or faculty of retaining or recalling facts, events, impressions or previous experiences." Scientists still do not understand how memory works witnessed by the numerous confusing categories and terms, they usually divide it into three types -immediate, recent and remote- based on time. Children and young adults are often proud of their memories while as adults we generally complain about ours. Achievement in school and the work place is largely dependent on the ability to memorize facts and social success is tied to the ability to remember names and faces. When we reach our forties things change. Did you ever find yourself looking in the closet but not knowing what you are looking for only to remember what it was when you got back to the kitchen? This is a normal consequence of aging and usually only effects short-term memory.

The good news is - we do become more intelligent and wise as we do age. Wisdom is demonstrated by our increased ability to make associations or links between past experiences and new. This function becomes easier as we accumulate more experiences with time. Does our memory fail or does it just slow and require more maintenance? This is controversial subject in medicine. Remember that all of the statements made concerning memory loss are based on studies that measure averages of groups of people not individuals. We all know of an 80+ year old who is as sharp witty and intelligent as ever.

The brain shrinks as we age, some of the shrinkage is due to cells dying, but cell death is less of a factor then previously thought. Cell death begins as early as 40 but measurable intellectual slowing does not begin until age 60 and does not accelerate until age 80. Other cells take over the dying cell function and cell death alone does not significantly effect memory. The neuro transmitter acetylcholine decreases over time and may contribute to age associated memory impairment

How often have you asked yourself the question:
" Why can't I remember everything I read?"

The problem with poor memory is not confined to reading. It is more generalized in that we also have difficulty remembering:
names of people
dates and times
telephone numbers
codes, passwords
events and occasions
business facts and figures
jokes
etc, etc.

It is not ONLY remembering what you have now read, but remembering what you read yesterday, last week, a month ago, a year ago, and so on.

The problem is not because you are running out of brain storage space. Even when we reach old age, we still have plenty of unused brain capacity available.

The problem is not TIME. Information simply cannot "leak" out of our ears over time. Why can we remember vivid details of childhood yet the details of last week's newspaper are vague? We remember perfect details of scenes that only happened once, yet information drummed into the brain just simply will not "stick".

Cranial electrical stimulation may be a very useful alternative to drug treatments in individuals that have treatment resistant anxiety and/or depression. Furthermore, CES used in combination with the natural amino acids may convert the amino acids more rapidly to neurotransmitters resulting in greater effectiveness.
Eric Braverman, M.D.

21st Century Medicine & Learning
This response submitted by Ronald B. Keys, JD, PhD .

Slow learners and, or, those with impaired nervous system development may have their brains and nervous system jump started. Little did we know back in the 1950s when the movie, Forbidden Planet, with Leslie Nielson, Ann Francis and Walter Pidgeon, that the technology to stimulate brain growth, with a form of cranial electrical stimulation, might be in use in the 21st century.

So, what other Perhaps is the cause of the memory problem?

Every computer's hard drive is organized. The aim of loading information onto the hard drive is not to leave it there, untouched and inaccessible, but to use it. Much thought was put into how the information will be filed away so that when it is needed it can be accessed quickly and easily. Your computer has a filing system to access all information placed in any possible location.

The key to enhancing human memory is very similar to the thinking behind a hard drive's storage and retrieval system. To now, you have been uploading your information to your brain without an organized system. Getting the information in is no problem; it’s the retrieval process that needs polishing.

Cranial electrical stimulation (CES) may improve memory, attention and focus; important studies are emerging on the uses of mild electrical current to enhance cognition and aspects of intelligence.

RESEARCH PAPERS

Think of the cells in your body as being a bit like a dry cell battery in your car. When the battery is fully charged, the car starts and everything works fine. When the car battery is discharged or flat, sometimes all its needs is a “jump start”, a small amount of electricity, and everything is fine again.

Sick cells are merely like discharged cells: This may be an oversimplification, but is the best way to explain the technology of MicroCurrent Therapy in lay person terms.

Scientists have found that different microcurrent frequencies have different effects meaning this revolutionary medicine contains infinite applications and possibilities, especially in the areas of healthy new cell renewal and stimulation. The applications of MicroCurrent Therapy appear to be endless!

It is also believed that micro-current stimulation restores cellular electrical balance by changing potentials across cell membranes. This may alter the levels of certain ions and molecules toward a desirable equilibrium. Other physiological effects are believed to be produced: reduction of alkalinity proximate the passage of electrical current and the production of low levels of hydrochloric acid which can scavenge free radicals; attraction of oxygen to the region; localized vasoconstriction and vasodialation; reduction of local hemorrhage; sedation; increased tonicity of local tissues; antisepsis; production of desirable fibroplasia; and reduced neuromuscular irritability

So, it is believed that, if electrical stimulation is provided to the cells before they die, blood vessel permeability is increased, a more normal cellular electrical potential will be achieved, the ATP levels will increase, and protein synthesis will occur again.

This has important implications also for increased nerve conduction. By increasing the flicker fusion resolution and refresh rates Micro-current therapy increases signal strength to the brain.

Chapter Reprint: Don’t Go Blind! Patient guide for treating Macular Degeneration and Retinitis Pigmentosa and other chronic eye diseases using Micro-Current Stimulation Therapy by Thomas W Harold, Dr. Darrell DeMello, MD and Dr. Larry B. Wallace, OD, FCSO

To date, several thousand Americans are treated with CES annually and more than eleven thousand persons own CES devices, which have been prescribed for their home use. Possibly the most exciting application of the CES is for drug addiction. Further studies are needed to fully document use of the device for these purposes. In this technological age when we are surrounded by electromagnetic fields and currents, CES treatment may be necessary as an antidote and for maintenance of fully optimum health. Electromagnetic “ pollution” from video screens, televisions, stereophonic equipment, microwaves and phone lines may be destroying our health and may require a device of this type to counter these negative effects.CES may provide natural levels of supplementary current to keep the brain healthy in the electrical age.
Eric Braverman, M.D

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