[DSlayerZX]

actually, regard to 003's post, I realized one thing..... I didn't eat as much tofu as before after I enter college, and that was my main source of protein, maybe that has some negative effect toward my memory.... off to Trader Joes and Ralph I go

 

[leveller1642]

Completely unhelpful but;

Albert Schweitzer said that; "Happiness is nothing more than good health and a poor memory."

and Lewis Carroll said; "It is a poor sort of memory that only works backwards"

I wouldn't worry too much about it. It will only affect your future status and what you do for the rest of you life.

 

[synaesthetic]

Is your memory loss coupled with random episodes of daytime sleepiness?

I will often inexplicably fall asleep for short times during the day, and when I am awakened, I will have no memory of what I was doing minutes prior to the blackouts.

My doc's pretty sure I've got narcolepsy, but I have to do some super-expensive sleep studies with a specialist next year when my insurance kicks in before he can decide which medications would best prevent it. And allow me to sleep at night like an ordinary person.

The associated memory loss is far worse than the 10-20 second "naps" however. Especially when they happen at work. -_-

 

[Uncle Erik]

I think you're looking at this the wrong way. I'm not a MD, but consider how much more information you're learning and processing these days. When you're a kid, you're only working with a comparatively small amount. As you age, you accumulate more and are exposed to new things every day.

If you only put a handful of operations through a computer, it goes through them right away. Give it a lot to process and it takes awhile. Taking awhile doesn't mean there's something wrong with the computer, it means that it's got a lot more to deal with.

I think it's the same with humans. Life begins to become much more complex around your age and you have much more to process. It's normal. At least I hope nothing's wrong with you.

I experienced much the same after high school. I'm 36 now and have gotten into the habit of making notes. I'm partial to 3x5" cards - they hold up better than paper and are easily pocketable. I use the Notes function on the iPhone, too. I also keep a paper calendar where I write in longer-term tasks. And I like to take notes and put them in three ring binders (no one accidentally throws out binders). That seems to work well enough and keeps me on track.

Just realize that your life is more complex now (that is a good thing) and get in the habit of keeping a calendar and making notes to yourself.

 

[YamiTenshi]

Try sleeping more. You should try to aim for eight hours of sleep every night. If you're tired it doesn't matter how much time you're spending studying/prepping/cramming for class because a tired brain just won't absorb it as well as a fully rested brain. Even if you've gotten by with less sleep before, being in college is much more stressing than high school and your body needs more rest to cope with that stress.

Also try taking notes as your professor is talking, it'll force you to pay attention and even if you forget five minutes later you'll have your notes.

 

[Wmcmanus]

What was the question again?

Oh ya, memory loss. Eat meat! I've been eating meat all of my life, and I can remember microscopic details of almost anything that has ever happened in my life. In many ways, I actually think my memory is too good! Honestly, I can reread a post that I made on Head-Fi 5 or 6 years ago (when someone resurrects an old thread), and instantly remember which words I had mistyped and had to go back to edit. I'm not kidding.

What was I saying again? I forgot. No worries. It must not have been important.

You're probably a lot like me: extremely good long term memory, but extremely poor short term memory. I'm always looking for my keys, but when I find them everything else comes flooding back and instantly I'm on my way to pay the electric bill which I had forgotten to do on my way home before leaving the keys in the front door. It might be 5 hours later when I find them, but the minute I do, the longer term association that goes with them pops back into my mind immediately.

 

[amphead]

Stress, from trying to memorize too much in one session, which also means less sleep than optimal. Not enough protein, as you have just admitted to yourself. Trying to study with noise in the background, TV, friends talking etc, which is just too distracting. Fear of not being able to remember, ratcheting up the distraction. Not enough exercise, which is needed to get the blood flowing in the brain. Studying alone, instead of bouncing questions off of fellow students. Divide and conquer, can be helpful.

 

[Exediron]

I would certainly suggest getting more sleep. I know that if I get only six hours of sleep, my memory is useless. If I don't get enough sleep I get bouts of insanity, too.

 

[JSTpt1022]

I have a ridiculously bad memory. So, to me, the ability to remember people you've met during a day, their names, and what was said to you five minutes ago seems damn near god-like. And yeah, I'm an engineering student with a high gpa, go figure.

 

[MD1032]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus /img/forum/go_quote.gif What was the question again? Oh ya, memory loss. Eat meat! I've been eating meat all of my life, and I can remember microscopic details of almost anything that has ever happened in my life. In many ways, I actually think my memory is too good! Honestly, I can reread a post that I made on Head-Fi 5 or 6 years ago (when someone resurrects an old thread), and instantly remember which words I had mistyped and had to go back to edit. I'm not kidding. What was I saying again? I forgot. No worries. It must not have been important. You're probably a lot like me: extremely good long term memory, but extremely poor short term memory. I'm always looking for my keys, but when I find them everything else comes flooding back and instantly I'm on my way to pay the electric bill which I had forgotten to do on my way home before leaving the keys in the front door. It might be 5 hours later when I find them, but the minute I do, the longer term association that goes with them pops back into my mind immediately.

I'm the exact same way. I can remember random things long-term, but my short-term memory is terrible. I think the exact same way... finding a clue to what I'm trying to remember will often not only unlock the memory I'm looking for, it'll unlock many others simultaneously. If I'm trying to locate my cell phone, for example, I'll actually sometimes stand up, and put my hand into my pocket and grope for the invisible phone, pull it out, and BOOM, I remember that I pulled it from my pocket and left it on the counter or something. Memory is so strange, and yes, as I get older, I notice that it gets worse but fortunately, my problem-solving ability is increasing thanks to college.

But yeah, on the topic of degradation, does anyone else notice their handwriting degrading as they get older? Mine was never very good, but I have some insane difficulty writing cohesively at high speeds nowadays. I'll think "the" and my hand will write down "and" and other strange things. My hand will often substitute in letters wrong or write the wrong word down... this isn't any kind of mental problem, believe me, besides, I can type perfectly. It just seems to be a problem with my hand's muscle memory and the connection to my brain somehow.

I know one thing about myself, though, that is pretty obvious: The more sleep I get, the better my brain operates. Period. I can't go a week with only 6 hours of sleep a night. I'll be completely useless and without proper function. My reaction time and memory increase very significantly when I've had a good, long night's sleep. I know this because I went to a Halo LAN party on a Friday night (I had gotten 5-6 hours the night before) when I have 8am classes on Friday and have to get up early. I completely got my butt kicked and was extremely frustrated and felt slow. Saturday, I slept in like 10 hours, then went to the same LAN party again (we set aside two nights to get 16 people and 5 HDTV/XBOX combos into my friend's apartment...it was epic!) and literally trashed almost everyone except a few of the people who own Xboxes and play the game all the time. My reaction time was so much better plus I was thinking on such a different level that the game suddenly just seemed effortless and time itself felt like it moved slower. THAT is what a good night's sleep will do for you.

Now without further ado, I'm going to bed!

 

[sumguy_]

He hasn't admitted to having a lack of protein, he's admitted to being a vegetarian!

I'm shocked at some of the misinformation here. Do your research and you will find that eating meat has actually been linked to a higher rate of Alzheimers.

Don't let anyone tell you that your vegetarianism is at fault for this -- that is as long as you eat a healthy diet. If you don't, adding meat to it won't fix anything (it may make this or other aspects of your health worse).

Not sure what I could contribute to answering your question however and I suggest speaking with a doctor, asking the same question on a more specialized forum and doing a bit of research on memory loss causes yourself.

Couldn't resist putting my 2 cents in there...

 

[aaron313]

Maybe it's seasonal affective disorder or depression?

 

[Rednamalas1]

^ he has no problem with sleep, energy and (I'm not sure) his affect seems to be fine. I don't think it's a time to give him SSRIs just yet.

 

[Seamless Sounds]

I have poor short term memory as well. Anything out of routine, something I'm supposed to do, I forget. I can't seem to remember some of my classmate's names in high school and that was like 1.5 years ago. After being there for 4 years I should remember, but their names fade away from my memory.

 

[aaron313]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rednamalas1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ he has no problem with sleep, energy and (I'm not sure) his affect seems to be fine. I don't think it's a time to give him SSRIs just yet.

Yes, but he might have mild SAD. When your memory is so good to begin with, you notice even the smallest defects. That can happen without a large disruption in sleep, energy, etc.