why are we forgetting all the things right now

“I was embarrassed,” says Dr. Shields, who thought he had to fight to recover as he heard the students laugh when they said the wrong name. “I wish my memory was as good as it used to be.”

Dr. Shields is 32 years old. He is a memory researcher. And he was teaching a class how stress affects cognition.

Memory experts say that small, temporary instances of forgetfulness – those ‘senior moments’ – are happening more often to most of us these days. We’re finding it difficult to remember simple things: names of friends and coworkers we haven’t seen in a while, words that should come easily, even how to do routine tasks that once seemed like second nature. .

We are living in another moment of big change as we return to the offices, create new routines and find our footing in another new normal. (And don’t forget a spooky war in Europe on top of that.) All this change consumes cognitive energy, often more than we think, neuroscientists say. It’s no wonder we can’t remember what we ate for breakfast. Our mind is struggling with moments of transition.

“Our brains are like computers, with lots of tabs open right now,” says Sarah C. Mednick, a neuroscientist and professor of cognitive science at the University of California, Irvine. “It slows down our processing power, and memory is one of the areas that falters.”

The chronic and cumulative stress of the last two years has also taken its toll. Research led by Dr. Shields suggests that people who have experienced recent life stressors have poorer memory. Stress negatively affects our attention span and sleep, which also affects memory. And chronic stress can damage the brain, leading to further memory problems, says Dr. Shields, assistant professor in the Department of Psychological Science at the University of Arkansas.

The flood of information that comes to us on multiple channels is also making our minds fuzzy. We’re terrible at paying attention, constantly scrolling our phones when we’re doing other things, which neuroscientists say makes it difficult to encode memories in the first place. And it can be hard to remember something out of context, like a co-worker’s name suddenly talking to us in person instead of Zoom.

Then there is the analogy of our lives during the pandemic. How should we remember a specific event when each day is exactly the same as the other?

“Memory benefits from novelty,” says Zacharias Reigh, a cognitive neuroscientist and assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. “When all of our experiences are lumped together, it’s hard to remember any of them apart.”

Michelle Tyrant, 39, blames two Covid-tinged years for why she recently forgot the name of her body part. When his 4-year-old daughter asked him: “Mommy, did I grow in your belly?” Ms. Tyrant sensed an opportunity for anatomy lessons and began to explain. “No, sweetheart, indeed, you have grown in my stomach…” But a blank one drew. She stammered for a moment, hoping to find the right words.

Her 7-year-old daughter said: “That means uterus,” she told her younger sister. “Babies grow in mom’s uterus but their belly gets bigger, so it’s confusing.”

“Oh, to keep the memory of a first-grader,” says Ms. Tyrant, who lives in Spokane Valley, Wash.

Memory declines with age, but medical science is not clear when. People age cognitively at different rates.

Some studies suggest that memory capacity tends to peak in the 20s and gradually decline from there; Others suggest that the sharpest decline begins around age 60, Dr. Reigh says. If you are concerned about your memory, you should see your doctor, especially if other people notice your memory loss.

Here’s what experts recommend to boost your memory.

Don’t force Forcing yourself to try to remember something is counterproductive. You’ll become depressed, says Jennifer Kilkus, a clinical health psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, and that frustration allows the emotional part of your brain to override the parts of your brain that process memories. retrieve. let it go a bit; Take a few deep breaths to calm your mind and try again later.

Stop multitasking. When you’re two doing things at once, it’s hard to miss something, or remember something, at first, says Dr. Kilkus. So put your phone away. (This will also help reduce information overload.) Try to do one thing at a time. Pay attention to small tasks that you usually do on autopilot, such as brushing your teeth.

“When you practice paying attention in those moments when it doesn’t matter, it will get easier in those moments,” says Dr. Kilkus.

Help you to calm your mind. This will strengthen your frontal lobe, which is involved in both memory encoding and retrieval, as well as stress regulation, says Dr. Mednick, author of the forthcoming “The Power of the Downstate.” Doctor. Meditate daily with meditation, yoga, or simply take slow deep breaths for at least 10 minutes a day. Take a walk, preferably in nature. Connect with a loved one – have long conversations, hugs, sex. Intimacy reduces stress by making you feel safe and cared for, says Dr. Mednick. And get some sleep. It clears out toxins in your brain that can block your mental process, she says.

Be socially present. When you talk to people, give your full attention to them. Doing so will help you better remember what you want to say in conversation — because your brain won’t be distracted or overloaded — and remember what was said, says Jeanine Turner, a professor of communication at Georgetown University. .

So, again: put your phone down. turn off the TV. And really pay attention to what your loved one is saying; Don’t wait your turn to respond.

Dr. Turner says, “We need to consciously approach each conversation. If we don’t have a deep connection, how can we ever hope to remember?”