Pruning

Memory loss.  It’s part of the aging process. Along with graying hair, wrinkles, and an inability to no longer eat buffalo chicken cheesesteaks with fried onions.

It seems that the little bit of memory loss we all experience as we get older is normal and in fact, a good thing. 

You live to be 60, 70, 80, 90, well, that’s a whole lot of information you’ve gathered over the years that’s residing in your brain.

It’s kind of like your smart phone, there’s only so much memory it can hold.  You gotta have a backup.

Ideally, a cloud solution would be great.  Or some kind of exterior hard drive.  A place where you can go to retrieve those memories and information that have been offloaded from the brain.

The brain, however, developed a different means to keep itself running and functioning at an optimal level. A more ‘use it or lose it ‘approach, if you will.

Pruning.

Or, as the Boston University’s Center for Systems Neuroscience and the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology* calls it, “synapse remodeling.”

Just your brain doing a little housecleaning.

Haven’t seen or talked to that former coworker in 10 or more years? Name’s gone.  You might be able to conjure up the face, but that’s it.  The name is just useless information your brain has decided you don’t need to store anymore.

Who won last year’s Superbowl, that you watched, if it wasn’t your team? No idea.

The name of that restaurant that you ate at once about 6 months ago and that you really liked? Who knows.

What this fails to explain however is some of the other types of memory loss.  Like, where did I leave my keys?  I mean, that is crucial information.  No need to delete that from the memory banks.  Along with, what did I need to buy at the supermarket? Or, did I already feed the dogs?

So, while I am buying into this pruning idea, and thinking it makes sense, I think someone needs to do a little more research on this.  I don’t think we have all the answers just yet. 

But there is still more good news.  According to TechTimes, “your brain can rewire itself at any age through neuroplasticity- the ability to form new neural connections.”

All the more reason to travel somewhere new, learn an instrument, solve puzzles, have deep conversations.

Apparently, “it’s not time that dulls your mind-it’s monotony.”

Ok, got it.

Now, if there was just some way I could eat a buffalo chicken cheesesteak with fried onions again…

*Already cannot recall the long-ass name of the organization that did the brain research beyond Boston University.