At the end of September 2021, the fourth edition of Memory Week, organized by the B2V Observatory of Memories, attracted no less than 2,800 experts and members of the general public, eager to learn more about memory. and the means to protect it. This shows the interest aroused by this cognitive faculty! In fact, this fascinating tool is as prodigious as it is complex: “Born from vast interconnected neural networks, located in several brain regions – and not just one – memory makes it possible to learn, store and recall, at the right time, information as diverse as what we did the day before, the multiplication tables, the fables of La Fontaine or the names and faces of people”, enthuses Francis Eustache, president of the scientific committee of the B2V Observatory of Memories.
The memory that malfunctions, it’s all life that wavers
Major cognitive faculty guaranteeing our autonomy, which accompanies us from our first learning until the end of our life, memory is vital in several respects. “Seat of all our memories, learning and know-how, it allows us to adapt to our environment and to interact with it, to learn, to guide our thoughts and decisions, to live the present and to anticipate the future by function of our past, and to shape our personal and collective identity. So that if it malfunctions, all of life falters”, develops Francis Eustache. But as powerful as it is, our memory can be altered by several diseases, such as the dreaded Alzheimer’s disease or – less known – Covid-19, which can temporarily reduce it. In addition, the lack of stimulation in everyday life and “unhealthy” lifestyles also threaten.
Memory decline can be halted
Finally, like all body functions, memory also becomes less efficient with age. Indeed, “aging accentuates the loss of neurons and nerve connections in the prefrontal cortex, involved in the processes of storage (“encoding”) and retrieval of memories. Result: small everyday oversights (of what the ‘we did the day before, the title of the film seen a few days ago, etc.) are more numerous over time, “says Laurence Taconnat, specialist in normal memory aging. Fortunately, forgetting is not inevitable. Indeed, “certain simple solutions can slow down the decline of memory and improve it, or even delay the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease”, assures Francis Eustache.
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