Everyday memory lapses, like misplaced keys or forgotten names, are often overinterpreted as early signs of dementia, but neuroscience experts say actual early cognitive changes may be reversible if addressed promptly.Dr.Tommy Wood, a professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at the University of Washington, said minor forgetfulness is often caused by fatigue or stress rather than the beginnings of a neurodegenerative disease."For most people, it's just because you're stressed or you're tired and weren't paying attention," Wood told Fox News Digital at Strong New York, the city's largest annual fitness and wellness festival.DOCTOR REVEALS '10-YEAR RULE' FOR EVALUATING BRAIN FOG AND DEMENTIA SYMPTOMS"If you want to remember something ...
you need to actually be focused, be paying attention.You need to tell your brain it's important to remember it."Wood said memory formation works in three stages: encoding (forming a memory), consolidation (storing it) and retrieval (accessing it).Cognitive changes during aging are not inevitable, and taking proactive lifestyle steps early can help maintain or even restore brain function.
(iStock)When someone is stressed or sleep-deprived, the issue is typically retrieval, he said — the memory exists in the brain, but the individual struggles to access it in the moment.In contrast, people experiencing a neurodegenerative disease often fail to encode the memory in the first place.‘MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON’ HERO SULLY SULLENBERGER REVEALS ALZHEIMER’S WARNING SIGNS HE MISSED YEARS AGO"They don't even remember or notice that there's something going on," Wood said."If you're noticing something's not quite right, that's usually a good sign."Dementia is clinically defined as the loss of cognitive function that's severe enough to impair an individual's ability to manage daily life independently.
Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia account for 70% to 90% of cases, with many individuals showing signs of both.Research indicates that...