What can I do to prevent memory loss as I age?

Most people have at least a passing concern about their memory as they get older. Health expert and founder of the Chopra Foundation and the Chopra Center for Wellbeing Deepak Chopra, MD, talks about simple ways to tune up your memory.

Transcript

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DEEPAK CHOPRA: So associate your memories with emotions. See, even when you're parking your car, say, wow, I found a parking space.

00:08

Feel that joy inside, and you'll remember it. But if you're just not recording it, you're not going to remember it.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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In most cases, you don't really have memory loss. You're distracted, and you don't retrieve the memory,

00:29

because you never recorded it in your first place. So you say, I don't remember where I left my keys. Well, you never recorded the experience in the first place.

00:37

So when you're putting your keys away, watch yourself putting your keys away, and then you'll remember.

00:43

Also, memories that are associated with emotions are never lost. So felt memories are stronger than backed memories.

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That's why people in a court sometimes give contradictory accounts, because they're trying to remember facts.

01:00

But those who actually had the experience in the scene of the crime, they were frightened, or they were feeling anxious, or they had panic.

01:09

They'll remember it much more. So associate your memories with emotions. Even when you're parking your car, say, wow,

01:16

I found a parking space. Feel that joy inside, and you'll remember it. But if you're just not recording it,