You meet someone in the street you haven’t seen in a while and you are stunned into silence as your brain fights to retrieve her name.  She chatters away telling you things that ought to help you twig, but you are so busy processing the billions of names and faces in your head, her signals are of no use to you.

Your mind disappears down blank holes in your brain….there’s nothing but a ‘name vortex’ and you are left with egg on your face.  Take my advice and front up early and apologise for the name lapse.  It’s all over in a flash and then you can actually enjoy the conversation.

But there is hope, I believe. 

Psychologists generally agree that it is possible to improve our memory skill with time, training and commitment. 

We know that the human memory is a highly complex neurological system that is capable of encoding, storing, retrieving and interpreting all that happens around it. 

How does your brain work?  Are you able to remember everything and anything?  Is it quick, clear and does it respond with ease?

Well, train it if it isn’t up to par.  Crosswords are a quick workout for your memory so give it a go.  I know it took me quite a while to get the knack so don’t be turned off by the first crossword.  Some crosswords are awfully difficult and if you unluckily start with one of these, it will cruel your enthusiasm.  It will take a good part of the year to perfect your “cross wording skills”

Here are some general tips for remembering information:

Pay attention to the information:  listen and absorb - don’t let your mind wander.

Try to be interested in the information you wish to remember: you will connect.

Understand the information you are downloading:  if you don’t understand it you won’t be able to make sense of any recall.

Go over and over and over:  the more thoroughly you learn, the more likely you are to retain it.

In due course we will look into Vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, the  symptoms and how is it treated.  It is a huge topic and we look forward to bringing this information to you….in the meantime…on with the crosswords.