Meet our writers

 







Reflections June 2014

In the Refrigerator?

By Jim Cotsana

The study goes on to discuss brain functions in highly scientific terms such as the hippocampus, dentate gyrus, and the firing of neurons. Just reading this almost made me forget what I was trying to write about and I could feel a headache coming on.

About a year ago, I did my normal grocery shopping, came home and started putting things away in the refrigerator and cupboards. While in this process, I got phone call and stopped what I was doing to answer. When the call was finished, I continued what I started.

The next morning, I did my usual routine of letting the dog out to do her business, grab the newspaper, came back inside to feed her and have my breakfast. Soon after, I had to leave to do a quick errand and looked for my car keys which I always put on a hook on the wall with my other keys. But they weren’t there. I looked all around the house but still couldn’t locate them.

Fortunately, I had another set and did what I needed to do. When I came back home, I searched again with no luck. That afternoon, I reached into the refrigerator to grab an apple, and lo and behold, there were my keys lying on one of the shelves. Talk about feeling stupid. I guess when I answered the call, I inadvertently set them next to the carton of juice.

This isn’t the only time I’ve done something like this. Once, I bought a very appropriate birthday card for my wife and hid it so she couldn’t find it. The problem was I couldn’t remember where I hid it when it came time to put it with her gift. In addition, there was another time I put the instruction manual for my cell phone (the old flip phone I still have) in a place where I could get it when needed. However, when I started to enter and learn how to use some of the functions, I couldn’t remember where I put the manual. Finding where I parked my car in a large shopping center is also very frustrating.  I could go on and add more to the list but you get the picture.

According to a survey of 3000 people in 2012 by a British insurance company, the average person misplaces up to nine items a day. This everyday forgetfulness isn’t a sign of a more serious problem like Alzheimer’s or dementia. The most common explanation for this is stress, fatigue, certain medications, and multitasking that tends to disrupt what we intend to do at the time. Hence, it’s important to pay attention when you put down or hide an item so it will be much easier to find when needed. According to the study our cognitive functions, particularly the processing speed, seem to peak at age 20 and the brain tends to shrink as we age. Hence, activities such as multitasking and memory retrieval may take longer. 

Physically and mentally trying to retrace your steps through the house can work. However, the problem I found with respect to my keys is that I would have never have thought to look in the refrigerator. This particular British study suggested the best way to recall where you placed something may be the most obvious. Always put your items in a regular spot that makes sense. Heck, I could have suggested this! In my case, I should always put my keys on the wall hook, place a special card in a filing cabinet and the same with all manuals. At least I would know where they should be.

Now please bear with me because I’m certainly no expert. Studies in psychology neuroscience indicate that forgetfulness may be genetic (it seems as if everything we do these days is related to our genetic make up). Apparently, the so called dopamine D2 receptor gene (whatever this is) may lead to higher incidence of forgetfulness. According to the study, 75% of us who carry this variation are more prone to forgetting where we place things. The study goes on to discuss brain functions in highly scientific terms such as the hippocampus, dentate gyrus, and the firing of neurons. Just reading this almost made me forget what I was trying to write about and I could feel a headache coming on.

I suspect all this is very useful information to the scientific community, especially the quintessential absent minded professor types. In the meantime, the vast majority of the time, I have no problem finding things I’m looking for. However, the next time I can’t find my car keys, I’ll first look in the refrigerator!

 

Meet Jim