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Subscribe to RSSWhat's my Facebook password? What's your name again? Where are my keys? I lost my phone! Who can even remember all the things there are to forget? But Scottish researchers say they have you covered: A team at Glasgow's CPS Research is seeking a cure for forgetfulness -- as in, not early signs of Alzheimer's, not early-onset dementia, but plain old absent-mindedness.
"What we are referring to should not be confused with the serious memory loss that is often associated with early onset dementia," CPS Research's Dr. Alan Wade told the BBC last month, adding "This study is aimed at those who are constantly losing their keys, forgetting people's names or misplacing their glasses rather than anything more serious."
Wade and colleagues are set to launch a study testing whether a smaller dose of the Alzheimer's drug memantine can help tamp down a condition they've given the (somewhat annoying) moniker "Busy Lifestyle Syndrome," a catch-all for the craziness that comes with everyday modern life: tweets, IMs, texts, e-mails.
"We commit such errors at least hourly, all of us do. I can count up the number of things I've done just today," says Dr. David Knopman, a Mayo Clinic neurologist in Rochester, Minn. "Unlike walking, or chewing gum, memory is a function that is far from perfect in humans. And it's often terribly imperfect."
The idea of swallowing a pill to enhance memory sounds like something out of the new movie "Limitless," the one in which Bradley Cooper plays a writer who develops superhuman abilities after taking a mysterious medication. That might be because, according to Knopman, Hollywood is exactly where this idea belongs. "It seems particularly far-fetched to me that this drug would be of any value," Knopman says. "Memantine is a drug that’s approved for the treatment for moderate to severe Alzheimer's. It’s never been tested on a large scale in normal people." (In a follow-up e-mail, he reiterated his point by busting out the caps lock:"There is NO EVIDENCE.")
And another thing: There's just something a little squicky about the idea of medicating something as trivial as absent-mindness. Says Knopman, "If it’s something we all do, like forgetting where we put down a piece of paper five minutes ago, or we forget to call our spouses, how can that be a disease? And how that can be medicated, except in science fiction?"
What say you, readers? Would you appreciate a pill that promised a cure for forgetfulness? Or are ideas like this best left to Hollywood?
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This is ridiculous! We are already over-medicated & the drug companies and their lobbyists and are only too happy to see their profits rise more. How about looking at life patterns that make us needlessly crazy and working at altering these? Or as, Richard Davidson, one of the top researches today in the field of brain and stress research put it "...take responsibility for our own brain." And life.
I'm happy to hear that I'm not alone on this one! At first I blamed it on menopause, then realized men have it too...
I'd like to hear the results of this test and what side affects, if any, would accur. Seems far fetched for a pill to do such a thing with the brain. But hey, if it works, I know a lot of people that could use it. :)
I might use it if free from side effects, but it's hard to be sure of that until many years out. On the other hand, it could be a burden to remember all the teensy details of life.
How about the medical marijuana? :)
Remember Robin that currant Germain studies claim that marijuana causes mental illness, not cures it.
Um, that was like a joke, weed to help w/ short term memory...
Perhaps the researcher has made the fundamental attribution error. He states this occurs for him "hourly". Now, I've forgotten things from time to time (mostly due to excessive distractions), but such occurances are far from hourly. I can't even say that they occur daily. It seems he is projecting his own experience on the broader population--expecting that they, too, experience this many times a day.
What a stupid concept! There are plenty of ways to help to improve short-term memory, just as there are ways to note where you've parked your car, etc. But a pill - that's just being lazy.
I have something to say about this, I have it written down, at home.
Better living through pharmacology!!! bring it on...I tried Ginko for my notoriously bad memory, but forgot to take it after the first week...if there is a pill out there that will help me to remember to take the pill, I'm all for it.
FYI, ginko falls under the category of pharmacognasy, not pharmacology. The former refers to plant-based products.
BTW, that may not have been ginko. The truth is that there is more stuff sold as "ginko" every year than there is production by ginko trees.
There are plenty of ways to improve your memory without ingesting something. Take a memory improvement course instead. There are plenty of them available.
Ethically, I don't see a problem with using the drug after it has passed testing. Ca'mon!
We add spices to foods, we add clothes to our bodies, we eat things for the pleasure of it!
I can appreciate the pleasures of achieving something worthwhile after putting in effort. But as a woodworker, I am also willing to use a power sander or drill instead of a draw knife or a bit of Sharp wire. If you are using technology as a means to a worthwhile end, I see no wrong there.
If you want a lifestyle of "if I wasn't born with it, it doesn't go in me" that is fine for you. But this really does fall under the concept of freedom of choice.
If I have only my one life to live, I want to savour every bit of it!
Be careful you might just well be that type of Pearson that infomercials like to target.
Why not. People can add it to the potassium iodide that they have just added to their already endless list of pills and supplements to take daily. If they remember to take it.
I suffer from adult ADHD. I struggle constantly with "forgetfulness" and it adds a great deal of stress to my life. I would welcome a medication if it could lift some of this burden.
I hate it when my absent mindedness causes real problems. How do you fight your own brain, everyone is so judgmental if you forget something. An appointment, a bill, a persons name.
People against a memory improvement "drug" are probably hypocrites anyways. How many of them smoke, or drink caffeine drinks, or enjoy music. They are all mind altering behaviors. Or they just don't like the idea of their "special" memory for detail being not as special anymore.
I am with Sanescience on this one. Every day an sometimes several times a day I do something off the wall due to lack of attention, concentation or whatever you would call it. I drive right by my turns. I tell someone I am from a town that I have not lived in for 20 years. I just go on automatic and its out and done before I even slow down enough to catch it. it's the same as when I put the milk in the cabnet instead of the refrig. My wife just shakes her head. I have at least an average IQ. I am not stupid. But this is very frustrating to me. Help would be great... if it is available.
Sbwood, you need to have your memory problems assessed. There is inattention and there is lack of concentration and then there are mild cognitive problems and then there is dementia. You may well be showing early signed of mild cognitive problems. If so, only a doctor can tell, and tell how extensive they might be and can tell what areas of cognitive function are affected. There are ways to deal with this, and to deal with it without resorting to meds of any type. But you must, MUST first be diagnosed.
Make an appointment with your doctor to share your concerns. Your wife should come with you to give her POV. And print these pages, highlighting your post, as a way to give your doctor a starting point.
Treating forgetfulness with medication is like treating failing vision with glasses. Both happen with age both are not necessarily life threatening. However, the confidence/security/calmness that comes with remembering that I took my blood pressure meds or that I can find my car keys is similar to being able to read or drive.
I'd forget to take the pill; I'm 65 and just as forgetful as I was when I was a kid.
Well, I had something profound to say about this, then I got a phone call. Now, I can't remember what my point was. Can I qualify for the study? What's it studying again?
just try to not forgetting to stop answering the phone......problem solved!
If you wonder why medical costs are so high, we have medicines for all sorts of "conditions" that are largely annoyances and whose side effects are likely far worse than not being able to remember your twitter password. We have medicines for people who have to urinate more frequently than they'd like, but of course these medicines can cause diarrhea.
BbbbWwwwHhahahahahahahahahaha....................................Hey wait ! Why me laugh ?.......................
..........................................................................................Oh Yeah, BbbWwwHhahahahaha............
nevermind the cure for forgetfulness....how about a cure for stupidity....now, that would solved all the world's problem.
Phytocannabinoids supplement the endocannabinoid system (which is involved with destroying bad memories)... they also prevent cancer, protect neurons, increase neuronal plasticity (increase creativity), are anti-inflammatories, stop depression, stop ADD, stop pain, stop Alzheimer's and the list goes on... they're non-toxic, non-addictive & increase wellbeing overall (in adults, when used responsibly, of course).
Ohhh?
What exactly are Photocannabinoid supplements??
Plwase answer!!
Is that smoked or ingested?
Don't lie or start a chain of rumors that you are always having to cross over to cover up. Live a life based upon truth not self perception.
Study math not Einstein personality math. Look for the truth as the truth is before you and your mind will stay fresh your whole life.
Many of the comments seem to reflect the notion that forgetfulness is nothing more than a common human response as is scratching an itch, and that providing a treatment for forgetfulness is a waste of time and money. I will not debate the pros and cons of the issue, but will simply offer this.
How much more productive would we be in our lives if we forgot less than we do now? How much more harmonious would our lives be, especially for those with a spouse and children?
No more forgetting birthdays, anniversaries, meetings, and so on. You wouldn't have to worry about being late because you forgot where you put your keys. You wouldn't get lost because you could remember the directions someone gave you over the phone. You wouldn't get in trouble at work because you forgot to do something before that crucial bid. In effect, without forgetfulness, you would be efficient.
Poor memory can actually have a significant impact on our daily lives in terms of happiness (I'd rather be doing something other than listen to my wife complain I forgot something) and in terms of time management, especially as you age. I am far more forgetful now than I was 20 years ago.
Yes, there are techniques out there that can be used to improve your short term memory, but these techniques don't work for everyone. Similarly, the "wonder pill" likely wouldn't work for everyone, either. But it would be nice to have a choice.
"No more forgetting birthdays, anniversaries, meetings, and so on. You wouldn't have to worry about being late because you forgot where you put your keys. You wouldn't get lost because you could remember the directions someone gave you over the phone. You wouldn't get in trouble at work because you forgot to do something before that crucial bid. In effect, without forgetfulness, you would be efficient."
There's a whole industry out there designed to give you the digital means to keep track of all of this. That industry also allows someone to e-mail or text those directions to you. All you need to do is to ask.
And for the technophobes out there - day planners are still being produced.
These are all valid ways to help you to keep track of all of these things and more, so much more. In fact, they are so valid that they are included in any memory improvement program.
But you also describe yourself as being far more forgetful than you were 20 years ago. That may not be normal aging for you. Please see your doctor about it.
Forgot what I was going to say....
I forget because I am 65 and there is so much on my mind. My daughter forgets because she has 3 kids, 2 still in diapers. Our lives are full, our brains are full.....I can't see a pill making much difference.
In my opinion......we are such a pill/drug oriented society, enough is enough.
Quit drinking scotch!
I did I forgot where I put the bottle.
It all depends on how much of a problem you are facing. A few minor omissions every now and then are no big deal, but if you're being inconvenienced routinely because of your memory, this may be an option for you.
They did that already