# Is this memory lapse indicative of pre-Alzheimer's? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455 "2012-02-20T20:57:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455/1 "2012-02-20T20:57:13Z")
Last night/this morning i was working very late, I was very tired and I as prepared to exit the office I could not remember the 4 digit alarm setting code. This is a number I have used several times a week over the last 4 years and it just vanished from my memory. I knew what number it began with but could not remember the rest of the numbers to save my life. It was actually kind of scary. I had to ask the front desk receptionist the number this morning. I’m 53 is this pre-Alzheimer’s? ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455/2 "2012-02-20T21:06:28Z")
I don’t think so. I’m 45 and I do that too sometimes. It’s normal to have memory hiccups as you age. I was reading recently that if you forget the _name_ of some common item (can opener or whatever), that’s normal, but if you forget what it’s _used for_, that’s a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455/3 "2012-02-20T21:09:56Z")
When the receptionist told you what the number was, did you have an “Aha!” moment or did it sound completely unfamiliar to you? A couple of times a year I completely forget my cell phone number. This is after seeing it and leaving it for people daily. I’ve always chalked it up to the text book definition of “brain fart.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455/4 "2012-02-20T21:11:42Z")
No. In general, the rule of thumb is that it’s normal to forget where you left your keys, but it’s Alzheimer’s if you forget what the keys are used for. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455/5 "2012-02-20T21:13:36Z")
I once forgot the 3 digit store number of my workplace… a number I had used every shift in the 2+ years I’d worked there. (I’m 35 now, and it was a couple of years ago) Tiredness wreaks havoc on the mind. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455/6 "2012-02-20T21:18:01Z")
> [@Shark\_Sandwich](#): > > When the receptionist told you what the number was, did you have an “Aha!” moment or did it sound completely unfamiliar to you? > > A couple of times a year I completely forget my cell phone number. This is after seeing it and leaving it for people daily. I’ve always chalked it up to the text book definition of “brain fart.” It was definitely "oh yeah’. The weird thing is, in thinking about it, the door code had ceased to be (in my head) a series of 4 discrete numbers I thought about, and for some time now was more just a mental “reflex” for lack of better term. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455/7 "2012-02-20T21:28:55Z")
IANAD but here’s a good website. [Typical memory aging issues.](http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_10_signs_of_alzheimers.asp#typical) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455/8 "2012-02-20T21:34:00Z")
I have twice forgotten my ATM card PIN for a week at a time. It’s been the same number for many years. I’m so used to punching the keypad that if I stop to think about the number, I lose it. I’m afraid to change the PIN to an easier-to-remember number for fear I’ll never remember the new one at this stage. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455/9 "2012-02-20T22:06:21Z")
Alzheimer’s is definitively diagnosed at autopsy, by the presence of neurofibrillary plaques and tangles. Diagnosis while living can only be done by clinical presentation and symptom patterns, and is referred to as “Dementia of the Alzheimer’s Type” or DAT. Early onset is characterized by confusion and short-term memory loss, as described in the link above, but this usually extends to most/all situations, not isolated situations. Later stages are characterized by loss of long-term memories (e.g., crystallized information) such as events in one’s life, who your family members are, etc. So, forgetting a number you learned a long time ago would not be consistent with DAT, unless you already had a lot of other global symptoms and memory issues. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455/10 "2012-02-21T03:11:19Z")
Nah. I’ve had those moments on occasion even in my early 30’s when I was tired as well. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455/11 "2012-02-21T03:37:33Z")
I’m almost 44 and I occasionally forget both the physical street address number I live at and my zip code. I chalk it up to having moved so many times I can’t remember that either. I vote regular brain fart. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455/12 "2012-02-21T03:48:29Z")
I sincerely doubt it. I committed a certain zip code to muscle memory and typed it in tens of thousands of times at work (for paying vehicle rental bills that always go to the same address). But one day, when asked what it was (away from my keyboard), I couldn’t remember. I had to get to a keyboard so my fingers could type it, and then I remembered the actual number. Brains are weird! Try committing the code to muscle memory though, using your fingers in the exact same pattern every time (if you don’t already). I dunno what I would do if my muscle memory failed me ☹ ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-memory-lapse-indicative-of-pre-alzheimers/613455/13 "2012-02-21T04:00:42Z")
I recently failed to recognise a woman I’ve met and chatted to several times over the course of a few months. It wasn’t a casual thing either. The time I failed to recognise her I was looking at her for a while, thinking “wow, that woman looks like my brother’s ex”. We even ended up having a conversation about her toddler who’d fallen on the playground and smashed his lip - I was the only one who’d seen the incident, so I explained to her what had happened - but from my PoV she was a total stranger. The next time we met I recognised her instantly and she thanked me for filling her in on how her kid had hurt himself. It was a really spooky feeling realising it was the same person. I’m also now wondering the same thing that **astro** is. I’m 44.