68 yrs old, retired 5 years, fairly busy at hobbies and socially, generally happy.
I would like to say that this is something that just came on but I believe now it has been creeping up on me for the past 25 years. It recently hit a level where it is creating a problem.
Names and words I can’t recall when I need them. The word is almost always on the tip of my tongue. The names for some reason don’t stick at all even though I am good friends with a person. I still know the person well and everything we usually talk about, all the details we have shared about each others life but I just have to wait for the name to pop up. I always fake it and just don’t use the name, no one has ever noticed.
On the other hand there has been a change in my thinking that I am actually enjoying more and more. I have better focus and more mental stamina.
Is this age, just part of a process some feel more than others? General memory is still good.
I’ve found that, when I can’t think of a word, a kind of “mental judo” helps. To begin with, think about something totally unrelated, then gradually close in, thinking about subjects closer and closer to the topic. Don’t assault it head-on, but sneak up on it.
re overall mental functioning, I think this is something we just get better at, all our lives. It’s not just a stereotype that, with age comes wisdom. We really do accumulate and assimilate life experiences into better judgement.
I’m only 60…but going through what you describe, in both ways.
I’m 78 and this has been going on for maybe 15 or 20 years, gradually.
When I try to remember a name, I go through the alphabet. One or two letters usually seem to want to stick, and if I keep workkng on those letters, I usually come up with it.
when I watch Jeopardy, I can usually come up with the word as quickly as the contestant, if I know the answer. Maybe a quarter of the time, I know the answer and can’t nail the word quick enough. Since viewers get to see the question on the screen, I get a head start and often I know the answer before Alex finishes the question and the buzzer gets enabled.
jtur88: Have you noted the second effect, a kind of improved quality of overall thought? To me that’s a fascinating observation, and one that gives me a fair amount of hope for the future!
I’m only 45 and it’s not even close to affecting my life yet, but I sense the same thing happening, primarily with names, and sometimes with words (I have knack for le mot juste, except I’m having trouble remembering the specific word when I need it).
That kind of coincides with your statement of creeping up on you for 25 years. I’ll worry about your problem when I’m 68; what have you been doing successfully since 45?
Well about 2 years ago I worked out a problem that had been baffling some of the foremost experts in the field for the last 100 years or so. They didn’t even know they were baffled, they just had it all wrong and suggested rough estimates were about the best we could expect. Identifying and isolating hysteresis in an all wood archery bow.
Made some serious advances in my writing.
I basically didn’t start anything till I was about 45 but have done pretty well in all areas.
No so much, but I did notice a shift in the perception of what is important, and directing analytical thought in a different direction, toward a different goal. But that’s a philosophical issue, not one of mental processing.
The temporary loss of words and names is a near universal in people over 60. It’s a running joke in our house since my wife and I are both going through it together.
That seems to have nothing to do with quality of thinking. I just sold a nonfiction book and I’m writing numerous articles so I’m busier than ever on a variety of projects. The accumulated experience of decades is paying off because I can connect dots and see trends and grasp bigger pictures. But sometimes I’ll stop in the middle of a sentence because the next word I want isn’t there.
The word loss is a noticeable effect of Alzheimer’s. My MIL got very adept at substituting general nouns for specific ones she couldn’t remember until she declined where even those were lost. The possibility of Alzheimer’s is a scary thought. But we’ve done a lot of research because of my MIL and every indication is that ordinary aging causes word loss totally independently. One doesn’t imply the other.
My sister couldn’t remember the word “quilt” and so said “fat blanket.” Since then, “fat blanket” is both our term for a quilt…and for the effect of not remembering words.
Well, I’m just a whippersnapper compared to some of you guys (46), and I have difficulties with this.
The other day at work, I was talking with an engineer about a tool. I referred to said tool as “X”. The engineer had no clue what I was talking about. It took me a moment to realize that the term I used hadn’t been used in over a decade. I took me a few seconds to recall what the current term was.
A term I use almost every stinking day I’m at work!
I’m 62 YO and have always had the problem with names and words. I’d fail as a Jeopardy contestant as I often don’t pronounce words correctly or just can’t quite remember the correct word. I don’t think that it’s getting any worse with age, but then how could it!
Just turned 61 and don’t remember a time when I wasn’t freezing on words or names occasionally. I’ve also been kind of forgetful all my life. I joke that if I start to get Alzheimer’s, it’ll be years before anyone notices.
I think that if names in particular started to be hard to call up, I’d develop a default generic - probably Sweetie. (Do you think I’d need two generics? So I don’t say ‘hi Sweetie! Hey, I was talking with Sweetie yesterday . . .’.
I gave up on pronunciation long ago! There’s just too much variety. “Beh-tel-gyuze” or “Beetle-juice” or – about eight other possibilities. Tomayto and Tomahto.
Vicissim or We Kissem? (I know people who get into shouting matches regarding Latin pronunciation.)
I’m 71, and in addition to the problem with names and words, I’d add simple math ability. I used to be able to do any kind of math in my head, easily. Now, even with a calculator, I sometimes have difficulty figuring out what to do with the data. Like the difficulty many people have with “word problems.” That never used to happen.
My father was always a very verbal person, often relating stories or telling jokes. But in his mid-70s I noticed him using shortcuts, like “and so forth”, or “my sister” instead of using her name. Sure enough, it was the beginning of Alzheimer’s.
I’m 58. I’ve had simple commonplace nouns suddenly disappear from my vocabulary since my 20s. But it’s never verbs; always nouns. I don’t think it’s getting worse. Yet.
In my opinion, the failure process is a type of blocking. Your mind pulls up (at least) two matching words then gets stuck trying to decide which is correct.
There are many people who remind me of other people. So I look at somebody and think “That’s not-Sam; now what *is *his name?”
People with similar names are even worse. There are two similar-looking women in my building, Mary & Marion. Whose names is my head are “Mary” and 'Mary; no that’s not right, it’s Mary-something; oh yeah Marion." Every damn time.
I’d like to provide you with a small sense of comfort in the fact that I’m in my twenties and experience the same problem with finding the right words and names at times.
Our brains have an almost unlimited capacity for learning, but only in the direction we direct our thinking. Over time we lose less important memories and facts and we expand upon the ones more important. As in, the more we think about something, the more we’ll be able to think about it. We form more connections and our brain quite literally grows in the areas we use most. But it can also atrophy in the areas we use least.
TL;DR: You most likely have nothing to worry about.
(At least according to the information you provided.)
For me this makes sense inasmuch as names are concerned; I’ve never really been a people person and have always had a hard time with names of people that I didn’t regularly acquaint. On the other hand, names I should know sometimes slip by me, but that doesn’t concern me as much as not being able to pick words that reflect the subtle meaning that I’m usually able to imply. (Shit, just then: I couldn’t remember “imply”; my mind kept drifting towards “infer.” And the use of “shit” versus any other interjection I could of thunk of (self sic).