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Cognition and age

Changes in our brains as we age are normal. How we experience this will be different for everyone. Some changes to memory as we get older are normal and should not greatly impact our lives. 

Some studies have shown that our ability to process information to make decisions, or to recall information, may begin to slow down as we age. This may be a familiar feeling of knowing that you know something but can’t remember it – of a word or name being “on the tip of the tongue”. However, our knowledge of how to do things, and our short- and long-term memory, shouldn’t change much as we get older.  

A healthy lifestyle (see Physical activity and Eating for women’s wellbeing) may help to reduce the risk of cognitive decline (losing our thinking abilities) or delay the start of cognitive impairments such as dementia. 

Link to what are perimenopause and menopause?
References

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Healthdirect (2022) Dementia - early signs, symptoms, treatment and statistics 

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Mitchell, W (2022) What I Wish People Knew About Dementia: From Someone Who Knows. With Anna Wharton. Bloomsbury.  

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The World Health Organisation (2022) Brain health (who.int) 

The World Health Organisation (2023) Dementia (who.int) 

The World Health Organisation (2019) Risk reduction of cognitive decline and dementia: WHO guidelines 

Wiersma E, Harvey D, Caffery P (2023) “I’m still the queen and I’m still on my throne…”: Women’s reflections on gender and living with dementia. Journal of Women and Ageing. 35(1): 113-127