Page 14 - The Memory Program How to Prevent Memory Loss and Enhance Memory Power

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the aging process and memory loss. He returned to see me every six months for the next two years,
and neuropsychological testing showed a gradual improvement in his memory for names. During this
period, he lost twenty pounds and became more energetic and productive— so much so that he not
only kept his job but was also promoted to general manager of his division, He was delighted, and so
was I. David Finestone was now convinced that his occasional difficulty in remembering names was
not the first sign of Alzheimer's disease, and we both agreed that he didn't need to consult me
anymore.

Frieda's Story

Later that year, Frieda Kohlberg, a seventy-four-year-old woman who had survived the Holocaust,
was brought in by her husband, who felt that his wife's razor-sharp mind was beginning to fail. She
had forgotten to shut off the electric stove on one occasion and had seemed a little confused at a
friend's house. At other times, she remained mentally sharp and continued to read a book every
week.

Tall and stately, Mrs. Kohlberg walked into my office in a well-tailored blue serge dress, her curly
blond hair perfectly set for the occasion. She sat down, announced that she did not have a memory
problem, and to prove it, spontaneously began to recite the latest items in the news without the
slightest difficulty. On a brief memory test, she could remember two out of three unrelated nouns
(bus, door, rose) after a delay of five minutes. This slight deficit is not uncommon in people of her
age but can sometimes be an early sign of dementia. (Dementia is a broad diagnosis that includes
several brain diseases, including Alzheimer's, which is the cause of 60 to 70 percent of all cases of
dementia and typically produces severe memory loss and decline with eventual inability to carry out
daily functions and activities.) Since I wasn't entirely sure about where Mrs. Kohlberg stood along
the spectrum of memory loss, I ordered several blood tests to look for possible causes like thyroid or
vitamin deficiencies. These tests, as well as MRI and SPECT scans of the brain, were completely
normal. Neuropsychological testing confirmed slight impairment in recent memory but no other
intellectual deficits. In fact, her IQ score was 154— in the genius range. My neuropsychologist
colleagues and I put our heads together to try to resolve these conflicting results. On the one hand,
her slight deficit in recent memory was within the lower limit of the “normal” range for people of her
age. On the other hand, someone with her high