There prospective memory it is the ability to remember to realize a future intention. A future intention can be retrieved in two different ways. One is in response to something in your environment, such as a sight or sound, that serves as a cue to perform an intended action. Researchers like me call it an “event.” For example, you see your coworker and remember that you have a message for him, you hear the timer go off and you remember to turn off the sprinklers.
Improve prospective memory
Have you ever walked into a room and then wondered why you went there? If you have experienced this phenomenon, you have had a possible void of memory.
Memory usually means remembering things that have already happened. But future memory is the ability to remember to do something in the future, like stopping for milk on the way home from work, calling your mother on her birthday, or remembering to take the casserole out of the oven. Sometimes, mistakes lead to heartbreaking results, like forgetting to take the baby out of the car on a hot day.
The other way is in response to the weather. Your dentist appointment is scheduled for 2pm, but plan to exercise for 30 minutes beforehand. One possible explanation for how people retrieve a potential memory is known as multiprocess theory.
According to this theory, sometimes you have to make an effort to remember, such as repeatedly checking the time until 2 p.m. Other times, memories come to you effortlessly, like when you hear an alarm clock. As the above examples suggest, memories that have time-based cues, such as 2 p.m., are usually harder to recall than those that have event-based cues, such as an alarm clock.
Older adults tend to lose prospective memory as they age. This may be due to aging brain changes in the prefrontal cortex.
But it’s not all bad news. Older people actually seem to do better than younger people in some situations when asked to remember things from their daily lives. We call this the age prospective memory paradox.
The part of the brain that seems most responsible for prospective memory is an area of the frontal lobes, called Brodmann’s area 10 . This area is involved in holding information in mind while performing a different simultaneous task.
But future memory is complicated. You have to form an intention and then remember to do it. This is the role of the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain responsible for planning and organization.
It must be recognized when it occurs, if it involves the parietal lobe. You have to remember what the intention was: a form of retrospective memory that involves the hippocampus, a brain structure important for remembering facts, events and spatial paths, such as directions and places.
Finally, in the case of time-based prospective memory, you need to keep track of time and this probably involves a bunch of different brain structures. Therefore, potential memory can be impaired by problems in any of these regions.
Over the past 30 years, a team has discovered that many medical conditions can affect future memory.
Excessive alcohol use appears to contribute to a decline in prospective memory. One study found that college students who drink heavily showed lower scores on time-based prospective memory. Additionally, those who experienced alcohol-related blackouts showed deficits in event-based prospective memory.
Research on people with schizophrenia has shown a correlation between poor prospective memory and lack of adherence to their treatment regimen. While there are many reasons why someone might not take their medications, the study suggests that some patients simply aren’t able to remember.
People with a brain injury often have potential memory problems. They may sincerely want to do a task but simply cannot remember. This may frustrate their families or caregivers, who may think the person is choosing not to follow instructions.
Parkinson’s patients have particular problems with time-based prospective memory. They know they have to do something, but they have difficulty judging the passage of time and miss the time window to get it done.
People with multiple sclerosis may also have difficulty remembering their appointments. Our study measured 110 multiple sclerosis patients who had 1,600 unique appointments. Approximately 3% of these appointments (approximately 50) were absences related to potential memory performance.
It may surprise you to learn that culture can also influence future memory. In a 2023 study, our team measured memory potential in Spanish-speaking people.
We found that differences in performance were influenced by the degree of acculturation to US culture.
This could reflect the fact that the tests were created in the United States and therefore have a cultural bias, or it could be due to cultural differences, for example in the perception of time.
Researchers have also been interested in studying techniques that could help improve potential memory functioning.
They managed to improve the amount of time someone with a brain injury can hold an intention in mind using mechanical repetition and visual imagery.
A rote repetition intervention might tell the participant, “In exactly one minute, please clap your hands.” As they succeed, we slowly increase the time interval. Visual imagery involves imagining what will happen in the moment you need to complete the intention: what you will see, hear, and smell, for example.
You can also try visual images. If you have a watch or phone with a calendar and alarms, it is obviously useful to set those devices for tasks that are important to you. Make a quick recording on your phone or take a photo to remind yourself where your car is parked. There are also specific apps designed to remind you. Both Remember the Milk and Todoist have free versions.
If there is an item you don’t want to forget, place it in front of the door so you don’t lose it. If you use a calendar, keep it in a place you’ll see every morning. Place your phone, wallet or briefcase in the back seat next to your car seat.
Routine can also help. If you have an important daily task, such as homework or exercise, dedicate the same amount of time to it each day.
For many people, something called implementing intentions helps. He simply says out loud, “When situation X arises, I will do Y.”
For others, it helps to put the intention into action as soon as you decide you want to do it. So if you want to remember to water your plants when you get home, mime doing it. Using the parts of the brain that control muscles can help strengthen intention.
The good news is that most of the time, prospective memory works well automatically. But with more research, those of us who study prospective memory will come to have a better understanding of when it fails and what to do about it.
#phenomenon #prospective #memory #improve
