November 18, 2024 • 37 mins
Researchers have discovered a new health trend that finds many young adults in their 30s and 40s are experiencing memory problems. According to the Census Bureau, the number of working-age adults reporting “serious difficulty” thinking has climbed by an estimated one million people since the start of the pandemic; a number higher than any other time in the last 15 years. Why now? What do researchers think are contributing factors to young adults suffering memory problems? Dr. Andrew Budson, a Boston University neurologist who specializes in memory disorders joined us to discuss the scary details.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now back to Dan ray Line from the Window World
night Side Studios on w b Z the news Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
We're very fortunate to be joined tonight by doctor Andrew Budson.
He's a neurologist, Harvard trained, Harvard Medical School trained, and
now teachers at Boston University School of Medicine.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Almost everyone of any age, uh, is, you know, wishing
that they could remember things better. And it's a little
bit hard to know sort of historically, like have people
sort of always struggled with their memory? Is this something new?
And I think it's a little bit of each you know.
(00:39):
Just historically was actually the ancient Greeks that came up
with this method that used to be called the method
of Losai and we now call it like a memory
palace or something like that, where they learned that if
you picture yourself walking through through your home or another
(01:01):
place that you know well, you can remember a large
variety of people or you know, items for your grocery
list or for your holiday shopping by sort of putting
different items into different rooms and even different sort of
parts of different rooms, and then you can end up
(01:22):
retrieving the memory by walking through it. And I bring
up this example to just say, even two thousand years ago,
you know, people were working on being you know, trying
to be able to remember things better. But there's no
doubt that in today's society there's all sorts of pressures
going on that I just think, you know, weren't really there,
(01:46):
you know, one hundred years or so.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
So.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
People deprive themselves of sleep, We spend way too much
time watching television. People don't eat healthy foods. There's way
too much processed food. You know, people aren't social in
the post pandemic world like they used to be. We
don't exercise enough. Then, you know, I can go sort
(02:11):
of on and on about these changes, and I think
it's all of these changes that have affected people's memories,
whether they're older and they're coming to my clinic with
memory problems, or whether they're my students and my other
trainees who are struggling to remember things.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Well. I think the article that we were first interested
we first picked up some of this by the Globe
report of Felice Fryar talked about millennials, meaning people who
are now probably you know, as young as twenty eight
and as old as forty five, people who were born
between nineteen eighty one in nineteen ninety six. Normally people
(02:55):
in that age category, you don't associate memory loss with them.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Yeah, no, it's it's really true. But I do think
it has to do with, you know, how we're changing
as the society and the things that we tend to
spend our time doing. You know. So you know, I
mentioned a couple of those things. Let me just mention
a few more so you know, all of us, but
(03:23):
I think, especially millennials, spend time multitasking. And the fact
of the matter is our brains actually can't really do
two things at once unless one of them is really
completely unconscious. Like we can like walk and talk to
a friend at the same time, but it is impossible
(03:47):
to be like trying to take in the information that
your teacher is telling you while you're looking at your
cell phone at the same time. You know, people can't
really do these things. You can't watch television while you're
studying for your notes, so while you're listening to your
spouse tell you what you should be, you know, getting
(04:08):
at the market or something like that. Sure, and so
instead we shift our attention from one thing to another,
back and forth, and we end up not remembering either
of those things as well as we would if we
could do one of those things at a time.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Okay, what about the reliance of young people? And I'm
gonna probably upset some of my audience, but people who
spend a lot of time on the computer, because there
are studies now that show a lot of the stuff
on the computers. It's just not good for you. I mean,
it's addictive. And I find myself sometimes you'll see the
(04:44):
reels and you'll see some kid who was, you know,
twenty years you ten years old and looks like a
major league pitcher or some person who hits a golf shot,
you know, and you watch it. It rolls three inches
from the pin, and you say, well, let's see what
the next one is. Let's see what the next one is.
How much of a problem is that, Because it seems
to me that the arrival of computers, the home personal
(05:06):
computers kind of coincides with this that generation of people
coming of age.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Well, I think it's it's all of this sort of
ability to sort of do sort of mindless things. And
you know, it's sort of an overused analogy that you know,
your brain is sort of like a muscle that you
have to sort of use it or lose it. But
but there really is evidence that when we are you know,
(05:37):
actively creatively, you know, using our brains in social interactions
or when we're problem solving and you know, doing things
at work, having interactions with people, all of those things
are using your brain in the way that your brain
evolved to do things, and and it helps to keep
(06:00):
it strong, including keeping your memory strong. And there were
these pair of articles that came out from the very
large study in the United Kingdom of about five hundred
thousand middle aged people called the UK Biobank, and what
(06:21):
they found is that people who spent more than an
hour a day watching television, you know, they ended up
number one in one study. It showed that they're thinking
and memory actually got worse over the time in the
study if they spent that much time on television. And
(06:45):
then another study actually showed that they were at increased
risk of getting Alzheimer's disease as they got older. And
I think that you know, using the computer in a
way that you're just you know, watching videos and getting
entertainment's essentially the same thing as watching television not good
for your brain.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, it's certainly not interactive, that is for sure. My
guess is doctor Andrew Butdson. He's a neurologist and expert
in memory loss. We're talking about memory loss of both
young and old. We'll break it down if you have
any question about things that you may have forgotten. And
I think a lot of people, particularly those of us
(07:26):
on the wrong side of fifty, as I refer to it,
when we do forget where's my phone or where mccar key's,
many of us get into a panicainsay, it was just
the first sign. And we'll ask doctor Budson about that
and how all of us He's hinted at a little bit,
how all of us can sharpen our memories, both on
(07:48):
both short term, midterm and from the days when we
were young. Because it's funny, I'm told, and I think
Doctor Butdson will probably confirm it for me that there
are things that you easily re member from when you
were in the fifth grade of the sixth grade, but
you have more difficult time remembering maybe the names of
your college classmates. I'm going to ask you about that
(08:09):
phenomenon as well, but you have probably better questions than
I do. So six one, seven, two five four ten
thirty or six one seven, nine, three, one ten thirty.
It's not often you can talk with the neurologist of
doctor Budson's stature about yourself or maybe about someone who
you're close to. We'll be back on Night's side right
(08:29):
after this with doctor Andrew Budson of Boston University.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Now back to Dan ray Line from the Window World
Light Side Studios on w b Z, the news radio.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
We are very fortunate to be joined tonight by doctor
Andrew Budson. He's a neurologist UH Harvard trained, Harvard Medical
School trained and now teachers at Boston University School of Medicine.
And doctor Budson were joined by my delighted to be
joined by my great friend and anchor person here at
w b Nicole Davis, who during the break said, could
(09:02):
I ask doctor Butson a question? And I said, Hey,
come on, of course you can. If that's okay with you,
Doctor Buttson say.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
Hello to no of course, Hi doctor, how are you?
Thanks for being here tonight. This is really really important information.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
You know.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
I'm in my late thirties and I have found, especially
over the past five six years, I am one of
the many people who are starting to develop a lot
of these symptoms. You know, not just remembering food and
TV programs and stuff from back in the nineties better
than I do last week, but you know, it's more
serious than that at times. My question is I know
that a lot of us elder millennials, we x aennials,
(09:39):
I think we're called those of us almost forty at
this point, we're being diagnosed later in life as neurodivergent
with either autism. I was diagnosed late with ADHD. How
much of a correlation do you see between what you're
noticing on the neurological side of things and neurodivergency.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Yeah, it's a very good point. And let's start with
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. So the key to
being able to remember things is to be able to
pay attention to them, and so anyone who is diagnosed
(10:25):
with ADHD it sort of means by definition, they have
difficulty paying attention. And it's something that anybody can have
from time to time. In fact, what the average person,
including myself, does when we find our attention lagging is
we take a little bit of a stimulant, and of
(10:47):
course most of us don't use a pill, but use
either a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, a
caffeinated soda, or something like that. That stimulation helps us
to pay attention and then we can actually remember things better.
So people who suffer from attention deficit disorder with or
(11:11):
without the hyperactivity are absolutely you know, going to have
more difficulty to remember things. And I would like to
comment that, you know, this is a disorder that is
being diagnosed so much more commonly now in our society
than it used to be. And I'm actually a firm
(11:34):
believer that, you know, the problem isn't necessarily with the people.
The problem may be with what our society has told
people that they need to do. I mean, I can
promise you that when human beings evolved, they did not
sit still, you know, for six hours a day, you know, scaring,
(11:55):
you know, at a blackboard in a classroom. You know,
that's just not how humans evolved. And so, you know,
I guess I'm sort of embracing the neurodiversity a little bit,
like I don't think there's necessarily something wrong with people
who have ADHD and want to pay attention and to
(12:16):
remember things, you know, that are actually meaningful in their
lives in the real world, and they may have difficulty
in the in the classroom. And you know, autism is
a is a little bit trickier. Autism can mean a
lot of different things for different people. I actually happen
(12:38):
to have a son who is now twenty four years
old and actually has severe nonverbal autism, and so he,
you know, has his own you know, types of difficulties.
But in general, when people have sort of very mild etism,
(13:00):
one common symptom that can happen is that people get
immersed and absorbed in one thing that they're really into,
and they may not be paying attention to other things
that someone else wants them to be remembering, and that
can cause a lot of difficulty remembering.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Yeah, follow a question, then, Dan, I'll step aside. You know,
we were the computer generation. I think you've talked about
this a couple of minutes ago. We grew up with computers.
I mean, you know, we had them in our schools
as they do now, but we were really the first
generation to lead that charge. Do you feel that we
our brains have almost had to develop differently to respond
to that, or do you feel that we're kind of
(13:44):
like older generational brains starting to try to battle a
generational issue that gen A and gen Z have already
physically been able to develop.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
For Yeah, I do think that the use of computers
and cell phones where one is able to get information
almost instantaneously, which of course we can do now with
almost anything from the webs, from chat, GPT, other AI programs,
(14:17):
we actually send a signal, an unconscious signal to our
brains that says, oh, you don't need to be able
to remember this, because you can just pull it right up.
So when you offload different things you're trying to remember
on the computer on your phone, it actually tells your
(14:40):
brain like, oh, I don't need to remember that because
I put it on my phone or I put it
on the computer. And people have actually done studies that
have proven this that this isn't just speculation. This is
really true that we will remember things less if we,
you know, store them in our phone or in our computer.
(15:03):
That still might be the best place to put it,
you know, but but we're not going to remember it
in our heads. I think the really interesting question is
is is this a problem or is it a good thing?
Is it better to spend our time remembering things that
are important to us, you know, like that you know,
(15:23):
lovely luncheon that we had with a friend, or that
nice weekend that we spent you know with a child
or a parent or a grandchild or whatever that is.
Maybe it's okay that we have trouble remembering you know,
the five million passwords that we need to remember, or
this website or the thing that our boss wants us
(15:44):
to remember.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
Me all right, Dan, thank you so much for the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Thank you very much, great questions. As always, as always,
thanks to Cale.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I was the one who raised, I think, initially, the
the idea of storing in your in your phone numbers.
I remember it as a kid, I knew most of
my buddy's numbers, my friend's numbers, and even as a
you know, teenager and a single guy in his twenties. Uh,
(16:20):
you had no place to store them. You know, you
got a phone on them. You got to remember it, you.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Know a lot, absolutely, and.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Now you don't, I mean, put the put it in
the cell phone. It doesn't matter. So it's just it's
it's interesting how you know how this has evolved. Uh, doctor, Butdson,
I got full lines here real quickly, so I got
a whole bunch of people. I'm so glad that Nicole
stopped by and stepped out of the newsroom because your
questions were better than mine. Frankly, and I will I
(16:49):
will continue with questions, but I'm also going to get
to phone callers right after the break here, and whatever
age you are, whatever question you have, feel free. Uh,
doctor Andrew. But and it's one of those guests that
I knew initially intuitively he'd be really good. Hasn't disappointed,
and I know he'll take your answers out and take
(17:09):
your questions and give you some answers. The only one
line that just opened up is six one seven, nine
three one ten thirty, So if you're dotting anything other
than that, you're not going to get through six one
seven nine three, one ten thirty. Back with Larry and
Dennisport to start us off, Steve and Scott and Gina
and more calls coming back right after the news at
the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Doctor Andrew Budson is my guest. Before we go to
phone's calls real quickly, if I could Doctor Budson, all
of us had this situation where one day it's like,
where's my phone, where's my phone? I know I had
my phone, where's my phone? We panic? Have you ever
done that?
Speaker 3 (17:51):
You know it'll probably and let me tell you why.
So we are all able to connect something to us
so intimately that we notice it immediately if it's not there.
And what I make a conscious effort to do is
(18:13):
always to take my phone with me everywhere, so it's
always within a hands reached away and then if it's
not in my pocket, you know where I expect it.
If it's not right next to me, I notice it immediately.
So it's something I've actually learned to train myself to do.
And this is actually, you know, one of many tips
(18:34):
that we put in our book that you had so
kindly mentioned before.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Let me mention it again because different people maybe join us.
Why we forget and How to remember better? By my
guest doctor Andrew Budson and Professor Elizabeth Kensinger a Boston College. Okay,
so that's a great tip. Okay, I tend to be
a little run around my house and I'm doing things
simn taneously. This has got to be fixed. That's got
(19:02):
to be fixed. Oh yeah, the garage is still open.
Let me close the garage. Where the hell's the phone?
And your immediate panic is when did I last have it?
I mean, you know you might have had it five
minutes ago, but you're thinking, solf, Oh we could have
your thinking worst case scenario. Did I leave it at
the post office? Oh my god, you know it's a panic.
(19:23):
It's a panic, Doctor Budson, let's get the phone calls.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Go ahead, absolutely, yeah. I was just going to say
that that, you know, we all can train ourselves and
use tips so that things like that don't happen. But
let's let's get to the questions.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
All right, here we go. Let's go to Larry down
on the Cape and Dennis Burt. Larry, you first tonight
on nights I would doctor Andrew. Butdson, what's your question
Larry or your comment?
Speaker 6 (19:49):
Oh, very interesting topic, Dan, and related to my question
that is going to be coming up. I'm going to
send you an email on a on a related topic
of another person for a great interview. So here's my question. Okay,
here's my question. So, doctor, immediately following the Maderner vaccine,
(20:11):
actually the first booster, I developed all of these symptoms
mimicking long COVID, and one of them I classify and
call it brain fog, and if I change the subject,
I forget what I was talking about immediately. Have you
done any research on how much either the vaccine or
actually the COVID virus itself has affected people's memories.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Yeah, so that's a great question. I haven't done the
research myself, but I have written a couple of blogs
on COVID and on brain fog in particular, And it is,
first of all, very common for COVID to affect people's
(20:58):
thinking and memory. And the virus can throw us for
a loop in many different ways, and the most common
way is it activates our immune system, you know, and
makes us sort of feel sick. And the vaccine can
also activate our immune system, make us feel sick for
(21:22):
a day, and some people can feel sick more. The
brain is a very you know, it's like a very
sensitive instruments, you know, It's sort of like a finely
tuned violin, and if it's off a little bit, because
there's this immune response going on to try to protect
us against COVID, we can notice it and it can
(21:45):
interfere with our thinking, our memory, our ability to pay
attention and concentrate, and yeah, it can mimic a long COVID.
Are you feeling better now, resting?
Speaker 6 (22:00):
It's been three years since I've had all these issues. Unfortunately,
then I got the real COVID last year and it's
laid up everything. So a lot of my symptoms are
getting better post exertion malaise is better, but I have
these other long term ones that won't go away. The
brain fog is one of them. This gastric problems and
(22:22):
this terrible neuropathy. They just will not leave after after
three years.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
That that's that's terrible. Well for the for the brain fog,
there there are a few things that other people have
found helpful. The first is always to to listen to
your body, and you know, try to exercise, but but
listen to your body, and if your body says, hey,
(22:48):
this is enough, you know, just go ahead and stop.
It is important to make sure you get enough sleep.
You may need a little bit more sleep than you
did before. And it is important to eat healthy foods.
All of those things have helped people recover faster from
(23:09):
the brain fog. And then the last thing is that
you know there's no harm, there's no reason why you
shouldn't use perhaps a few more memory strategies or memory
aids than you used to. So, for example, let's say
you always knew how to keep track of your keys
(23:30):
and your wallet and your your cell phone, as we
were talking about earlier with with Dan. Well, you know,
maybe now it's a little more difficult for you to
keep track of those things. But you can have a
special spot like a tray or a bowl that you
put those things in when you come in the house,
and you always put them there, and that way, whenever
(23:52):
you're looking for them, they're always there. So that's a
little tip.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Great well, Greg, Well, Larry appreciate you call. Send me
that other item and we'll we'll see what we can do. Okay, well,
thank you, doctor. You soon go to Steven Gambridge. Steve
next on nice side with doct Daniel Budson, Dan.
Speaker 7 (24:08):
Doctor Butson. I've noticed that people, especially I think people
in their forties or fifties, if they're talking with each other,
they are using their cell phones constantly if they need
to recall something or to find out the name of
(24:29):
this or that. And I also know that most people
now are totally dependent on their GPS's. I mean, it
seems to me if you don't use your faculty of recall,
you don't exercise it at all, but rely on the phone,
and if you make no effort to use your sense
(24:49):
of direction, that both of these will atrophy. What is
your opinion?
Speaker 3 (24:55):
You are one hundred correct. And the is a study
that was done in the United Kingdom that provides support
for what you just said. They actually studied people who
were going to be taking the London Cab Drivers Test,
(25:18):
which they call the Knowledge, which is the tremendous If
anyone's been to London, it's like a maze of little
tiny streets that don't follow any pattern. It's just sort
of like downtown Boston around like Milk Street, you know,
but like times one hundred. And they scanned these people's
(25:40):
brains before they did the studying and after, and they
actually found that the hippocampus, which is the part of
the brain that forms new memories, it actually grew so
much that they could measure it. So I agree one
hundred percent that one real in that people are having
(26:02):
trouble remembering things is that they're not using and exercising
their memory in the way that they use. So I
agree with you one hundred percent.
Speaker 7 (26:12):
And I've read of people using nicotine, not in tobacco,
but transdermally or nasal sprays. It has been somewhat helpful
in the treatment of people suffering memory loss, dementia, Alzheimer's.
Have you read any of the research done in that field.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Yeah, I am familiar with it, and my opinion is
that if you want a little stimulant to help your memory,
I recommend a little bit of caffeine, like I mentioned
earlier in the program, like a cup of coffee or tea,
(26:56):
or a diet soda or something fat caffeinated soda. But
I I don't recommend nicotine, and the reason is severalfold
number one. Nicotine is addictive. I mean, caffeine is addictive too,
but nicotine is worse. Nicotine also has negative effects on
(27:21):
the heart and other organs in the body. So I
think that the concept is right on target. But I'm
not a fan of nicotine because of some of its
side effects.
Speaker 7 (27:32):
Steve, thank you very much, gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Yeah, the best, Thanks Stave. We'll be back with more
phone calls six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty.
My guest is doctor Andrew Budson. Two really good phone
calls to start it off. We got three more coming up, Scott,
Gena and Phil and we might get room for you
if you want to give us, give it a try,
no guarantees, coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World,
night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Okay, let's try to get at least three maybe four
in so folks are gonna ask you to just tighten
up a little bit, Scott and Quincy. Scott, go right ahead.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
I have a great show.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Dan, go ahead, Scott, help me out here and be quick. Okay, thanks.
Speaker 8 (28:14):
Yeah, believe it or not, I have an association. I
take care of the EEG carts and evoke potential cards
for neurosurgery in a hospital you might be affiliated with
as a button. So my question is, sometimes I'm doing
a task and I get up from my workbench to
(28:34):
go and get something, and I'll completely blank out on
what I just got up to go and get, and
I have to like go back from my thoughts and say, oh,
I was going to get that particular screwdriver or tool.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
That's another great question.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Yeah that actually, yeah, it's actually one of the most
common issues. And the first thing that I want to
say to reassure you and all the other listeners out
there is that is totally normal. And what happens is
that we get up and we get distracted by something
(29:11):
we see or something else that you know, comes into
our mind, and so we lose the train of thoughts.
So essentially we sort of lose focus and stop paying
attention to what we were getting up to do. And
it's it's very very common, so not something to worry about.
Speaker 8 (29:33):
And the other thing that so I'll be going to
throw my clean socks and the clean soos bin and
I will, for some stupid reason throw them in the
dirty laundry bin instead, And I'll go, why did I
just do that? How did I reverse that association? Is
that also a thing like the old person steps from
(29:54):
the instead of the break and drives through the storefront.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Well, well, I think it's a testament to the fact
that most people don't drive through the storefront. That you know,
some types of automatic procedures that we learn to do
and become what we call procedural memory. Some people think
of it like motor memory or something like that. We
(30:19):
actually get quite good at doing the right things. But
for whatever reason, you know, sometimes we get in the
habit of doing the wrong thing. And when you get
in the habit of doing the wrong thing, every time
you do the wrong thing, it reinforces the fact that
you did the wrong thing, and you're likely to do
the wrong thing again. So if you really want to
(30:42):
break that bad habit, what you need to do is
you need to put a little sign on, you know,
whatever sock bin that's throwing you for a loop, that says,
stop and think about what you're doing before you do it.
And by consciously interrupting the repetitive cycle of doing the
(31:06):
wrong thing, you can practice the skill of doing the
correct thing. It's just like if you're playing tennis and
you're doing something wrong with your backhand. You know, if
you keep doing it wrong, it's going to keep reinforcing
the wrong thing. You've got to stop, take your deep breath,
do it the right way, and try and do it
the right way every time. Then you'll learn the automatic
(31:28):
correct habit.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
All right, appreciate it, Scott, I gotta help with you
other folks. Thank you much. You soon get a Gina
in Bridgewater. Geenie, you were next on nightside.
Speaker 9 (31:38):
Hi, good evening, guys.
Speaker 4 (31:39):
I just have a quick question, and.
Speaker 9 (31:41):
I believe I already know the answer. I need to
know what you think of a nursing home slash rehabilitation
place that refuses to answer some calls and if they
see a call coming through, they ignore it, and they
don't let people talk to the loved ones or friends.
Some of them people do have dementia and everything in there.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
I believe that the best thing.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Is I think I think you're you're Gina. I think
you're asking an unfair question to I.
Speaker 9 (32:10):
Think it's very fair because I'm the person who gets
to determine that, Gina, because again, I don't want him
to be putting in an uncomfortable position.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
I think the way you're phrasing the question is, of course,
the answer is that I think anyone you don't have
to be doctor, butdson that if someone is calling a
care center, someone should answer the phone.
Speaker 9 (32:30):
Yeah, well they're not, and people are refusing them to
be with loved ones or even talk to them, and
that's not very suggest you.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Have a lawyer.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
You need a lawyer to assert your rights. That's what
you got to do.
Speaker 9 (32:44):
Okay, all right, thank you, you have a good night.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
All right, thanks Gina, thank you doctor. Butson did mean
to cut you off there, but no, no, no, it's unfair question. Okay,
it's a question that there are no basis orchnology. Phil
is in law or Phil you're next on nights? I
go ahead, I hid.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
Listen.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
I have a bad memory at times. And you know what,
my even with my siblings, like, we're always trying to
like get our word in first, and then if they
get in I forget what I was going to say.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
Yep, yeah, that's that's very common. And and it's because
you're spending so much of your attention to try to
get a word in edgewise that you weren't paying attention
to what you were going to say. And it is
a very common thing that can happen to anybody, and
(33:45):
it's something that you can learn to do a little
bit better. You know, you have to just keep saying
to yourself in your mind, this is what I'm trying
to This is the point I'm trying to make. This
is the point I'm trying to make. You got to
just keep in the front of your mind so you
don't lose it.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
How are you?
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Yeah, can I just say one more thing. Got to
be like my sisters. Uh, you speak and then you listen,
because look like really having a conversation.
Speaker 6 (34:19):
You know.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
Good luck sounding where to live by?
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Thanks Phil, all right, we support you very quickly. Let
me go to Bruce and hol Bruce, I got about
a minute for you. You've called late, but you got
to get on quickly. Go ahead, Bruce.
Speaker 10 (34:36):
I'll be I'll be real quick.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
I have.
Speaker 10 (34:40):
It was passed on to me by a friend, but
I have and it's been working for years. A number system.
For example, I have a three piece enter that's number one.
I put my phone in my pocket. If it isn't
there when I touch my pocket, I don't go past
number two. I go find the phone. So I have
a six pieces that I have to account for before
I leave my house or go anywhere. And now what
(35:02):
do you think of that system?
Speaker 3 (35:03):
I think that is perfect. That is a very old
and very effective system. Before I go out for a run,
I make sure I have my handkerchief, my cell phone,
my earbuds, my hat, and my water bottle and I
count those one through five and make sure I have
(35:24):
them before I head out the door. That is a
great system. And as you can tell, I use it
myself and strongly endorse it.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Bruce.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Let me ask you, Bruce, you had six things. I
have six Okay, I hope one of them will have my.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Teeth.
Speaker 10 (35:44):
May not care for this call, but I mean the answer,
and I do have one comment for you. My teeth,
my phone, my wallet, my keys, my pot, and my man.
Speaker 6 (35:53):
First.
Speaker 10 (35:56):
Those are my six things. And I don't leave the
house without those six things.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Here to the list of your pims.
Speaker 10 (36:05):
Now, I want to make a comment. I've been listening
to your show since you started, not every single night,
but a lot of nights because I'm on the road,
and I got to say this show is the best
of all of them. I learned more tonight from you,
doctor than I've learned in years about fog memory and
(36:25):
not remembering things when you get up to leave your
desk and wow, I am.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
In all right.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Well, thanks very much again, that's okay, very much for
your kind doctor. Okay, thank you, Bruce. Well, that was
a man who's got he's never forget anything, doctor Andrew Butdson,
thank you very much again. I'd like to mention that
book one more time, Why we forget and how to
Remember Better by doctor Andrew Butson, his co author's professor
(36:51):
Elizabeth Kensinger of Boston College. That book is available, and
again thanks to the Globe report of Police Friar who
introduced us to Well through the Boston to doctor Butson.
Doctor Butson, the hour did not disappoint it. I had
pretty high expectations that you met and exceeded the bar.
Thank you, my friend. I hope we can talk again.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
No, it would be my pleasure. Dan, thanks so much
for having me.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
You were more than welcome. And hopefully that book are
going to get a copy of the Truth.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
That's that's one.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
Thank you very much. Not be a good book, but
it's a good book, nonetheless. Thanks So there you go,
all right, when we come back US missiles. Missiles now
are available to Ukraine. Does anyone remember arch dukes Archduke
friends fernandand of Austria. We'll talk about this right after
(37:44):
the ten o'clock news
Now back to Dan ray Line from the Window World
night Side Studios on w b Z the news Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
We're very fortunate to be joined tonight by doctor Andrew Budson.
He's a neurologist, Harvard trained, Harvard Medical School trained, and
now teachers at Boston University School of Medicine.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Almost everyone of any age, uh, is, you know, wishing
that they could remember things better. And it's a little
bit hard to know sort of historically, like have people
sort of always struggled with their memory? Is this something new?
And I think it's a little bit of each you know.
(00:39):
Just historically was actually the ancient Greeks that came up
with this method that used to be called the method
of Losai and we now call it like a memory
palace or something like that, where they learned that if
you picture yourself walking through through your home or another
(01:01):
place that you know well, you can remember a large
variety of people or you know, items for your grocery
list or for your holiday shopping by sort of putting
different items into different rooms and even different sort of
parts of different rooms, and then you can end up
(01:22):
retrieving the memory by walking through it. And I bring
up this example to just say, even two thousand years ago,
you know, people were working on being you know, trying
to be able to remember things better. But there's no
doubt that in today's society there's all sorts of pressures
going on that I just think, you know, weren't really there,
(01:46):
you know, one hundred years or so.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
So.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
People deprive themselves of sleep, We spend way too much
time watching television. People don't eat healthy foods. There's way
too much processed food. You know, people aren't social in
the post pandemic world like they used to be. We
don't exercise enough. Then, you know, I can go sort
(02:11):
of on and on about these changes, and I think
it's all of these changes that have affected people's memories,
whether they're older and they're coming to my clinic with
memory problems, or whether they're my students and my other
trainees who are struggling to remember things.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Well. I think the article that we were first interested
we first picked up some of this by the Globe
report of Felice Fryar talked about millennials, meaning people who
are now probably you know, as young as twenty eight
and as old as forty five, people who were born
between nineteen eighty one in nineteen ninety six. Normally people
(02:55):
in that age category, you don't associate memory loss with them.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Yeah, no, it's it's really true. But I do think
it has to do with, you know, how we're changing
as the society and the things that we tend to
spend our time doing. You know. So you know, I
mentioned a couple of those things. Let me just mention
a few more so you know, all of us, but
(03:23):
I think, especially millennials, spend time multitasking. And the fact
of the matter is our brains actually can't really do
two things at once unless one of them is really
completely unconscious. Like we can like walk and talk to
a friend at the same time, but it is impossible
(03:47):
to be like trying to take in the information that
your teacher is telling you while you're looking at your
cell phone at the same time. You know, people can't
really do these things. You can't watch television while you're
studying for your notes, so while you're listening to your
spouse tell you what you should be, you know, getting
(04:08):
at the market or something like that. Sure, and so
instead we shift our attention from one thing to another,
back and forth, and we end up not remembering either
of those things as well as we would if we
could do one of those things at a time.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Okay, what about the reliance of young people? And I'm
gonna probably upset some of my audience, but people who
spend a lot of time on the computer, because there
are studies now that show a lot of the stuff
on the computers. It's just not good for you. I mean,
it's addictive. And I find myself sometimes you'll see the
(04:44):
reels and you'll see some kid who was, you know,
twenty years you ten years old and looks like a
major league pitcher or some person who hits a golf shot,
you know, and you watch it. It rolls three inches
from the pin, and you say, well, let's see what
the next one is. Let's see what the next one is.
How much of a problem is that, Because it seems
to me that the arrival of computers, the home personal
(05:06):
computers kind of coincides with this that generation of people
coming of age.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Well, I think it's it's all of this sort of
ability to sort of do sort of mindless things. And
you know, it's sort of an overused analogy that you know,
your brain is sort of like a muscle that you
have to sort of use it or lose it. But
but there really is evidence that when we are you know,
(05:37):
actively creatively, you know, using our brains in social interactions
or when we're problem solving and you know, doing things
at work, having interactions with people, all of those things
are using your brain in the way that your brain
evolved to do things, and and it helps to keep
(06:00):
it strong, including keeping your memory strong. And there were
these pair of articles that came out from the very
large study in the United Kingdom of about five hundred
thousand middle aged people called the UK Biobank, and what
(06:21):
they found is that people who spent more than an
hour a day watching television, you know, they ended up
number one in one study. It showed that they're thinking
and memory actually got worse over the time in the
study if they spent that much time on television. And
(06:45):
then another study actually showed that they were at increased
risk of getting Alzheimer's disease as they got older. And
I think that you know, using the computer in a
way that you're just you know, watching videos and getting
entertainment's essentially the same thing as watching television not good
for your brain.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, it's certainly not interactive, that is for sure. My
guess is doctor Andrew Butdson. He's a neurologist and expert
in memory loss. We're talking about memory loss of both
young and old. We'll break it down if you have
any question about things that you may have forgotten. And
I think a lot of people, particularly those of us
(07:26):
on the wrong side of fifty, as I refer to it,
when we do forget where's my phone or where mccar key's,
many of us get into a panicainsay, it was just
the first sign. And we'll ask doctor Budson about that
and how all of us He's hinted at a little bit,
how all of us can sharpen our memories, both on
(07:48):
both short term, midterm and from the days when we
were young. Because it's funny, I'm told, and I think
Doctor Butdson will probably confirm it for me that there
are things that you easily re member from when you
were in the fifth grade of the sixth grade, but
you have more difficult time remembering maybe the names of
your college classmates. I'm going to ask you about that
(08:09):
phenomenon as well, but you have probably better questions than
I do. So six one, seven, two five four ten
thirty or six one seven, nine, three, one ten thirty.
It's not often you can talk with the neurologist of
doctor Budson's stature about yourself or maybe about someone who
you're close to. We'll be back on Night's side right
(08:29):
after this with doctor Andrew Budson of Boston University.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Now back to Dan ray Line from the Window World
Light Side Studios on w b Z, the news radio.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
We are very fortunate to be joined tonight by doctor
Andrew Budson. He's a neurologist UH Harvard trained, Harvard Medical
School trained and now teachers at Boston University School of Medicine.
And doctor Budson were joined by my delighted to be
joined by my great friend and anchor person here at
w b Nicole Davis, who during the break said, could
(09:02):
I ask doctor Butson a question? And I said, Hey,
come on, of course you can. If that's okay with you,
Doctor Buttson say.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
Hello to no of course, Hi doctor, how are you?
Thanks for being here tonight. This is really really important information.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
You know.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
I'm in my late thirties and I have found, especially
over the past five six years, I am one of
the many people who are starting to develop a lot
of these symptoms. You know, not just remembering food and
TV programs and stuff from back in the nineties better
than I do last week, but you know, it's more
serious than that at times. My question is I know
that a lot of us elder millennials, we x aennials,
(09:39):
I think we're called those of us almost forty at
this point, we're being diagnosed later in life as neurodivergent
with either autism. I was diagnosed late with ADHD. How
much of a correlation do you see between what you're
noticing on the neurological side of things and neurodivergency.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Yeah, it's a very good point. And let's start with
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. So the key to
being able to remember things is to be able to
pay attention to them, and so anyone who is diagnosed
(10:25):
with ADHD it sort of means by definition, they have
difficulty paying attention. And it's something that anybody can have
from time to time. In fact, what the average person,
including myself, does when we find our attention lagging is
we take a little bit of a stimulant, and of
(10:47):
course most of us don't use a pill, but use
either a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, a
caffeinated soda, or something like that. That stimulation helps us
to pay attention and then we can actually remember things better.
So people who suffer from attention deficit disorder with or
(11:11):
without the hyperactivity are absolutely you know, going to have
more difficulty to remember things. And I would like to
comment that, you know, this is a disorder that is
being diagnosed so much more commonly now in our society
than it used to be. And I'm actually a firm
(11:34):
believer that, you know, the problem isn't necessarily with the people.
The problem may be with what our society has told
people that they need to do. I mean, I can
promise you that when human beings evolved, they did not
sit still, you know, for six hours a day, you know, scaring,
(11:55):
you know, at a blackboard in a classroom. You know,
that's just not how humans evolved. And so, you know,
I guess I'm sort of embracing the neurodiversity a little bit,
like I don't think there's necessarily something wrong with people
who have ADHD and want to pay attention and to
(12:16):
remember things, you know, that are actually meaningful in their
lives in the real world, and they may have difficulty
in the in the classroom. And you know, autism is
a is a little bit trickier. Autism can mean a
lot of different things for different people. I actually happen
(12:38):
to have a son who is now twenty four years
old and actually has severe nonverbal autism, and so he,
you know, has his own you know, types of difficulties.
But in general, when people have sort of very mild etism,
(13:00):
one common symptom that can happen is that people get
immersed and absorbed in one thing that they're really into,
and they may not be paying attention to other things
that someone else wants them to be remembering, and that
can cause a lot of difficulty remembering.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Yeah, follow a question, then, Dan, I'll step aside. You know,
we were the computer generation. I think you've talked about
this a couple of minutes ago. We grew up with computers.
I mean, you know, we had them in our schools
as they do now, but we were really the first
generation to lead that charge. Do you feel that we
our brains have almost had to develop differently to respond
to that, or do you feel that we're kind of
(13:44):
like older generational brains starting to try to battle a
generational issue that gen A and gen Z have already
physically been able to develop.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
For Yeah, I do think that the use of computers
and cell phones where one is able to get information
almost instantaneously, which of course we can do now with
almost anything from the webs, from chat, GPT, other AI programs,
(14:17):
we actually send a signal, an unconscious signal to our
brains that says, oh, you don't need to be able
to remember this, because you can just pull it right up.
So when you offload different things you're trying to remember
on the computer on your phone, it actually tells your
(14:40):
brain like, oh, I don't need to remember that because
I put it on my phone or I put it
on the computer. And people have actually done studies that
have proven this that this isn't just speculation. This is
really true that we will remember things less if we,
you know, store them in our phone or in our computer.
(15:03):
That still might be the best place to put it,
you know, but but we're not going to remember it
in our heads. I think the really interesting question is
is is this a problem or is it a good thing?
Is it better to spend our time remembering things that
are important to us, you know, like that you know,
(15:23):
lovely luncheon that we had with a friend, or that
nice weekend that we spent you know with a child
or a parent or a grandchild or whatever that is.
Maybe it's okay that we have trouble remembering you know,
the five million passwords that we need to remember, or
this website or the thing that our boss wants us
(15:44):
to remember.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
Me all right, Dan, thank you so much for the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Thank you very much, great questions. As always, as always,
thanks to Cale.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I was the one who raised, I think, initially, the
the idea of storing in your in your phone numbers.
I remember it as a kid, I knew most of
my buddy's numbers, my friend's numbers, and even as a
you know, teenager and a single guy in his twenties. Uh,
(16:20):
you had no place to store them. You know, you
got a phone on them. You got to remember it, you.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Know a lot, absolutely, and.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Now you don't, I mean, put the put it in
the cell phone. It doesn't matter. So it's just it's
it's interesting how you know how this has evolved. Uh, doctor, Butdson,
I got full lines here real quickly, so I got
a whole bunch of people. I'm so glad that Nicole
stopped by and stepped out of the newsroom because your
questions were better than mine. Frankly, and I will I
(16:49):
will continue with questions, but I'm also going to get
to phone callers right after the break here, and whatever
age you are, whatever question you have, feel free. Uh,
doctor Andrew. But and it's one of those guests that
I knew initially intuitively he'd be really good. Hasn't disappointed,
and I know he'll take your answers out and take
(17:09):
your questions and give you some answers. The only one
line that just opened up is six one seven, nine
three one ten thirty, So if you're dotting anything other
than that, you're not going to get through six one
seven nine three, one ten thirty. Back with Larry and
Dennisport to start us off, Steve and Scott and Gina
and more calls coming back right after the news at
the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Doctor Andrew Budson is my guest. Before we go to
phone's calls real quickly, if I could Doctor Budson, all
of us had this situation where one day it's like,
where's my phone, where's my phone? I know I had
my phone, where's my phone? We panic? Have you ever
done that?
Speaker 3 (17:51):
You know it'll probably and let me tell you why.
So we are all able to connect something to us
so intimately that we notice it immediately if it's not there.
And what I make a conscious effort to do is
(18:13):
always to take my phone with me everywhere, so it's
always within a hands reached away and then if it's
not in my pocket, you know where I expect it.
If it's not right next to me, I notice it immediately.
So it's something I've actually learned to train myself to do.
And this is actually, you know, one of many tips
(18:34):
that we put in our book that you had so
kindly mentioned before.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Let me mention it again because different people maybe join us.
Why we forget and How to remember better? By my
guest doctor Andrew Budson and Professor Elizabeth Kensinger a Boston College. Okay,
so that's a great tip. Okay, I tend to be
a little run around my house and I'm doing things
simn taneously. This has got to be fixed. That's got
(19:02):
to be fixed. Oh yeah, the garage is still open.
Let me close the garage. Where the hell's the phone?
And your immediate panic is when did I last have it?
I mean, you know you might have had it five
minutes ago, but you're thinking, solf, Oh we could have
your thinking worst case scenario. Did I leave it at
the post office? Oh my god, you know it's a panic.
(19:23):
It's a panic, Doctor Budson, let's get the phone calls.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Go ahead, absolutely, yeah. I was just going to say
that that, you know, we all can train ourselves and
use tips so that things like that don't happen. But
let's let's get to the questions.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
All right, here we go. Let's go to Larry down
on the Cape and Dennis Burt. Larry, you first tonight
on nights I would doctor Andrew. Butdson, what's your question
Larry or your comment?
Speaker 6 (19:49):
Oh, very interesting topic, Dan, and related to my question
that is going to be coming up. I'm going to
send you an email on a on a related topic
of another person for a great interview. So here's my question. Okay,
here's my question. So, doctor, immediately following the Maderner vaccine,
(20:11):
actually the first booster, I developed all of these symptoms
mimicking long COVID, and one of them I classify and
call it brain fog, and if I change the subject,
I forget what I was talking about immediately. Have you
done any research on how much either the vaccine or
actually the COVID virus itself has affected people's memories.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Yeah, so that's a great question. I haven't done the
research myself, but I have written a couple of blogs
on COVID and on brain fog in particular, And it is,
first of all, very common for COVID to affect people's
(20:58):
thinking and memory. And the virus can throw us for
a loop in many different ways, and the most common
way is it activates our immune system, you know, and
makes us sort of feel sick. And the vaccine can
also activate our immune system, make us feel sick for
(21:22):
a day, and some people can feel sick more. The
brain is a very you know, it's like a very
sensitive instruments, you know, It's sort of like a finely
tuned violin, and if it's off a little bit, because
there's this immune response going on to try to protect
us against COVID, we can notice it and it can
(21:45):
interfere with our thinking, our memory, our ability to pay
attention and concentrate, and yeah, it can mimic a long COVID.
Are you feeling better now, resting?
Speaker 6 (22:00):
It's been three years since I've had all these issues. Unfortunately,
then I got the real COVID last year and it's
laid up everything. So a lot of my symptoms are
getting better post exertion malaise is better, but I have
these other long term ones that won't go away. The
brain fog is one of them. This gastric problems and
(22:22):
this terrible neuropathy. They just will not leave after after
three years.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
That that's that's terrible. Well for the for the brain fog,
there there are a few things that other people have
found helpful. The first is always to to listen to
your body, and you know, try to exercise, but but
listen to your body, and if your body says, hey,
(22:48):
this is enough, you know, just go ahead and stop.
It is important to make sure you get enough sleep.
You may need a little bit more sleep than you
did before. And it is important to eat healthy foods.
All of those things have helped people recover faster from
(23:09):
the brain fog. And then the last thing is that
you know there's no harm, there's no reason why you
shouldn't use perhaps a few more memory strategies or memory
aids than you used to. So, for example, let's say
you always knew how to keep track of your keys
(23:30):
and your wallet and your your cell phone, as we
were talking about earlier with with Dan. Well, you know,
maybe now it's a little more difficult for you to
keep track of those things. But you can have a
special spot like a tray or a bowl that you
put those things in when you come in the house,
and you always put them there, and that way, whenever
(23:52):
you're looking for them, they're always there. So that's a
little tip.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Great well, Greg, Well, Larry appreciate you call. Send me
that other item and we'll we'll see what we can do. Okay, well,
thank you, doctor. You soon go to Steven Gambridge. Steve
next on nice side with doct Daniel Budson, Dan.
Speaker 7 (24:08):
Doctor Butson. I've noticed that people, especially I think people
in their forties or fifties, if they're talking with each other,
they are using their cell phones constantly if they need
to recall something or to find out the name of
(24:29):
this or that. And I also know that most people
now are totally dependent on their GPS's. I mean, it
seems to me if you don't use your faculty of recall,
you don't exercise it at all, but rely on the phone,
and if you make no effort to use your sense
(24:49):
of direction, that both of these will atrophy. What is
your opinion?
Speaker 3 (24:55):
You are one hundred correct. And the is a study
that was done in the United Kingdom that provides support
for what you just said. They actually studied people who
were going to be taking the London Cab Drivers Test,
(25:18):
which they call the Knowledge, which is the tremendous If
anyone's been to London, it's like a maze of little
tiny streets that don't follow any pattern. It's just sort
of like downtown Boston around like Milk Street, you know,
but like times one hundred. And they scanned these people's
(25:40):
brains before they did the studying and after, and they
actually found that the hippocampus, which is the part of
the brain that forms new memories, it actually grew so
much that they could measure it. So I agree one
hundred percent that one real in that people are having
(26:02):
trouble remembering things is that they're not using and exercising
their memory in the way that they use. So I
agree with you one hundred percent.
Speaker 7 (26:12):
And I've read of people using nicotine, not in tobacco,
but transdermally or nasal sprays. It has been somewhat helpful
in the treatment of people suffering memory loss, dementia, Alzheimer's.
Have you read any of the research done in that field.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Yeah, I am familiar with it, and my opinion is
that if you want a little stimulant to help your memory,
I recommend a little bit of caffeine, like I mentioned
earlier in the program, like a cup of coffee or tea,
(26:56):
or a diet soda or something fat caffeinated soda. But
I I don't recommend nicotine, and the reason is severalfold
number one. Nicotine is addictive. I mean, caffeine is addictive too,
but nicotine is worse. Nicotine also has negative effects on
(27:21):
the heart and other organs in the body. So I
think that the concept is right on target. But I'm
not a fan of nicotine because of some of its
side effects.
Speaker 7 (27:32):
Steve, thank you very much, gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Yeah, the best, Thanks Stave. We'll be back with more
phone calls six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty.
My guest is doctor Andrew Budson. Two really good phone
calls to start it off. We got three more coming up, Scott,
Gena and Phil and we might get room for you
if you want to give us, give it a try,
no guarantees, coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World,
night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Okay, let's try to get at least three maybe four
in so folks are gonna ask you to just tighten
up a little bit, Scott and Quincy. Scott, go right ahead.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
I have a great show.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Dan, go ahead, Scott, help me out here and be quick. Okay, thanks.
Speaker 8 (28:14):
Yeah, believe it or not, I have an association. I
take care of the EEG carts and evoke potential cards
for neurosurgery in a hospital you might be affiliated with
as a button. So my question is, sometimes I'm doing
a task and I get up from my workbench to
(28:34):
go and get something, and I'll completely blank out on
what I just got up to go and get, and
I have to like go back from my thoughts and say, oh,
I was going to get that particular screwdriver or tool.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
That's another great question.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Yeah that actually, yeah, it's actually one of the most
common issues. And the first thing that I want to
say to reassure you and all the other listeners out
there is that is totally normal. And what happens is
that we get up and we get distracted by something
(29:11):
we see or something else that you know, comes into
our mind, and so we lose the train of thoughts.
So essentially we sort of lose focus and stop paying
attention to what we were getting up to do. And
it's it's very very common, so not something to worry about.
Speaker 8 (29:33):
And the other thing that so I'll be going to
throw my clean socks and the clean soos bin and
I will, for some stupid reason throw them in the
dirty laundry bin instead, And I'll go, why did I
just do that? How did I reverse that association? Is
that also a thing like the old person steps from
(29:54):
the instead of the break and drives through the storefront.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Well, well, I think it's a testament to the fact
that most people don't drive through the storefront. That you know,
some types of automatic procedures that we learn to do
and become what we call procedural memory. Some people think
of it like motor memory or something like that. We
(30:19):
actually get quite good at doing the right things. But
for whatever reason, you know, sometimes we get in the
habit of doing the wrong thing. And when you get
in the habit of doing the wrong thing, every time
you do the wrong thing, it reinforces the fact that
you did the wrong thing, and you're likely to do
the wrong thing again. So if you really want to
(30:42):
break that bad habit, what you need to do is
you need to put a little sign on, you know,
whatever sock bin that's throwing you for a loop, that says,
stop and think about what you're doing before you do it.
And by consciously interrupting the repetitive cycle of doing the
(31:06):
wrong thing, you can practice the skill of doing the
correct thing. It's just like if you're playing tennis and
you're doing something wrong with your backhand. You know, if
you keep doing it wrong, it's going to keep reinforcing
the wrong thing. You've got to stop, take your deep breath,
do it the right way, and try and do it
the right way every time. Then you'll learn the automatic
(31:28):
correct habit.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
All right, appreciate it, Scott, I gotta help with you
other folks. Thank you much. You soon get a Gina
in Bridgewater. Geenie, you were next on nightside.
Speaker 9 (31:38):
Hi, good evening, guys.
Speaker 4 (31:39):
I just have a quick question, and.
Speaker 9 (31:41):
I believe I already know the answer. I need to
know what you think of a nursing home slash rehabilitation
place that refuses to answer some calls and if they
see a call coming through, they ignore it, and they
don't let people talk to the loved ones or friends.
Some of them people do have dementia and everything in there.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
I believe that the best thing.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Is I think I think you're you're Gina. I think
you're asking an unfair question to I.
Speaker 9 (32:10):
Think it's very fair because I'm the person who gets
to determine that, Gina, because again, I don't want him
to be putting in an uncomfortable position.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
I think the way you're phrasing the question is, of course,
the answer is that I think anyone you don't have
to be doctor, butdson that if someone is calling a
care center, someone should answer the phone.
Speaker 9 (32:30):
Yeah, well they're not, and people are refusing them to
be with loved ones or even talk to them, and
that's not very suggest you.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Have a lawyer.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
You need a lawyer to assert your rights. That's what
you got to do.
Speaker 9 (32:44):
Okay, all right, thank you, you have a good night.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
All right, thanks Gina, thank you doctor. Butson did mean
to cut you off there, but no, no, no, it's unfair question. Okay,
it's a question that there are no basis orchnology. Phil
is in law or Phil you're next on nights? I
go ahead, I hid.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
Listen.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
I have a bad memory at times. And you know what,
my even with my siblings, like, we're always trying to
like get our word in first, and then if they
get in I forget what I was going to say.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
Yep, yeah, that's that's very common. And and it's because
you're spending so much of your attention to try to
get a word in edgewise that you weren't paying attention
to what you were going to say. And it is
a very common thing that can happen to anybody, and
(33:45):
it's something that you can learn to do a little
bit better. You know, you have to just keep saying
to yourself in your mind, this is what I'm trying
to This is the point I'm trying to make. This
is the point I'm trying to make. You got to
just keep in the front of your mind so you
don't lose it.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
How are you?
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Yeah, can I just say one more thing. Got to
be like my sisters. Uh, you speak and then you listen,
because look like really having a conversation.
Speaker 6 (34:19):
You know.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
Good luck sounding where to live by?
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Thanks Phil, all right, we support you very quickly. Let
me go to Bruce and hol Bruce, I got about
a minute for you. You've called late, but you got
to get on quickly. Go ahead, Bruce.
Speaker 10 (34:36):
I'll be I'll be real quick.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
I have.
Speaker 10 (34:40):
It was passed on to me by a friend, but
I have and it's been working for years. A number system.
For example, I have a three piece enter that's number one.
I put my phone in my pocket. If it isn't
there when I touch my pocket, I don't go past
number two. I go find the phone. So I have
a six pieces that I have to account for before
I leave my house or go anywhere. And now what
(35:02):
do you think of that system?
Speaker 3 (35:03):
I think that is perfect. That is a very old
and very effective system. Before I go out for a run,
I make sure I have my handkerchief, my cell phone,
my earbuds, my hat, and my water bottle and I
count those one through five and make sure I have
(35:24):
them before I head out the door. That is a
great system. And as you can tell, I use it
myself and strongly endorse it.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Bruce.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Let me ask you, Bruce, you had six things. I
have six Okay, I hope one of them will have my.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Teeth.
Speaker 10 (35:44):
May not care for this call, but I mean the answer,
and I do have one comment for you. My teeth,
my phone, my wallet, my keys, my pot, and my man.
Speaker 6 (35:53):
First.
Speaker 10 (35:56):
Those are my six things. And I don't leave the
house without those six things.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Here to the list of your pims.
Speaker 10 (36:05):
Now, I want to make a comment. I've been listening
to your show since you started, not every single night,
but a lot of nights because I'm on the road,
and I got to say this show is the best
of all of them. I learned more tonight from you,
doctor than I've learned in years about fog memory and
(36:25):
not remembering things when you get up to leave your
desk and wow, I am.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
In all right.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Well, thanks very much again, that's okay, very much for
your kind doctor. Okay, thank you, Bruce. Well, that was
a man who's got he's never forget anything, doctor Andrew Butdson,
thank you very much again. I'd like to mention that
book one more time, Why we forget and how to
Remember Better by doctor Andrew Butson, his co author's professor
(36:51):
Elizabeth Kensinger of Boston College. That book is available, and
again thanks to the Globe report of Police Friar who
introduced us to Well through the Boston to doctor Butson.
Doctor Butson, the hour did not disappoint it. I had
pretty high expectations that you met and exceeded the bar.
Thank you, my friend. I hope we can talk again.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
No, it would be my pleasure. Dan, thanks so much
for having me.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
You were more than welcome. And hopefully that book are
going to get a copy of the Truth.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
That's that's one.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
Thank you very much. Not be a good book, but
it's a good book, nonetheless. Thanks So there you go,
all right, when we come back US missiles. Missiles now
are available to Ukraine. Does anyone remember arch dukes Archduke
friends fernandand of Austria. We'll talk about this right after
(37:44):
the ten o'clock news
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