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ExhaustedPiper Asked December 2019

When old memories become dominant?

I've been noticing that my mom is recalling very old memories with much more frequency, more than I've ever seen. And I mean OLD memories that I never heard of, especially things about the early days with my dad. She got pregnant with me at 16 so pretty young. It's also a little strange because my entire life my mom was not one to talk about past memories much. Never anything about her childhood or early years, now it's popping up quite a bit. And in the last 20+ years since my dad died she really hasn't talked about him much either until recently.


I always knew that short term memory is most effected, and my mom's short term memory is getting worse. But does this also correlate to the recall of these old memories?


Yesterday we had plans to watch football at my place like every Sunday. My mom and I are both huge fans of the same team. When I saw her Saturday I reminded her of the game and said I would make chili. Well the games on for 15 mins and she is still not here so I call and she had totally forgotten about it. Later she was telling me about an old singer my dad liked and kept saying it was his all time favorite. I never heard of this, and I was close to my dad. It must have been a very early memory. Then later at night she texted me a wiki link about that same singer, so she was still thinking about it. How she managed to text the link when she can barely work her iPhone these days was also surprising.


Anyhow just wondering if more frequent recall of these old memories is a sign of progression or just a nothing burger and I shouldn't think much of it?

kirahfaye Dec 2019
Yes, I believe it is common for older memories to become clearer. My mom's neurologist explained that the part of the brain that holds newer memories is affected by age and dementia well before the older ones. However, one thing I've noticed with my mom is that not all of her old memories are correct. Actually, quite a few of the ones I can recall either never happened or happened differently than she remembers.
ExhaustedPiper Dec 2019
Yes I too have heard things that I know aren't true. My mom tried to tell me she made homemade pizza for us growing up "all the time". Um no, more like NEVER. No idea where that came from. Others I have no way of knowing, they could be true or she could be confusing it with something else.

I don't correct her, I just go along with it. It's just an interesting turn of events that's become more frequent with my mom.

Is it a sign of progression? I keep asking that question to myself but it has to be. I'm just so afraid of what's to come. So many unknowns.
NeedHelpWithMom Dec 2019
Piper,

That’s interesting.

I was attending this caregiver support group for awhile. It was led by a social worker and meetings were held at an assisted living facility close to my home.

Some of the people in the meetings were the elderly who lived there.
This is an assisted living facility in a wealthy area. The amenities are very nice. There is a woman living in the facility who attends the meetings. She is married to a man that has dementia. His memories are fading but is remembering from way back in his past.

This man used to be an excellent pool player. On the third floor there is a pool table, a poker table and other games that they entertain themselves with.

The woman told her husband that she had some shopping to do. She still drives and in good shape. She walked with her husband to the game room.

She saw to it that one of his buddies would stay in the room with him and they could shoot a few games of pool while she was running her errands.

The men and a few others were in the game room. His friend asked him to play a game of pool. His wife said he hadn’t played in years but she thought he might enjoy playing again if he remembered how.

He started playing and something clicked. He beat his buddy and everyone in the room. His name is Charlie.

So his wife got back to the facility. His friend walked him back to their room. She said to her husband, “So Charlie, how did you enjoy shooting pool again?” He told her that he didn’t play pool. She asked his friend if Charlie remembered how to shoot pool. The friend then told her he beat everyone in the room.

Isn’t it odd how the brain works?
ExhaustedPiper Dec 2019
Yes, it is odd how the brain works! Thanks for sharing the story about Charlie. He beats everyone in the room and then says he didn't play. Wow. Well at least he played and probably enjoyed it when he did.

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cwillie Dec 2019
I read somewhere that with Alzheimer's our memories are like books on a floor to ceiling bookshelf. The ones at the top are the newest and most easily lost, the ones at the bottom are foundational and may be retained until the end. Scattered among the years (shelves) are big books (important memories) and smaller books, the bigger memories might hang around longer but the order they are stored in can get jumbled.

oooh, I've found a youtube video that explains it much better than I did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SpQxD90lyE&feature=emb_logo
Sendhelp Dec 2019
Watched the video.
You explained it just fine!
GingerMay Dec 2019
My mom also is frequently recalling very old memories from her childhood and 20's. I am no expert, but maybe it is just part of the progression of the disease. I spent a few hours with her last weekend, and while we would talk about the game on television in front of us she would keep going back to things about her mother, her childhood friends, and events that occurred when I was a kid. I have heard all these stories before, but she still gets upset and cries as she rehashes history. I started noticing a new set of old photos in the living room now on display of her parents as kids, mom's high school graduation photo, mom and dad's wedding announcement and my 7th grade school picture. I wonder if it gives them comfort to reflect on simpler times.
ExhaustedPiper Dec 2019
That's interesting about the photos Ginger. My mom doesn't seem to get sad about these memories it's just out of character for her to do this especially with such frequency.

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