Behind every public figure's appearance lies a personal health regimen. This series examines the diets, exercise routines, procedures, and beauty and fashion choices of newsmakers as practical lifestyle information.
As people age, struggling to recall a familiar name or a word once on the tip of the tongue can easily trigger fears of early dementia. Actor Sami-ja recently underwent a dementia screening at her family's urging after they noticed she had been forgetting things more often. The results, however, were reassuring: while age-related changes were visible in her brain, her memory and overall cognitive function tested above average for her age group.
Sami-ja shared the experience on her YouTube channel, showing herself and her husband visiting a hospital for a neuropsychological evaluation and a brain MRI.
When she asked why she had been brought in, her husband explained that she had been forgetting things unusually often lately. She had been having trouble immediately recalling people's names and certain words.
The results defied expectations. Neurologist Kwon Ye-ji said the scans showed age-related brain shrinkage and atrophy, but that Sami-ja's short-term memory and overall cognitive ability were excellent. "There is no suspicion of dementia whatsoever — her scores place her well above average," Kwon said.
Forgetting a name or word doesn't automatically mean dementia
A gradual slowing in the speed at which memories are retrieved is a natural part of aging. The US National Institute on Aging lists occasional examples of normal age-related forgetfulness: momentarily forgetting an appointment but remembering it later, briefly losing track of what day it is before recalling it, or not being able to find the right word immediately.
What matters more than how long it takes to recall something is whether the lapse actually interferes with daily functioning.
Kwon said the key question is whether a person has difficulty with daily activities or needs help from others to manage independently. "Forgetting things as you age is a natural phenomenon in itself," she said. "If you cannot immediately recall what you had for a meal or a particular word but remember it after a moment's thought, that is generally not a cause for concern."
For example, struggling to remember the name of a familiar actor and then having it come to mind later is common. The same applies to forgetting where you put something but retracing your steps to find it.
The picture changes, however, when someone repeatedly forgets recent conversations or events, keeps asking the same questions, gets lost in familiar places, or struggles to carry out tasks they once handled independently — such as banking, cooking or managing medications.
The National Institute on Aging describes dementia not as simple memory loss but as a decline in the ability to think, remember and make judgments severe enough to interfere with daily life. Even in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, signs can include repeatedly forgetting recently learned information, difficulty managing finances, and taking significantly longer to complete familiar tasks.
Between normal aging and dementia lies a condition known as mild cognitive impairment, or MCI — a state in which memory or thinking ability is noticeably below that of peers of the same age, yet most daily activities can still be managed independently. Not all MCI progresses to dementia, which is why getting a proper evaluation is important if concerning symptoms appear.
MRI shows aging brain, yet memory stays sharp — what is 'cognitive reserve'?
One of the more striking aspects of Sami-ja's results was the gap between what the MRI showed and how she actually performed: age-related brain atrophy was visible on the scan, yet her cognitive test scores were excellent.
The brain does change with age. Some regions shrink in volume, connections between neurons shift, and processing new information or retrieving stored memories can take longer than before. But these structural changes do not in themselves mean dementia. The National Institute on Aging notes that mild forgetfulness can be a normal part of aging, and that some people maintain high cognitive function well into old age.
The concept that often comes up to explain this gap is cognitive reserve.
Cognitive reserve refers to the brain's ability to draw on efficient neural networks or alternative circuits — built up over a lifetime — to sustain thinking and memory function relatively well even as aging or pathological changes occur. In simple terms, it is something like a buffer that allows the brain to compensate for a degree of structural change.
Education, diverse intellectual activities, complex work experience and social engagement have all been studied as factors associated with greater cognitive reserve. Research cited by the National Institute on Aging found that people with higher levels of education showed relatively less impact on memory even as white matter changes in the brain increased. That said, cognitive reserve does not mean the brain is protected from disease itself.
There is also research linking consistent mental activity to the timing of dementia onset.
Researchers at Rush University tracked 1,903 adults with an average age of 80 who had no dementia at the start of the study, following them for about seven years while measuring how often they engaged in cognitive activities such as reading, writing, and puzzles or board games. Those who were most active in such pursuits received an Alzheimer's diagnosis up to about five years later than those who were least active. Because it was an observational study, however, the findings cannot be taken as proof that mental activity alone prevents dementia.
Books, exercise, conversation — the brain needs consistent use too
So what can people do to keep their cognitive function healthy?
Activities that engage the brain in unfamiliar ways — reading, writing, learning a foreign language or a musical instrument, doing puzzles, or picking up new skills — may help. Rather than simply repeating the same tasks, consistently engaging in activities that involve learning, retaining and evaluating new information is considered beneficial.
Social interaction also matters. Holding a conversation requires listening to and understanding another person, retrieving information from memory and forming it into sentences — a cognitively demanding process. Long-term research cited by the National Institute on Aging found that people who maintained frequent social contact with friends and others in middle age and beyond tended to show better cognitive performance later in life and were less likely to receive a dementia diagnosis.
Exercise, too, is not just a matter of physical health. Regular physical activity can improve cardiovascular health and help maintain blood flow to the brain and overall brain health. Alongside exercise, lifestyle habits that protect vascular health — adequate sleep, managing blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol, and not smoking — are also worth maintaining. The Alzheimer's Association similarly lists exercise, lifelong learning, social engagement and sleep management among the key lifestyle factors for brain health.
On the other hand, a noticeable recent worsening of forgetfulness need not automatically be chalked up to age. Conditions that can be treated or corrected — including depression, sleep deprivation, certain medications, thyroid disorders and vitamin deficiencies — can produce symptoms that resemble memory decline. If worrying changes persist, seeking a neurocognitive evaluation to identify the cause is advisable.
What Sami-ja's case illustrates is less about the presence of age-related changes on her MRI and more about the fact that structural brain aging and actual cognitive function do not necessarily move in lockstep. Rather than panicking the moment a name fails to come to mind, it is more useful to ask: is the person still managing daily life independently, can they retrieve the memory later, and are the lapses getting progressively worse?
Even with age, it remains possible to keep learning new things, talking with people and staying physically active. The brain's aging cannot be stopped — but how actively it is used is still something that can be changed.
rainbow@heraldcorp.com
