Peaut Butter & Lead

When I was a Junior in high school, I had to memorize the Periodic Table in its entirety. For some of the more counter-intuitive symbols of elements, I made a game for myself out of bizarre acronyms to help me remember what to put in each blank square. After listening to an interesting interview with a 'competitive memorizer' on NPR yesterday, I found out that my technique was similar to those used by mental athletes, and could also be helpful as people age and remembering becomes more difficult.

I've had some exposure to Alzheimer's Disease and the damage it not only wreaks on the individual, but on their close family and friends. My husband is terrified he will inherit the rampant disease from his family, so he plays chess, works puzzles, and challenges himself to read complicated literature to keep his brain muscle flexing. I've tried to eliminate aluminum from my kitchen and we gave up on commercial deodorants years ago, in a combined effort to reduce the liklihood of forgetting.

Our brains really are just a large muscle, and memories are like smaller muscles, with the underlying message being 'Use it or Lose it!' Muscles atrophy without exercise, and we lose the memory when we don't challenge ourselves to think. It doesn't mean we have to go join Mensa, but doing a crossword every now and then can't hurt.

And by the way, I still (and probably will forever) remember that Pb is Lead on the Periodic Table- I remembered it by thinking that no one would ever eat a Peanut Butter and Lead sandwich.