I know I said it - but who was it to...?

A study conducted at Baycrests Rotman Research Institute, affiliated to the University of Toronto, has been focused on loss of memory in the elderly. It has found that the elderly often think they have said something to someone but get the person wrong to whom they have spoken.

The conclusion was that some elderly people are only able to focus on one thing at a time. Therefore they can only concentrate on what they are saying and forget the rest! The "destination memory" fares worse than the "communication memory". Scientists believe that as people age so do their powers of concentration and they can only focus on one thing at at time.

Cognitive scientist Dr Nigel Gopie who headed the study said: "What we've found is that older adults tend to experience more destination amnesia than younger adults."

Dr Gopie gave the example of an elderly person falsely believing they have told their daughter something when they have actually told their neighbour.

It is believed that the ability to concentrate declines with age. This means that older adults spend most of their attentional ability on telling information and don't properly take note of the rest of the context for future recall.

Often they are so adamant about who they have spoken to, that no-one can dissuade them, leading to a number of memory faux pas!

What's this?