AS and short term memory

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Once or twice I stepped out the door of my apartment in a bicycle suit with a backpack in my hand and closed the door without having my bike. Other times I just had to go back from the street to the apartment because I had my street shoes on instead of the SPDs...

When I have to copy numbers or short texts I know my memory is weak in comparison to others.

I realized I need routine to keep my tendency to forget things in check and eliminate some OCD tendencies too.

I can remember what I ordered on Amazon last time though, since it took ages to me to choose the books, complete the order, arrange int.shipping, and pay for them. (J-E.Robinson/Be Different, Harper Lee/To Kill a Mockingbird, Opra's C.Dickens/Two Cities, Great Expectations).

I've bought an n -back online that taxes verbal and non verbal working memory. I've never made it past n-3. N-1 was a mother of puppies at first, then n-2 and I've gotten 100% on n-2. N-3 is my limit. It's a road block so far. I can get 80 to 85 % correct, but I'm stuck.

Has my improvement with "N-back" made a real world difference? Well, I went outside to water the flower gardens, (needed this badly due to drought), and instead cleaned the garage, by getting sidetracked. I "remembered" once I settled down in the house-- it just popped in there.


I believe emotion plays a large role in all of this. If I get involved into something that interests me, then I am now a wizard in memory.

It's "executive" related no doubt, as it's there, but I cannot find the reins to use it, when I need it.

Last edited by Mdyar on 05 Sep 2011, 7:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You can chalk me up into the absent-minded category too. My motto has become: "I have an amazing ability forget things."

The interesting thing about my memory is that when I do remember something, I am very sure I remember it correctly and cannot be convinced otherwise.

I just have a selective memory - I remember things I want to remember (like things that I'm interested in) but forget things that I'm not interested in.

sometimes I forget I took my meds.

Perhaps for some but not for me.

No matter how focused or interested I am, many sentences (verbal or written) are too long. If ideas aren't smoothly building up in a very logical fashion, I will forget the first part.

Short-term memory only holds a small amount and only for a small length of time. Thinking about the current verbal or physical information displaces the 5-to-10-second-old info.

This is a trigger of the "overwhelmed" brain-swirl. I want to understand but cannot.

I beg my mom to give me things one at a time, because, unless I get a list, I can't remember to do more than one task at a time to save my life.

So yeah, it's like I have a filter in my brain that is full of holes; some of the stuff you want out of the mainstream drops in.