“Am I losing my mind?” the forty-something asked. “Why is my memory fading? My mother used to say, ‘The more complex life becomes, the more you can’t remember … the brain gets too cluttered.’ Is this true? Am I heading for senility?”

Take a deep breath before buying that one-way ticket to Fort Lauderdale. A struggle to find your keys doesn’t mean they’re readying your suite in the Mecca of ping-pong and prune juice. Most adults air the same complaint at some point, whether their lives are frenetic or not. Still, brief lapses in retrieval powers can be disconcerting.

Here’s what happens. To become entrenched in a substantial manner, information we want to remember alters brain cells permanently. During our twenties, such cells begin dying off. The body also manufactures less of the essential chemicals these guys require to function.

Sounds bad, but it’s not all gloom and doom. The mind stores different types of information in different drawers. When one of these drawers slides less smoothly, we have trouble pulling out the file we want to find. Sometimes this is normal. Other times not.

There are actually five ways of remembering, some of which are affected by longevity. A more active mind preserves brain cells longer, stimulating neural blood flow and circulation.

Immediate memory retains a small amount of information for only a few seconds. This is important for navigating what’s happening around us. There’s a definite ceiling on how much can be kept here, as the facts fade quickly, but this faculty isn’t much impaired by age — any average adult can briefly catalog five to seven pieces of data. Playing bridge or other card games and attending speaking events are good ways to maintain the status quo.

In contrast, recent memory locks down events or knowledge gained minutes, hours, or days ago. This is the subset that most often kicks us in the hiney, declining naturally from the twenties through the latter fifties, when changes come at a more noticeable clip. As per our department motto, there’s a strong research correlation between an active body and sound short term function. Catlike reflexes = snappy recall.

Semantic memory is accumulation of facts and experience gathered over a lifetime — what might be referred to as general knowledge. As we age, this type of memory typically remains stable or even improves. Vocabulary scores, for example, get better decade by decade from a person’s second round on up, peaking in the sixties before a slight recession in the seventies and beyond. The best way to keep the semantic edge honed is to sharpen it on trivia and crosswords, and by consistently reading. Subliminal Message: Never stop subscribing to Decatur Magazine.

Prospective memory refers to the ongoing effort to remember things we’re supposed to do in the future. This database is best enhanced by habitually giving yourself cues: To Do lists, day planners, calendars, and so on. Writing down information seals it firmly in your head.

Remote memory is the most difficult for science to explain, as it’s hard to validate or disprove personal recollections. Often these reminiscences are connected to a particularly emotional event, and to repetition of that incident in one’s mind or through re-telling. Exercising this part of the brain is simple: Socialize a lot. Waxing nostalgic with friends, writing in a journal, or keeping a personal memoir will all keep remote images nearer at hand.

The American Academy of Family Physicians notes that normal declines in short term recall are to be expected. A problem becomes serious when it begins to negatively affect daily life. If you have trouble remembering how to do tasks you’ve done many times before, finding a familiar destination, or following ordered steps (such as recipes), there could be something else afoot. Those with deeper cognitive difficulties are at a heightened risk of Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

Some factors that negatively influence memory are thyroid, heart, or other health maladies, depression, drug side effects, excessive alcohol use, stress, and lack of sleep. Menopause or hormonal shifts also can disrupt expected function.

Interestingly, a 2002 study performed at University College (London, England) indicates superior memories are made, not born. Their research pitted memory “champions” against “normal” people, and revealed that the champs had neither higher IQ levels nor specialized brain structures. But most of them reported that they’d trained themselves to use an old Greek device known as “method of loci,” in which a person visualizes walking down a well-known path, dropping off objects to be returned to later.

This being America, there are plenty of people willing to sell miracle memory-boosting food or supplements, and plenty of consumers willing to buy. A drink called MetaBerry, for one, claims its antioxidant qualities neutralize harmful free radicals, which the makers allege do more memory damage in a day than they did to our ancestors in a lifetime.

While such a product likely can’t hurt, experts advise there’s no magic herbal bullet. Nutritionists do warn that high fat content menus probably “clog up” brain function. Basing your diet on fruits and vegetables — raw if possible — presents the best plan for keeping your mental files in order.

The most reliable defense: Combine an active lifestyle, balanced meals, and meaningful mental diversions.

A regular columnist and contributor for Decatur Magazine, Zachary Shields cites his father as his memory role model, a man who reminds us: “Three things happen as you get older. First, you start to forget stuff. The other two ...