![]() But Sha says many times there's another explanation. And these issues do become more common with every passing decade. HAMILTON: More serious declines in memory or thinking may indicate mild cognitive impairment, a condition that can lead to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. As we age, potentially that might diminish this to maybe six digits - so slightly diminished but not zero. SHARON SHA: Our working memory is, on average, about seven digits. Sharon Sha, a clinical professor of neurology at Stanford University, says it tends to fade a bit in later life. HAMILTON: Another type of memory affected by aging is the kind we use to temporarily keep track of a phone number or a password. TAN: Trying to remember that name of the restaurant that they were in last weekend or the name of the person that they met for coffee - that is not in itself a sign of dementia, but it's a sign of cognitive aging. But Tan says retrieving a given fact may be harder. For example, a healthy older brain retains its ability to learn and to store information. HAMILTON: Certain aspects of memory also change with age. TAN: That is more important for, let's say, a race car driver or an airline pilot than it is for someone who is doing an executive-level job, where there's a lot of support and a lot more time to do planning and decision-making. HAMILTON: Tan says one of these changes is a decrease in the brain's processing speed, which can mean decisions take longer. TAN: Even the so-called successful agers - if you measure their cognitive performance, you will see certain changes compared to their baseline. HAMILTON: Tan says aging just makes a momentary lapse more likely. It's just that we are not public figures, and therefore, this is not as noticeable or blown up. HAMILTON: Tan, who directs the Memory and Healthy Aging Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, says a brain glitch can happen to anyone. ZALDY TAN: Some people are reading too much into little snippets of interviews without really knowing what's going on behind the scenes. Zaldy Tan says those errors on their own don't mean much. In January Trump appeared to confuse Republican Nikki Haley with Democrat Nancy Pelosi. JON HAMILTON, BYLINE: Last week Biden confused the president of Egypt with the president of Mexico. Experts, though, say those slips could be signs of normal aging or signs of nothing at all. Recent memory lapses by both President Biden and former President Trump have prompted lots of amateur speculation about their mental fitness.
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