Almost everyone over 50 occasionally complains about memory
glitches—time-consuming searches for misplaced glasses and keys,
difficulty recalling names only minutes after an introduction
and, perhaps most frustrating of all, coming up empty when a
familiar word is on the tip of the tongue. While people tend to
joke about these "senior moments," the humor camouflages an
underlying fear of Alzheimer’s disease. Their concern isn’t
unfounded: about five percent of people age 65 and older (and a
much larger proportion over 80) develop Alzheimer’s. However,
there is mounting evidence that memory lapses don’t necessarily
foreshadow dementia. What often leads to these lapses are "brain
busters," such as fatigue, depression, poor physical health and
medication. Stress is another factor getting closer scrutiny.
Researchers at Yale Medical School, for instance, recently
reported in the journal Science that stress activates a brain
protein called kinase C, or PKC, that can undermine short-term
memory. Other researchers h