Old People Store Bad Memories Differently (LiveScience.com)

The story is very interesting. Too bad there are no other comments or interest in this subject. After all we all are going to get old some day.

Yes, we are going to get old one day. I saw my Moms' mind slowly fade with Dementia. One day she didn't even recognize me. It's hard to see someone you love grow old, someone who was once so smart, grow into someone who couldn't remember anything.

I am already old ( lol) and yes this study is interesting but although I have had unpleasant happenings in my life, loss of loved ones etc I don't know if my recollections are any different than some "younger" ones. We have had more time/years to absorb the events so perhaps that has something to do with the way we process them and that might be what contributes to our resiliency.

i am an older woman and yes i believe that i store old hard memories different than younger folks do.as as age we learn to put these memories in to differet parts of our brain so that newer happier memories can take their place.thats my belief.

( A )...

Older people should not waste their time and life's pleasure. They should search their inner true-self and purify themselves in moral values to seek for their original lost eternal land of happiness and life.
They should find a right spiritual teacher to learn moral cultivation and calmness meditation. These two methods must practise together. It won't be complete without one of the other.
Life is extremely precious and is exceptionally rare to become a human being or in a human body.
Don't waste one's life and time when one gets old, as this is a free time for one to liberate and detach from this worldly passions and strong materialistic attractions.

( B ).. continue..

For Young and Old People, any gender is permitted to practise.

Since we are of different nationalities and races, speaking different languages but we are of the same citizens of this planet, Earth. We all also came from the same source, the children of One True GOD, once upon a time. But due to several rebirths we tend to forget our true or pure-self. It is that 95 % of our potential capacity mind is covered with our past and present sinful deeds.
Human beings are unable to comprehend the world beyond because they are too pre-occupied in their work or too attached to worldly materials, glamour and pleasures.

( C )...continue...

Whether one believes or not is not significant. At this present moment the most important issue for us to understand seriously is our precious life, as well as time.
Do not waste both. Make good use of both. Only human beings are able to purify themselves in virtuous morals in mind, body and soul in-order to seek for a return journey to their original plane of Pure Land where eternal happiness and life awaits.
Life is beautiful, meaningful, wonderful and useful if one knows how. But it will be bitter, sour, ugly. miserable, dirty and more sufferings if one knows not.

( D )..continue...

Those human beings whose hearts and minds are impure, selfish, greedy, stubborn ,power-crazy, bias are like the demons, satans, and the evil spirits who all like to control, punish, misuse and abuse their power to cause disharmony, create fears, worries and hardships to others. “Divide to conquer and rule” is their evil deeds.

The Supreme Almighty does not control, punish, hate nor cause any disharmony
to others. HIS love is so supreme, pure, indiscriminate, immeasurable, limitless,
magnanimous and Universal that spreads to all and throughout the whole Universe and beyond.

( E )...continue...

Human being’s love is limited and bias, just centering around a circle of alikeness, or at times of one’s selfish gains. Their love expect something in return.

The Supreme Lord is very compassionate and generous that HE gave and still gives human beings to repent and correct themselves to seek their pure-selves. Chances after chances are being given. Throughout histories HE had and has sent many messengers to guide human beings to a right path, but till today many are still reluctant to follow and ignore or distorted and misleading HIS “Universal Truth”.
Many of HIS messengers were and are being slandered or ridiculed and some were being poisoned, tortured and crucified. How weird and cruel are these people who ill-treated them.
They are the evils who are wearing a mask of honesty.

( F )...continue..

The Universal Truth are reincarnation and retribution.
Reincarnation is the proof of retribution.
Retribution is the proof reincarnation.
Parts and parcels of “unseen” Universal Truth are the contour lines on our palms and soles of our feet as well as designs of our faces., behaviours of our actions etc, etc.
But they are all temporary. Not an Absolute Truth. The Supreme Ultimate Truth is the aura or light of our deeds. Dim or sparkling bright depends on our virtuous moral actions.

HE has given everyone the freedom to choose. Choose the right path then one’s life is “valueless”. Choose the wrong way and one’s life too is “valueless”.
Please study the essence of its meaning.

I'm sure that is true! If they are anything like me, they can't remember crap!

( G ) ..continue...

Please remember and remember….,
This is your chance, make good use of it. It is pointless to regret it later. Cultivation in virtuous morals is your top priority and the purpose here. Will not be the same again in the next life. Time and tide waits for no one.
Grasp it Now or never.

Liberate yourself in total pureness of light to return to your original “HOME”,
to merge with the PureLand or Great Dao where eternal blissfulness and life awaits you.


One must believe and have faith in the Supreme Lord. Repent and ask for HIS forgiveness for one’s ignorance in committing any sinful act of the past or in one’s past life / lives. One must be willing to let go of one’s bad habits and correct them immediately with moral values.

Please Note :- You may circulate to those who need to self-realize themselves.

humblefore, I read paragraph A but buy the time I finished B I forgot what was in A and buy the time I finished G I'd forgotten what the original story was about. Is there any hope for me?

( A )....

Only in a human form are we able to purify our mind, body and soul in moral values to seek for our original eternal PURE LAND which is beyond the planes of reincarnation or the “seas of suffering." We are better off than the fairies, angels and demi-gods who need to reborn in a human body for a return to eternity. Those who have doubt and do not believe, let it be. But it is nothing to lose than to regret it later. Whatever sex we are, we must not devalue our precious life now. We must have a respect and gratitude to the Supreme Almighty for giving us the body form as well as our parents for nurturing and guiding us rightly and morally well.

The change in memory storage from adolescent to adult, would be a hold over from our distant past. A survival mechanism related to flight or fight. Unpleasent or dangerous situtations would need to more closely related to the emotional response in the young in order for them be able to better cope quickly with a dangerous situation. Whereas an older individual would have more cognitive abilities to deal with an unpleasent situation through experiance or increased knowledge. ie. To a child all fire could pose a serious risk, with an adult only certain fire poses a serious risk. A minor burn as a child would invoke pain and fear that would be associated with all fire. For an Adult it would invoke, being more careful or a differant method of handling or controling the fire.

B ) ..continue...

Our body is not a playing object or a toy. It is used to inter-act correctly and harmoniously to produce a moral valued next generation of a pure society without too complexity.
Life is “valueless” It is very beautiful, meaningful, wonderful and useful if one knows how. But it will be bitter, sour, ugly. miserable, dirty and more sufferings if one knows not.
It is a rare and golden opportunity to be a human being, but many are ignorant and sceptical in spoiling and destroying one-self through one's immoral activities and sinful deeds. They do not believe that the Universal Truth is " death is life too." Either one self-destroys or reborn depends on the present moment of one's good or evil deeds that one commits.

I'm somewhat older also at 61 and think this is probably true. I suspect this is related to a recent scientific study that shows time seems to fly by faster for older people, with the reason being that they have fewer "new" experiences than younger people do. In other words, once you've "been there and done that", things don't register as much on your brain or in the same way.

Because of this, highs (positive experiences) and lows (negative experiences) don't have the same impact they had when there weren't as many experiences to relate them to - we stay more on an even keel and don't let emotional swings affect us as much. Think, for example, of the first time your sports team won a big game or the first time you lost a loved one compared to later ones. Later experiences don't have the same impact.

I'm 60 myself, and boy does time fly. Has something to do with slowed metabalism and probably the fact that I got way too may irons in the fire. Nothing impacts me anymore, I had just about everything there is done to me, done just about everything there is to do. Heck only time I stick around is to see what can happen next. I'm not a Socicioligist but I did play one on TV once.

GaryB, that however would not explain why the memories are stored differantly though. True some life events do not have the same impact as the first, in many cases yet still do in others. Near Death fear experiances never loose that initial terror although they may not be as long term parylising at first. ie. First military combat experiances are nearly overwhelming, the initial fear long lasting. But the hardend Veteran will still feel that initial fear, yet quickly overcomes it to respond. For me, that first bite of Atlantic Blue crab always is as memorable than the first one I ever had. We do process differantly with age, but you would thing the storage method would be the same?

We who have lived longer, have learned to process these memories in the detailed complexity which accompany bad events. And, often, we have reached "game plans" for facing and getting through a recurrance of similar negative times in our futures. The young are not experienced in the thorny side of life and still are in react mode emotionally. Thus the storage of bad memories as found in the study- seniors store in the high-level complex cognitive area and the youth store in the "current events" lower level

btw- for me, time goes very slowly. This is probably due to living hundreds of miles from my two adult children, in a violence-prone area and having no f2f friends- but having a mind which is much younger than my body.