HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL STATES THAT AGING ITSELF DOES NOT CAUSE A SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF NEURONS IN THE HIPPOCAMPUS ( IN THE BRAIN).....That is the part of the brain that is involved with storing and retreiving memories. They also state that adults can grow new brain cells!!!!! Age related memory loss is related to damage of the " NMDA RECEPTORS". What this tells us is that memory loss isn't an inevitable process of old age. There are the things that Harvard Medical School suggests you do because of many studies they have done at that University Medical School. 1) Education and Intelligence= people who study have more brain connections then people who don't. 2) Mental Exercises: just like going to a gym to exercise your body, you must exercise your brain. 3) Stress: High Cortisol levels ( people who are stressed) lost more hippocampal brain cells than people with lower cortisol levels. 4) Sleep=getting a good night's sleep improves your memory. 5) Hypertension= High BLood Pressure is associated with cognitive defects 25 years after the hypertension begins. 6) Vitamin E the anti-oxidant protects brain cells from damage of free radicals. Those with low Vitamin E were consistently associated with poor memory.