Stress, poor dietary habits and the aging process can adversely affect the brain's memory capacity.
A person's ability to remember facts, faces and events depends on the brain's ability to perform a complex network of processes that record and retrieve information. Various malfunctions within the brain's processing centers can delay memory recall, or prevent it altogether. Although disease or injury can dramatically affect memory by damaging specific areas of the brain, poor memory normally has a more gradual onset resulting from nutritional, psychological, behavioral or age-related factors.
Dietary Causes
Like the rest of the body, the brain requires certain nutrients to perform optimally. When deprived of these nutrients on a continual basis, the body's metabolism and cognitive functions begin to break down, according to the Franklin Institute.
Cells require adequate supplies of oxygen, and the proper balance of vitamins and nutrients, to function in a coordinated manner. In terms of brain function, neurotransmitters secreted by cells determine how efficiently the brain processes incoming and outgoing information. When adequate nutrients are lacking, an imbalance in neurotransmitter levels can disrupt information storage and retrieval. This can result in symptoms of poor memory, including forgetfulness, confusion and mental fatigue.
Stress
The human body normally uses mild and moderate stress conditions to its advantage. It does this by producing stress hormones that enhance overall function, and promote faster response rates and improved concentration, according to the Memory Disorders Project at Rutgers University.
However, when stressful conditions persist over long periods of time---as occurs with depression, job dissatisfaction or loneliness---the ongoing production of stress hormones begins to take a toll on the brain and body. Within the brain, excess levels of stress hormones have adverse effects on the hippocampus, which is one of the primary areas involved in memory function. Over time, a person's ability to form new memories can decline as a result of damage to brain cells in this area.
Insomnia resulting from stress and other causes can also affect the brain's ability to form memories.
Aging Process
Poor memory can develop as cell structures in the brain and body age, causing metabolic processes to function less efficiently. According to Bryn Mawr College, areas of the brain like the hippocampus normally deteriorate with age, which directly affects the brain's ability to store and retrieve information.
As the body ages, the brain gradually loses brain cells. Fewer brain cells means that fewer cells are available to produce the neurotransmitters needed for optimal brain function. Although most older individuals are still capable of storing and retrieving information, their brain processes may be slower. Poor memory is a common result, as the brain takes a longer time to process and absorb new information.
Chronic health problems like heart disease and diabetes can also affect brain function, including the ability to store and retrieve memories.
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