Tracking your memory

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A case for setting a baseline

A memory score on its own is a snapshot. It compares you to other people of your age and education, which is useful, but the range of normal is wide. Two people can both score comfortably within this span and be on completely different trajectories.

What matters is the direction your memory is heading, and you cannot see direction from a single point in time.

The value of a baseline

If you take Memory Exam today and again in a year, the second result is compared against something far more relevant than just a population average. It is compared against you.

That matters because people vary enormously. A retired professor scoring at the population average may have declined significantly. Someone who left school at fifteen and scores below the population average may be doing exactly what they have always done. Your own earlier result removes most of this noise.

This can also give your doctor a clearer picture. Two results taken a year apart help reveal what has changed and what has stayed the same.

A Latino man in his seventies sweeping a front step in morning light

A Black woman in her fifties and her mother in her late seventies sharing a bench, coffee cups between them

Your baseline tells your personal story

Population averages provide context. Your unique baseline shows how your results change over time.

When to establish a baseline

The best time to start your baseline is while you are not worried about changes. A baseline established when you feel fine gives you the cleanest, clearest starting point for tracking change over time.

Reasonable prompts to start:

Turning 50 years old and onward, when other routine health checks begin
A family history of Alzheimer's disease or another dementia
Starting a medication that can affect cognition
After a head injury, once you have recovered
Any time you have caught yourself wondering and concerned

A white man in his fifties and his father in his seventies catching up over the noise of a farmers market

A Latina woman in her seventies switching off a bedside lamp, book face down

How often to repeat testing

For most people, once a year is sensible. It is frequent enough to catch a trend.

For the most meaningful comparison, take the exam under similar conditions each time. Choose a consistent time of day and a quiet setting, and avoid unusually stressful or exhausting days. Sleep, stress, illness and certain medications can all affect performance.

If something changes noticeably in between, do not wait for your annual anniversary.

What a change can tell you

A lower score next year is not a diagnosis. Memory can be affected by many factors, including thyroid problems, vitamin B12 deficiency, sleep apnea, depression, alcohol and side effects from common medications. Some of these causes can be treated or addressed.

What a measured change gives you is a reason to look more closely and talk with your doctor. Tracking your cognition over time can help you notice meaningful changes earlier, when there is still an opportunity to understand what may be contributing to them.

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A woman in her fifties smiling at a laptop at home warm morni

Where to go next

Start your baseline before you are worried.

Buy a Memory Exam

If something has already changed, the warning signs checklist will help you describe it. To see how this compares with a clinic screen, read our comparison.