What are your best tricks for aiding an aging memory? Debbie does the Pyramid game!

Guest Blogger Debbie Moose writes:
During intermission of a local play, I noted to my husband how one of the actors resembled a famous one. Because his name would not emerge from my brain no matter how hard I pried it open, I had to play “The Ten Thousand Dollar Pyramid” for about the hundredth time in my post-50 life. You remember the old game show. One contestant has to give clues about a word to another without mentioning the actual word or any form of it.

My clues to my contestant husband: “You know him. He was the father in that PBS version of ‘Little Dorrit.’ And he was Claudius in the Kenneth Branagh version of ‘Hamlet.’ He’s really good and kind of short.”

The answer: Derek Jacobi. No prize money was awarded, but I felt like I’d won a post-menopausal victory. I always do after playing what I now call The Over-50 Pyramid.

It makes me feel better to know it’s not just me. According to the New York TImes, research shows that middle-aged brains are prone to my Over-50 Pyramid effect increase because the neural connections that handle information can weaken with age. But sounds similar to the one you’re trying to remember can jump-start that flabby brain link. Click here to read the full article.

It also says that middle-aged brains are more easily distracted; prone to wandering off and daydreaming. I disagree with that one - oh, look, squirrel!

Debbie Moose is the author of four cookbooks. Her latest is “Potato Salad: 65 Recipes from Classic to Cool.” Check out her blog, Moose Musings.