You forget a name in a meeting. You walk into a room and can't think why you're there. And a quiet worry starts: is my memory going? Is this just age, or something worse?

In this episode, consultant neurologist Dr Sui Wong explains why most everyday forgetting isn't decline at all. Through the story of one patient who arrived convinced she had dementia, you'll learn what's really happening when memories don't stick, how to tell ordinary forgetting from the kind worth getting checked, and why so much of what we blame on ageing is within your reach to change.

In this episode

0:00 The patient who was sure she had dementia

2:14 The two fears inside "is my memory going?"

3:08 The doorway effect

4:05 How a memory is made: the librarian

5:18 Jennifer: when a busy mind stops recording your life

6:46 The three things "ageing" really means

8:33 Quick-fire: names, rooms and brain fog

10:38 One small thing to try tomorrow

11:16 What feels like ageing is often within your reach

Key takeaways

Most everyday forgetting is an attention problem, not a memory one. You can't recall what you were too distracted to encode in the first place.

Some word-finding slips are a normal part of ageing. What's worth checking is different: things you genuinely attended to that vanish, getting lost somewhere familiar, or other people noticing a change before you do.

Persistent brain fog is worth a visit to your doctor, because simple, treatable causes (such as an underactive thyroid, low vitamin B12 or iron-deficiency anaemia) can be picked up on a blood test.

Stress, poor sleep and a divided mind can produce the whole feeling of being older than you are, and that is reversible.

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References

Craik FIM, et al. (1996). The effects of divided attention on encoding and retrieval processes in human memory. J Exp Psychol Gen. DOI: 10.1037/0096-3445.125.2.159 · PMID: 8683192

Shafto MA, et al. (2007). On the tip-of-the-tongue: neural correlates of increased word-finding failures in normal aging. J Cogn Neurosci. DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2007.19.12.2060 · PMID: 17892392

Radvansky GA, et al. (2010). Walking through doorways causes forgetting: environmental integration. Psychon Bull Rev. DOI: 10.3758/PBR.17.6.900 · PMID: 21169587

Radvansky GA, et al. (2011). Walking through doorways causes forgetting: further explorations. Q J Exp Psychol. DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2011.571267 · PMID: 21563019

Kramer ES, et al. (2025). Evaluation of Suspected Dementia. Am Fam Physician. PMID: 41533411

Brain Health FM with neurologist Dr Sui Wong
Energy, focus and performance: a neurologist's practical guide.

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Dr Sui Wong is a consultant neurologist and neuro-ophthalmologist who has spent more than 25 years helping tens of thousands of patients. An active clinician-researcher, she also holds qualifications in mindfulness, yoga, movement and lifestyle medicine. She brings what she sees in clinic and what the research shows to the question of how high achievers can get their energy, focus, and clarity back.

This podcast is for educational purposes only, not individual medical advice. For concerns about your own health, please speak with your doctor.

Stories shared in this podcast do not refer to a specific person (unless stated otherwise with the person's permission), but are a representative amalgamation of the patients or patterns seen in Dr Wong's clinic, shared in a storytelling format for educational purposes only.