Memory Loss and Imagination

Memory loss linked to loss of imagination

While children can imagine themselves as most anything they can put their minds to, this simple act of make-believe is not always as simple for the elder generations. It has been long shown that the act of recalling memories of events is more difficult for older adults that it is for younger ones. But recent brain imaging studies have shown that people use the same types of mechanisms in the brain that it takes to imagine as it does to remember. What this suggests is that not only can older adults have difficulty with remembering, but with the ability of imagination as well.

Episodic memory is the kind of memory that we recall when we remember past personal events. These are generally more vivid than other types of memory and contain more pieces of information that can be replayed or relived in the mind and center on how you felt. Where as semantic memory, is more about remembering the actual facts.

So with this information, how would a lack of imagination hinder an older adult? Would it necessarily be a deficit in anyway, or is an imagination in later years even a necessity?