Tip-of-the-tongue moments not tied to memory decline

Chicago Tribune:

Did you ever want to say something, but the word or name gets “stuck on the tip of your tongue?” Don’t worry. Those lapses may not be a sign of dementia – just age, suggests a new study.

Researchers found those tip-of-the-tongue experiences become more common as people age, but are not related to worsening memory overall.

“Our major finding is that they seem to be independent,” Timothy Salthouse, the study’s lead author, told Reuters Health. Salthouse is the Brown-Forman Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Studies had found that tip-of-the-tongue experiences are more common among older people. Those people may wonder if the lapses are a sign of approaching dementia, Salthouse and Arielle Mandell write in Psychological Science.

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