Contrary to popular belief, our brains can and do improve with age, particularly in the area of abstract thinking, writes New York Times health editor Barbara Strauch in How to Train the Aging Brain.

While our aging brains may be more easily distracted or have trouble recalling names or childhood events, Strauch says, research shows that we continue building neural connections that help us recognize patterns and reason better.

Abstract ideas are one of three distinct types of memory. They sit at the top of our “memory pyramid” and are indeed most secure from memory loss, says Vera Birkenbihl, author of our Memory Optimizer personal learning course.

The base, or foundation, of the pyramid consists of hundreds of thousands of memory nuggets that form as a result of our experiences. Each nugget contains a story about you or about you in this world.

These individual stories together make up your general memories about the world and your role in it, forming the middle of the pyramid. This is your “knowledge” and “know-how.”

The memory loss we’re most likely to suffer as we age, Vera says, is the individual autobiographic memories at our foundation. These are slices of your life—the stories that make up your core personality.

Fortunately, the more personal memories we deposit in our memory bank, the more we can afford to lose and still retain our core personality as we age.

Among Vera’s many anti-aging strategies in the Memory Optimizer is the Life Chart, a historical timeline you create of your life. This is one of my favorites, because it offers a whole new dimension to journaling.

To do it, you’ll need:

• A scroll of paper, a large horizontal sheet of paper, or several regular-sized pages of loose-leaf paper you can lay side by side.
• Something to write with, including colored pens or markers.
• A journal, preferably a binder with loose-leaf paper.

To create your Life Chart:

• Draw a horizontal timeline that encompasses the date of your birth to the present. Reserve some space for your future!
• Place your life in historical context by jotting down some landmark world, national, or regional events, especially ones you find interesting and significant. These could include world wars, the first time man walked on the moon, the time a tornado tore apart your community, or the year your favorite team won the Super Bowl.
• Next place the personal events of your life such as your graduation, first job, wedding, and birth dates of your children. Use different colors to help guide your eyes through the chart. Use one color to note the landmark events, another for your personal history, and various colors for the other people on your timeline.
• The next element involves journaling about the personal memories of your life experiences. Use as much sensory detail as possible as you recall your memories. Journal daily for at least five to ten minutes.
• Finally, number your stories and log the number onto your timeline. You can write it in or use a numbered stick pin. Or choose another indexing method that works for you. As you continue to journal, insert additional memories chronologically into your loose-leaf binder.

Every time you reconstruct a memory, reminisce, or reread a journal entry, you are actually strengthening the neurological pathway for that memory and helping to prevent its loss.

I don’t know about you, but I like the added insurance the Life Chart provides for my future mental health. When I’m a little old woman wearing purple, plaid, or polka dots…or some combination thereof, I’m more likely to recognize who I am!

“What we believe about ourselves is determined by what we remember about our pasts.” – Daniel L. Schacter, author, Searching for Memory