Shrinkage ?

"With age, the brain begins to shrink, causing some of its nerve cells to lose their connections with others. At the same time, the blood flow in the brain slows down. These changes are believed to lie behind the deterioration in cognitive function—the ability to process thoughts—in elderly people.

After retirement, two out of three people suffer from some form of cognitive impairment. It starts with “senior moments”—the inability to recall the name of an acquaintance, a word on the tip of the tongue, or where the keys were put. Most compensate by making notes and relying more on calendars.

As the years roll by, such memory lapses become more frequent, and the tendency to misplace things increases. Those with mild cognitive impairment usually retain their capacity to learn, read, speak and write, but their attention span deteriorates along with their short-term memory. This can lead, eventually, to Alzheimer’s disease or other causes of dementia."

Read : http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/10/elderly-drivers.

The second paragraph is perfectly recognisable. The standard answer of younger people is : oh but we experience that too. Little do they know ...

An exemple : since thursday last week I have been thinking about the name of a shrub of which I have ten or more in my "gardinette". I do not want to look it up : I want to remember the name.

And driving my car ? For other reasons that is almost a thing of the past.