IS IT JUST A BRAIN BLIP...OR SOMETHING ELSE?

There are plenty of reasons you may randomly forget a name or where you left your phone. Brain experts explain the lifestyle factors that could bring on those foggy moments-and when they could signal a more serious issue

- MARISA COHEN

HAT'S THE NAME OF THAT ACTRESS? You know, the wacky blonde who's in that show at the fancy hotel? Julia, Jane, Joan..."

If you're in the stage we delicately call "midlife," you may be nodding in recognition. Scientists sometimes refer to this when you can't quite remember a name or word that used to be easy to retrieve-as the "tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon." As you get older, these brain blips can happen more and more often, along with things like misplacing your phone three times in one day and opening the pantry door only to completely forget what you needed. (By the way, the answers to the above mysteries are Jennifer Coolidge, on the shelf next to the toilet, and paprika.)

We jokingly call these blips "senior moments," but behind the self-deprecating humor there may be a slight shiver of dread: Is this normal aging, or is it an early sign of dementia? With more than 6 million Americans currently living with Alzheimer's (a number that's expected to nearly double in the next few decades as the population ages), this is not an unreasonable fear, and in a large national poll by the University of Michigan, 44% of people between ages 50 and 64 admitted that they were worried about developing dementia.

But-deep breath-most of these slips are perfectly harmless, and in fact there are many things other than dementia (things you can actually change and improve!) that could be putting a damper on your memory. Here's what's likely going on and what you can do about it.

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING BRAIN