NOBODY wants to be more forgetful, but a group of scientists now say that forgetfulness might not be as bad as you think — it could help your brain work more efficiently.

That’s the takeaway message from a new scientific review paper published in the journal Neuron. In the paper, researchers Paul Frankland and Blake Richards say that your brain works to forget some things you learn in order to make you smarter. According to the researchers, the goal of memory is actually to help guide and optimize your intelligent decision-making by only holding onto the valuable information you need.

The researchers also allege that forgetting things is just as important a part of your memory system as remembering. It works in two ways, they say: One is that forgetting allows you to adapt to new situations by helping you to let go of outdated and potentially wrong information, which can get in your way of helping you make a good decision. The second is that forgetting helps decision-making by allowing you to generalize past events to new events. Basically, you may not remember every detail of the time you got badly stung by a jellyfish as a kid, but you probably remember that it wasn’t a good idea to stay in the water after you saw a jellyfish float by.

Your brain also has a limited capacity to store things, said Santosh Kesari, a neurologist and neuro-oncologist. “You want to be able to forget things that are not relevant for the future so that you can save space for the important memories.”

Of course, there’s a difference between normal forgetfulness and a sign that you may be developing a serious condition like dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. According to doctors, it’s considered normal if your forgetfulness doesn’t impact your day-to-day function. For example, maybe you forgot to grab your sunglasses on the way out this morning, but you were still able to deal.

Forgetfulness can also be due to stress, a mood disorder or endocrine issues. Some level of forgetfulness is normal. And, while annoying, it’s good to know that the next time you forget where you put your keys, it could simply be a sign that you’re getting smarter. (SD-Agencies)