Losing your ability to think and remember is pretty scary. We know the risk of dementia increases with age. But if you have memory lapses, you probably needn’t worry. There are pretty clear differences between signs of dementia and age-related memory loss.

After age 50, it’s quite common to have trouble remembering the names of people, places and things quickly, says Dr. Kirk Daffner, chief of the division of cognitive and behavioral neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.