into meaningful groups. Chunking can greatly increase recall capacity. For example, in recalling a phone number, chunking the digits into three groups (area code, prefix, and extension). This method of remembering phone numbers is far more effective than attempting to remember a string of 10 digits. Practice and the usage of existing information in long-term memory can lead to additional improvements in chunking. In one testing session, an American cross-country runner was able to recall a string of 79 digits after hearing them only once by chunking them into groups the size of a running time. Factors Diseases that cause neurodegeneration, such as Alzheimer's disease, can damage short-term as well as long-term memory. Damage to certain sections of the brain due to this disease causes a shrinkage in the cerebral cortex, which impairs the ability to think and recall. Short-term memory performance is influenced by diet. More intake of blueberries was reported to improve short-term memory after continuous use whereas alcohol decreases short-term memory performance. Conditions Age Memory loss is a natural aging process. Research has reported short-term memory decreases with age. The decline appears to be constant and continuous beginning in the twenties. One study used data from a previous study that compiled normative French data for three short-term memory tasks (verbal, visual and spatial). They found impairments in participants between the ages of 55 and 85 years of age. Advanced age is also associated with decrements in episodic memory. The associated deficit is that differences in recognition memory reflect difficulty in binding components of a memory episode and bound units. A previous study used mixed and blocked test designs and reported an associative deficit for older adults. Even absent neurological diseases and disorders, progressive and gradual loss of some intellectual functions become evident in later years. Several tests assess the psychophysical characteristics of the elderly, such as the functional reach (FR) test and the mini–mental state examination (MMSE). FR is an index of the aptitude to maintain balance in an upright position, while the MMSE test is a global index of cognitive abilities. These tests were used by Costarella et al. to evaluate the psychophysical characteristics of older adults. They found a loss of physical performance (FR, related to height) as well as a loss of cognitive abilities (MMSE). Alzheimer's disease Memory distortion in Alzheimer's disease is a disorder common in older adults. One study compared patients with