i’m late sixties, i can still learn a new tune from memory, it takes me about 4 new bars a day, the hardest part to memorise is the solo sections.
The nice thing about playing from memory is the freedom from not being chained to a sheet, it gives you more room for expression and making the piece of music your own style – less robotic.
Age is a funny thing, the mind is very deceptive. ex a neighbour of mine in his late seventies was walking two to three miles every other day. The week after he turned eighty, he found he could barely walk a quarter of a mile, since then he still cant walk a mile, and now travels on the bus.