Amazing Memory – People Who Remember Every Day Of Their Life

MessageToEagle.com – Most of us have troubles remembering what we did last month or even a week ago. We have to write things down to remember, but there are people who can recall each and single day of their lives. Is there such a thing as perfect memory? Some say it is a gift, others mean it is a curse.

There is a difference between highly superior autobiographical and photographic memory.

Scientists have long wanted to find out why people with a “highly superior autobiographical memory” possess the ability to remember so much.

Usually if you ask someone what he or she did on for example October 17, 1988, the person cannot provide you with any specific details about what happened on that particular day.

People with extraordinary memory, on the other hand can identify the date of a news event or the notable event that occurred on a specific date.

The phenomenon of highly superior autobiographical memory was documented for the first time in 2006 by neurobiologist James McGaugh from the University of California, Irvine.

McGaugh and his colleagues have now discovered intriguing differences in the brains and mental processes of an extraordinary group of people who can effortlessly recall every moment of their lives since about age 10.

People with a superior autobiographical memory have a different brain, the scientists note in their science paper.

All of the examined people had variations in nine structures of their brains compared to those of control subjects, including more robust white matter linking the middle and front parts. Most of the differences were in areas known to be linked to autobiographical memory, “so we’re getting a descriptive, coherent story of what’s going on,” said lead author Aurora LePort, a doctoral candidate at UCI’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory.

Surprisingly, the people with stellar autobiographical memory did not score higher on routine laboratory memory tests or when asked to use rote memory aids. Yet when it came to public or private events that occurred after age 10½, “they were remarkably better at recalling the details of their lives,” said McGaugh, senior author on the new work.

“These are not memory experts across the board. They’re 180 degrees different from the usual memory champions who can memorize pi to a large degree or other long strings of numbers,” LePort noted. “It makes the project that much more interesting; it really shows we are homing in on a specific form of memory.”

She said interviewing the subjects was “baffling. You give them a date, and their response is immediate. The day of the week just comes out of their minds; they don’t even think about it. They can do this for so many dates, and they’re 99 percent accurate. It never gets old.”

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Scientists have assessed more than 500 people who thought they might possess highly superior autobiographical memory and have confirmed 33 to date, including the 11 in the paper. Another 37 are strong candidates who will be further tested.

“The next step is that we want to understand the mechanisms behind the memory,” LePort said. “Is it just the brain and the way its different structures are communicating? Maybe it’s genetic; maybe it’s molecular.”

McGaugh added: “We’re Sherlock Holmeses here. We’re searching for clues in a very new area of research.”

Some may say having a highly superior autobiographical is a true gift, but on the other hand there are things we don’t always want to remember, so maybe being able to forget is not so bad after all.

© MessageToEagle.com

References:
Aurora K.R. LePort – Behavioral and neuroanatomical investigation of Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM)