Shrinithi Sathiyaseelan: Week #13: Memory and Childhood
Photo Credit: https://www.healthline.com/health/why-cant-i-remember-my-childhood
Being unable to recall our earliest memories, like our first steps or specific moments that occurred in the initial years of our childhood, is a nearly universal trait shared by people. Sigmund Freud described this phenomenon in the late 19th century as "infantile amnesia." It is interesting that we have surprisingly few memories of our early childhoods, as young children have such a high learning capacity. Through having children perform imitation-based tasks, researchers revealed mnemonic competence in children before they could even talk. According to an article published in 2021, a brain imaging study by Yale scientists showed that infants as young as three months old were already using the hippocampus to recognize and learn patterns.
Nick Turke-Browne, a professor of psychology at Yale, suggested that babies gain experience in the world, their brains search for general patterns that help them understand and predict their surrounding environment. This happens even though their brains aren't yet equipped to "permanently store each individual experience" about a "specific moment in space and time." This is the hallmark of episodic memory that is also lost in adult amnesia. As circuit changes occur in our brains and the size of the hippocampus doubles in the first two years of life, we obtain the ability to store memory in our lives.
He stated that even though we can't remember infant experiences later on in our lives, they are still being recorded "in a way that allows us to learn from them." This article was a really interesting read because it is fascinating to think of how primed and capable we are for learning at such a young age. Ever since we are born, we are constantly exploring the world around us and making connections.
Hey Shrinithi, this concept of infant amnesia really is interesting. Thinking about it, I do not think the majority of people can remember the time when they first walked. After reading your article, I tried to search my brain for a memory of trying to walk or my first success at doing so. Obviously, no memories came up. However, as proven by basically all of us, we obviously can. This idea applies to numerous others too: I for one cannot remember the first time I learned to read or do arithmetic, but I am obviously capable of performing both right now. Infant amnesia really only contributes to the vast of mystery we hold surrounding our complex brain. Hopefully, we can fully understood such concept in the future.
ReplyDeleteHey Shrinithi! The thought of remembering every single thing since birth honestly seems a tad boring, but it is very interesting to see how babies are actually quite competent with this and show proficiency despite their apparent stupidity. It also seems to agree with the fact that we do seem to carry over many habits from our childhood into adulthood. Maybe this will help solve things about how we have some deeply ingrained, sometimes unexplainable habits.
ReplyDeleteHey Shrinithi, I’ve always wondered why people always had difficulty recalling their memories of their childhood, so I am really glad you helped me understand this phenomenon more. This makes me wonder if triggers like seeing specific images or going to a certain place can help people recover those early memories or if all those memories are just entirely lost. While I also have trouble remembering my childhood, there are still some experiences I remember and I wonder why I am only able to recall these trivial events instead of significant ones like when I walked for the first time. Hopefully we can uncover more about how memories and the brain functions. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteShrinithi, I can definitely relate to this. Every time I go to India, uncles and aunts come up to me and say, oh do you remember me? I met you when you were 3, 4 years old; of course my response was no. I get so annoyed by this question and its variations because obviously when I am 3 or 4 years old I am not going to remember them and even now I can never remember the difference between all my family members. The reason for this “memory loss” is definitely fascinating to read why it occurs.
ReplyDeleteHi Shrinithi, this concept of infantile amnesia is very familiar to me. I virtually remember nothing from before I started going to elementary school. I have several very faint images that pop up into my mind of very specific moments from when I was small, but I don't know if they were actually memories from that time or I had just created that image in my brain as I was older and associated it with past times. It's interesting because it's as if we are just placed inside the body of a 5-year old with no recollection of anything that happened before.
ReplyDeleteHi Shrinithi! I gained so much new knowledge about infant memory from your blog post. Personally, I do not remember many things from my early childhood so it is fascinating to learn that my earlier experiences are still part of me and helped shape my behavior as I grew. I am kind of sad that I do remember how it feels like to be born and how I perceived the world back then. However, I am glad that there are people, like my parents, to witness these moments and share them with me after I get older. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHi Shrinidhi, I have heard many theories that playing certain music or speaking in different languages to a baby while it is in its mother’s womb can help it become smarter when it is born. However, considering the fact that many do not have any memories of our infancy, I feel that this theory is somewhat a myth. Although, it is true that these things can help to sooth babies or help them fall asleep, if these things were to be repeated, I’m sure they would have a lasting effect on one’s life.
ReplyDeleteHey Shrinithi! This is a really intriguing concept. It's so weird to think that we couldn’t retain pieces of information long term but could somehow observe our surroundings and learn how to walk! Honestly now that I’m thinking about it, it's almost scary how much babies are able to learn and grow during their first few months and years of infancy. Moreover, it's quite interesting to observe how our brains develop differently at different stages of our lives. Thank you for sharing!
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