Our birthday, first steps, or first words are important events, but we are unable to remember them. This phenomenon is known as childhood amnesia, and it has been a mystery to neuroscientists and psychologists for decades.
The researchers ask the main question: do infants create memories that later become inaccessible, or are they unable to form memories at all in the first years of life?
For many years, it was believed that children under the age of 3 or 4 did not retain memories because of an underdeveloped hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory formation. However, new research shows otherwise.
Yale University professor Nick Turk-Brown's team conducted experiments on infants using MRI to record brain activity. It turned out that the hippocampus can be involved in the formation of memories as early as one year of age. The infants recognized previously shown images, indicating the ability to remember.
However, the question remains: where do these memories go after a while? Some animal studies have shown that memories do not disappear completely, but rather become “dormant” and can be restored under certain conditions.
Another problem is so-called false memories. People are often convinced that they remember events from early childhood, when in fact their minds are only recreating a picture based on stories told by loved ones or photographs.
The scientists emphasize that childhood amnesia is closely linked to our understanding of our own identity. "We have a blind spot in the early years of life, and it makes us think about what makes us who we are," says Professor Turk-Brown.
