Infant memory breakthrough: Challenging childhood amnesia myths
Why don't we remember our early years? For a long time, it was believed that infants lacked the ability to remember. Recent research shows this was a mistaken assumption, and children as young as 12 months are indeed capable of forming memories.
For many years, it was thought that first memories developed around the age of three. However, new fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) research challenges this theory. The latest discovery undermines earlier theories that suggested memory creation during infancy is impossible.
Researchers concluded that memories are recorded in the minds of 12-month-old children, and the difficulty in recalling early years might stem from challenges in retrieving memories, not from their absence.
Memory encoding in infants
The inability to recall memories from early childhood is known as childhood amnesia. One theory suggested that the cause is the underdevelopment of the hippocampus, a key brain area responsible for short-term memory. According to Scitech Daily, studies on rodents have shown that memory traces are created in the hippocampus of infants but become inaccessible over time.
In the study led by Tristan Yates and his team, fMRI was used to scan the brains of infants aged 4 to 25 months while they performed a memory task. The task involved showing the infants images of faces, scenes, and objects and then testing their memory through preferential looking.
Surprising study results: Why don't we remember early childhood?
Results showed that by about the 12th month of life, an infant's hippocampus is capable of encoding individual memories. This strongly suggests that the ability to form memories begins in infancy. The presence of memory encoding mechanisms, despite their temporary nature, supports the theory that childhood amnesia is mainly due to difficulties in retrieving memories.
These findings are consistent with earlier rodent studies, suggesting that early life memories may persist into adulthood but remain inaccessible without specific cues or direct stimulation of hippocampal engrams. In a commentary on the study, Adam Ramsaran and Paul Frankland analyse how these early memories are stored and lost.
The study, published in "Science," offers new insights into our brain development. Observations align with previous rodent studies, indicating that memories from early life stages may persist into adulthood but remain inaccessible without specific cues or direct stimulation of hippocampal engrams.
