A new study from Yale researchers has provided evidence that humans can indeed encode memories during their first years of life, challenging the long-held notion of “infantile amnesia.” The study, published in Science, found that infants’ hippocampal activity is related to the strength of their memories and that they are more likely to recognize previously seen images.
Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with awake infants to measure activity in the hippocampus while they viewed images. They showed infants new faces, objects, or scenes and later tested whether they recognized these images when they reappeared next to a new one. The results indicated that greater hippocampal activity was related to longer memory duration.
The study’s findings suggest that memories can be encoded by the hippocampus earlier than previously thought, contradicting the idea that infants lack episodic memories due to their developing brain. The researchers believe that these early memories may not last long or remain inaccessible but may still exist in some form into adulthood.
The Yale team is now exploring what happens to these infant memories over time and has found a connection between their work and recent animal evidence on infantile amnesia. They are testing whether infants, toddlers, and children can remember home videos taken from their perspective as younger babies, with tentative pilot results showing that these memories might persist until preschool age.
The study’s lead author, Tristan Yates, noted that the findings provide an important connection between human and animal research, shedding new light on the development of the hippocampus to support learning and memory.
Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-dont-baby-clues.html