Researchers at Yale University have discovered why infants can’t remember their early memories. The study found that the infant brain encodes experiences, but these memories become inaccessible as it matures.
Most people can’t recall anything from before age three, a phenomenon known as infantile amnesia. Scientists have debated whether babies fail to form memories or if they simply forget them over time. A new study challenges this idea by showing that infants’ brains do encode early experiences, but the hippocampus, a small brain region responsible for memory formation, is still developing.
The study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity in infants aged four to 25 months as they viewed images of faces, objects, and scenes. The results showed that when the hippocampus was more active during an image’s first appearance, the baby was more likely to recognize it later.
Younger infants under 12 months didn’t display the same memory-related brain activity, suggesting their hippocampal circuits were still developing. However, older infants and toddlers can encode episodic memories in the same region of the hippocampus that adults use for memory storage.
Researchers believe that early memories never transfer to long-term storage or become inaccessible as the brain develops. Animal studies provide clues that memories formed in infancy leave lasting cellular traces in the hippocampus, which could be restored through specific cues or direct stimulation.
The study’s findings challenge the traditional view that infantile amnesia occurs because the brain is too immature to form memories. Instead, they suggest that early memories are encoded but become difficult to retrieve as the brain develops. This could have broader implications for understanding memory disorders and childhood development.
Source: https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/researchers-discover-why-people-dont-remember-being-a-baby