Researchers found that their brains had stronger white matter connections, which could facilitate faster information transfer in their brains. Another study published in the journal of Neurobiology of Learning and Memory looked at the brains of eleven participants who might have similar memory abilities, which they classified as Highly Autobiographical Memory (HSAM). It suggested her abilities might be the result of a kind of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. A study of her memory was published in the journal Neurocase. Jill Price is famous for having the ability to remember vivid details about almost every single day of her life. As they grow up and learn to think more abstractly, their memory becomes more abstract as well. Because they seem to 'grow out' of them, scientists speculate that an eidetic memory is an immature version of memory. Children with eidetic memories don't otherwise have a higher level of intelligence and their superior memory almost always fades away as they get older. This very rare condition is seen in children aged 6 through 12: they can recall an abnormally high level of detail in images. There is a kind of photographic memory that is often displayed by young children called an eidetic memory.

However, the more research neuroscientists do on the human memory, the more they're leaning towards the idea that the true 'photographic memory' does not actually exist. Some people exhibit truly remarkable memories. The term 'photographic memory' is used to describe someone who seems to be able to recall practically anything they've ever seen just once or twice in their life. Does this kind of memory truly exist, and, if so, how did I develop it?' in SA Mind 23, 6, 70 (January 2013)ĭoi:10.The Simple Trick to Become a Memory GENIUS! This article was originally published with the title 'I developed what appears to be a photographic memory when I was 16 years old. Then we can debate the nature-nurture question from harder evidence. Gordon might want to have formal testing, to see just how good his memory is and in what areas. Gordon's ability took a big jump around his 16th birthday, but it's also possible he noticed it only then. Various parts of the brain mature at different times, and adolescence is a major time for such changes. Most people who have exhibited truly extraordinary memories in some domain have seemed to possess them all their lives and honed them further through practice. It is difficult to disentangle memory abilities that appear early from those cultivated through interest and training.

So how does an exceptional, perhaps photographic, memory come to be? It depends on a slew of factors, including our genetics, brain development and experiences. A winner of the memory Olympics, for instance, still had to keep sticky notes on the refrigerator to remember what she had to do during the day. Sorry to disappoint further, but even an amazing memory in one domain, such as vision, is not a guarantee of great memory across the board. These memories seem to result from a combination of innate abilities, combined with zealous study and familiarity with the material, such as the Bible or fine art. But this isn't really a photographic memory it just shows us the normal difference between types of memory.Įven visual memories that seem to approach the photographic ideal are far from truly photographic. For instance, most of us remember a face much more easily than the name associated with that face. Most of us do have a kind of photographic memory, in that most people's memory for visual material is much better and more detailed than our recall of most other kinds of material. But a true photographic memory in this sense has never been proved to exist. The intuitive notion of a “photographic” memory is that it is just like a photograph: you can retrieve it from your memory at will and examine it in detail, zooming in on different parts. Does this kind of memory truly exist, and, if so, how did I develop it?īarry Gordon, a professor of neurology and cognitive science at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (and no relation), offers an explanation: I developed what appears to be a photographic memory when I was 16 years old.

Eidetic memory vs photographic memory