We took our now 3,5 years old son for a trip to USA last fall … so he was 2,5 years old that time. We live in Europe. Next week i am traveling there again so i spoke with him about me traveling to USA and he started asking me questions about places we were last year. Also he was telling me many specific memories from that trip last year and was asking me about specific people we have met. That is not surprising, it was last year. But how is it possible, that he will not remember anything from it 15 years from now if he remember it year after? I mean, he will not remember he was in USA at all.
I would understand that kids and toddlers keep forgetting stuff and thats why they will never remember them as an adults. But if they remember things from year or more ago, why will they forgett them as an adults?
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From what I know, when young the brain is rapidly growing and you are learning a ton of new information all the time. So your brain prioritizes “important” information to remember, and forgets the “unimportant” information. But what’s important to survival doesn’t mean the same as the most interesting information. But infant to toddler brains have remarkable plasticity, which makes them essentially geniuses at things like picking up language. That’s why it’s great to learn multiple languages from a very young age, your brain is able to do it much easier.
Anyway, memory, even as adults, is a thing of repetition. The more we “remember” things, it activates the same pathways over and over again, strengthening them. Unused pathways eventually become forgotten information.
The human brain isn’t anything like a computer hard drive at all. It doesn’t store information like that. It uses the whole brain and connected paths to form memories. That’s why a familiar smell may trigger a memory, because you are literally reliving the memory in your head. Same thing with music and other things. Nostalgia lights up your brain the same way it was lit up for the first time you experienced it. And repetition and recalling memories makes those particular memories stronger.
There have been studies that have shown people who visualize putting information in a virtual “library” in your mind can actually be a good memorization trick. You envision the thing you want to remember, and imagine putting it in a container on a shelf in the library of your mind. And then when you want to remember it, recall your process, walking to the shelf, finding the place you left it, and opening the container, or opening the book, and then “reading” it. The people who follow the same process to remember a thing had more success. They are essentially triggering the same path as at the time they first experienced it. But through a deliberate process.
The movie Inside Out is also great at exploring memory, especially for kids, because it’s true, you form “core memories” that you can relive over and over to define who you are and what you believe. And memories that are unused eventually fade and are forgotten. It’s actually a great movie to explain in an ELI5 way how your memory works. Sleeping makes us store the important short term memories, forget the unimportant stuff, and process memories. And long term memories are retained memories of things we need.
When we’re infants that happens a lot faster as we’re taking on new memories so quickly, and we only keep the ones that are most important. But yeah, we’re also growing new pathways and getting more brain structure, so the things you remember become more static as an adult, but as a child it’s malleable and changing.
That’s also why you can remember what you had for lunch for the last few days, but not what you had last month (unless it made a strong impression), and the further back you go it gets harder to remember. What did you have for lunch last year? Two years ago? There are things you’ve completely forgotten because they weren’t important. And you only retain the memories that made a strong enough impression to make it to long term storage.
But you may remember something like going to a fancy restaurant for lunch, or tried an exotic food, because it was a novel experience and made an impression. But the sandwich you’ve eaten dozens of times in a familiar place like your kitchen? Forgotten entirely. You might remember a general “I used to eat this sandwich every day” but the individual experiences are forgotten entirely.
Memory is a fascinating topic. And one we’re still learning about. The human brain is a complex structure and we’re constantly trying to learn more. And answer things about consciousness, memory, and more. And while we have good ideas about how memories are made, a lot is still in the unknown, and on the forefront of neurology and cognitive science.
My parents took me to Florida when I was about 2 years and 9 months old. I vividly remember being on the plane, seeing Spaceship Earth in Epcot for the first time and being in absolute awe, being in an animal park where a parrot landed on my stroller, my brother holding a baby crocodile in my face when I woke up from my nap in said stroller and the rain coming down horizontally in Disney World because of strong winds and being absolutely soaking wet. I remember being scared shitless of the pool vacuum at our rented house, thinking it was going to eat me alive.
Now, in my mind I can remember all of this but I know there are hundreds of photos from that trip that I’ve seen hundreds of times. Can I really remember them or do I just recall them from stories and photos? I guess there’s not really a way of knowing for sure.
My parents took me to Florida when I was about 2 years and 9 months old. I vividly remember being on the plane, seeing Spaceship Earth in Epcot for the first time and being in absolute awe, being in an animal park where a parrot landed on my stroller, my brother holding a baby crocodile in my face when I woke up from my nap in said stroller and the rain coming down horizontally in Disney World because of strong winds and being absolutely soaking wet. I remember being scared shitless of the pool vacuum at our rented house, thinking it was going to eat me alive.
Now, in my mind I can remember all of this but I know there are hundreds of photos from that trip that I’ve seen hundreds of times. Can I really remember them or do I just recall them from stories and photos? I guess there’s not really a way of knowing for sure.
i have clear memories from the age of 2 onwards and im 33..however my short term memory is dreadful.i put my keys down and forget where i set them five mins later.
i have clear memories from the age of 2 onwards and im 33..however my short term memory is dreadful.i put my keys down and forget where i set them five mins later.
I am 54. I have a few memories from when I was two. I also have people telling me I can’t possibly remember that, but I do.
I am 54. I have a few memories from when I was two. I also have people telling me I can’t possibly remember that, but I do.
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