how does remembering super far back memories work?

Question

I dont know, if i even worded this right.

But i have this recurring memory(flashback?) Of the ONE time i went to speech therapy when i was like 4 or 5.

I cant even remember what i ate last week but i remember this vividly as if it just happened but its been 11 or 12 years.

How does that work? Why does this happen?

In: 291

Answer 1

For some reason, your brain marked this moment as important, likely for some emotional reaction you had to it. The part of the brain that marks moments as needing to be remembered is the *amygdala*, a tiny almond-shaped bit of brain deep inside the older sections. It sits right next to the *hippocampus*, which is the coordinator of *episodic memory*, or memories that deal with autobiographical events. The amygdala tells the hippocampus when to store a memory, and the hippocampus remembers it. The hippocampus then spends several years writing this memory into the cerebral cortex.