Why we can't remember our lives when we were babies or toddlers

In 1905, Sigmund Freud coined the term "infantile amnesia," which in most people hides their memories from early childhood. More than a century later, psychologists are still intrigued by why we can't remember our lives when we were babies or toddlers.

Until recently, scientists believed that young brains were not sufficiently developed to form lasting memories. But studies have shown that toddlers as young as two years old can form memories and recall events that happened months earlier in great detail, The Guardian reports.

"Most adults have no memories until they are two or three years old," said Cornell University professor Qi Wang. And until about the age of seven, memories of childhood are usually ambiguous.

New York University neurophysiology professor Cristina Alberini's animal studies have found that memories formed during a period of infantile amnesia are actually stored in the brain into adulthood, even if they are not consciously remembered.

In both adult animals and humans, the formation and storage of long-term memories of life experiences is impossible without a brain region known as the hippocampus, scientists say. This area is also important for early memories.

Alberini's study suggests that infantile amnesia occurs during a critical period when the hippocampus develops through new experiences. "If children learn difficult situations in early childhood, they may not remember the details, but their brains will be shaped by these experiences," says Christina.

Interestingly, the first memories of the New Zealand Maori appear earlier than those of Europeans, at about 2.5 years of age. Professor Elaine Reese of the University of Otago, who studies autobiographical memory of children and adolescents, points to a strong emphasis on oral traditions in Maori culture, as well as complex conversations when recalling past events.

Reese tracked groups of children from infancy to adolescence, finding that people who had a richer narrative environment in childhood could recall earlier and more detailed first memories.

According to scientists, the brain stores memories not as individual files on a computer, but as networks of neurons throughout the brain. Recall activates these networks and strengthens the connections between neurons. However, this does not mean that memory is stable. "Every time you revisit a memory and think about it, you change it," says Reese.

"Repeated suggestions can encourage people to create images and form false memories," adds Wang.

In a 2018 survey, 39% of respondents reported that their first memories occurred at the age of two or less. The researchers suggested that "incredibly early" memories, such as those of being pushed in a stroller or taking your first walk, were likely to be fictional and based on photographs or family stories.

But although memory is plastic, and young children are more susceptible to suggestion, especially vulnerable events can still be remembered, experts say.

So, if the experiences of our early stages-the first birthday, the first steps, the first trip to the beach-seem to be stored somewhere in the brain, why can't we consciously access them, researchers ask themselves.

While psychologists say forgetting can be adaptive, it doesn't explain why memories formed before the age of seven seem to break down faster than when we are adults.

Cristina Alberini hypothesizes that early memories can function as the schemas on which adult memories are built. Like the foundation of a house, they remain hidden but important.

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