Hey there and welcome to Life Noggin.
Have you ever tried to remember something but couldn’t?
Just the other day, I was trying to remember where I hid Triangle Bob’s birthday present.
I searched the whole house but still couldn’t find it!
It would be so much easier if we all had perfect memories and never forgot anything.
But is that possible?
What would it be like if it was?
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Okay, now back to the video - Well, without cybernetic implants in your
noggin, a perfect memory might be out of reach, but there are conditions that greatly increase
a person’s memory.
One of them is called hyperthymesia.
Hyperthymesia is a rare mental state or neurological condition where a person has a very detailed
autobiographical memory.
Basically, they remember a lot about their past: much more than the average person.
Some even claim to be able to remember every day of their life since childhood!
What’s super interesting about this condition is that people with hyperthymesia typically
don’t have an exceptional memory about everything:
it’s mainly restricted to what happened in their life and their own personal experiences.
Hyperthymestic recall also seems to be an unconscious effort,
where a person often remembers things without even trying.
Just looking at an old calendar might trigger a detailed memory of something that had happened
on that specific date.
Nope.
We not gonna talk about what happened that Saturday.
All i'm gonna say is I bought this goat suit for NO REASON!
So how can someone have such an exceptional memory about their life?
Well, the answer might lie within your amygdala.
Now back to that wonderful amygdala of yours.
According to a recent study on hyperthymesia, your amygdala may play a bigger role in your
autobiographical memory than we once thought.
Compared to those without the condition, the researchers found that HK, a man with autobiographical
hyperthymesia, had an enhanced amygdala-to-hippocampus connection and greater right amygdala hypertrophy,
approximately 20 percent.
Based on these findings, the researchers believe that your amygdala may charge your autobiographical
memories with emotional, social, and self-relevance.
This may very well allow you to store more autobiographical information, so not bad!
Now if I could just remember where I put Triangle Bob’s present.
Oh yeah!
It was a doughnut.
I ate it.
Well sometimes things just happen.
While we don’t know for certain what it would be like if we never forgot anything,
we can look at what life is like for people with hyperthymesia and extrapolate a little
bit.
Though it may seem really useful to be able to remember so much, hyperthymesia has its
downsides.
It can feel like a burden at times, causing people to be lost in a stream of memories
that they don’t always have control over.
Having this type of uncontrollable recall can make a person spend a lot of their time
focused on the past rather than moving on and worrying about the future.
This could be even worse if you had a perfect memory.
Hyperthymesia can also feel pretty isolating.
Some with the condition have even described it like they were fluent in a language no
one else spoke
or that it felt like everyone else has amnesia compared to them.
These feelings could be intensified for someone who never forgot anything.
It makes sense, since you’d be able to remember so many things that your friends couldn’t.
Oh.
Right.
Your present.
Um.
Here's a hug from me?
Okay!
Too long.
That's too long!
We're done!
So what do you think?
Would you want to have a perfect memory?
Let me know in the comment section below!
Enjoyed this video?
Check out the one we did on what it's like to have no memory.
Research shows that losing your memory to a disease like Alzheimer's isn't just about
forgetting facts you learned in school, or the name of the street you grew up on.
It can progress into forgetting how to go through your daily routines like eating and
getting dressed.
As always, my name is Blocko, this has been Life Noggin, don't forget to keep on thinking!