A groundbreaking new study published in Science has provided fresh insights into infantile amnesia, the phenomenon where early life memories are forgotten. Researchers from Yale University, led by psychologist Nick Turk-Browne, have shown that infants as young as one year old are already forming episodic memories in the hippocampus, the brain region responsible for memory encoding.

Using innovative methods to keep infants calm and engaged during fMRI scans—including pacifiers, blankets, and psychedelic patterns—the team scanned the brains of 26 infants during memory tasks. The study found that infants over a year old displayed significant hippocampal activity, correlating with better memory performance, while younger infants showed little hippocampal engagement.

Despite this, the question of why these early memories fade remains unresolved. Some researchers speculate they may never fully consolidate into long-term storage, while others, including Turk-Browne, believe these memories persist but become inaccessible.

Turk-Browne’s ongoing research hints that early memories may linger until around age three, raising the possibility they could be reactivated later in life.

#InfantMemory #Neuroscience #ChildDevelopment #ScienceNews