Your child’s memories aren’t gone, you just don’t have access to them!

First steps, first sentences, first tile of chocolate… Most people don’t remember the first three years of their lives, a period of intense learning marked by new experiences. If many people have the impression of remembering the events of this period, it is mostly constructionsconstructions Based on photos or stories told by parents. This phenomenon of forgetting is called infantile amnesia. A phenomenon that is poorly known and little studied. Perversely, the magazine reminds us Science who has just published a long article taking stock of current research on the subject, because these memories, far from evaporating, will still be present in our brains… but inaccessible to our consciousness!

Some studies show that adolescent mice and young children can form memories that fade over time, but can be reactivated by specific cues. But how do we explain this amnesia in the first place? To date, there is no consensus.

Childhood amnesia: a phenomenon still poorly explained

For some, the defect lies in neurogenesis, meaning the formation of new neurons in the brain. During the first years of life, when neurogenesis is at its peak, the new neurons that are formed can “overwrite” early memories, making them inaccessible.

For others, the explanation lies in the normal maturation of the brain: the brain undergoes significant changes in its structure and function, and some of these changes can influence the formation, storage, and access of memories.

Finally, one theory suggests the end of a “critical period” of development. Translation: During the early years, the brain is especially vulnerable and vulnerable to experience, and childhood amnesia will mark the end of this period.

Better understanding… and new technology to advance medicine

And it doesn’t translate anyway, because it seems to primarily affect specific types of memories—especially contextual and episodic memories, that is, specific memories of events and specific situations like, for example, a birthday or a day at the beach. . Semantic and motor memories—which relate to knowledge and understanding of facts and concepts, as well as motor skills and abilities, respectively—seem to be better preserved.

The phenomenon, however, can be different from one person to another, especially affected by traumatic and stressful events that can partially prevent it… for worse, with negative consequences on long-term emotional well-being.

So better identifying and understanding the mechanisms at work will not only improve our understanding of cognitive and emotional development, but also provide answers to fundamental questions about how memories are formed, stored, and forgotten by the brain. The ultimate goal: to better understand the human body’s most mysterious organ, specifically to develop treatments for cognitive disorders that affect memory. frenzyfrenzy such as Alzheimer’s disease, and advancing new memory and learning technologies, espartificial intelligenceartificial intelligence and computational neuroscience.