I don't remember much of anything

[Steve]

Prompted by ethic's "Sixties" thread, I thought I'd share something that I was wondering if anyone else has this "issue": I don't remember much at all from my childhood.

Sure, I have little snippets here and there, brief scenes of play, a couple from school. Names of friends? Forget it. Teachers? Yeah, right. Schools I attended, streets I lived on? Nothing. I just don't recall much of anything, at all.

I'm sure life was good. I don't remember being beaten, or going hungry, or not having clothes, or any of that. But I don't remember many specific good times nor specific bad times, either. I know I'm different from most others in this respect. My wife can remember the first phone number she was ever taught. My sister has plenty of memories and is amazed that I can't remember much, myself. Others I talk to can recall in great detail people, places, events from their childhood.

I don't think, at least I'm not sure, that it's a problem with my memory. I have no difficulty with facts, with learning. It's just...other things...that elude me.

Anyone else have this "situation"?

[SixofNine]

I tell people that there was a day when the tape recorder in my brain turned on. I was sitting in my family's living room and it felt like I opened my eyes for the first time and started remembering things. I remember absolutely nothing from before that moment. What I don't remember is how old I was when this event took place, but I estimate I was four.

The brainy brain people distinguish between "episodic" and "semantic" memory. You use the former to remember events and the latter to learn from studying and reading. Different parts of the brain control each type of memory. I think in both our cases it might simply be a matter of how and when our episodic memory developed.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=9662135

Brian

Edit: Here's a more user-friendly reference:

http://www.dmu.ac.uk/~jamesa/learning/memory.htm

[RetFireCapt]

When do the episodic memories start Steve?

[Steve]

Eh, I have a couple from an early age. One goes back as far as about 18 months; two or three others from kindergarten, a couple each year through about sixth grade. From there it picks up somewhat but compared to other people, my memories are non-existent. I doubt I could recall more than 20 specific episodic memories from before age 16.

[Stiofán]

Do you have a belly button?

Oh, never mind...........