It used to be thought that the reason we can’t remember much of our early childhood is because, as young children, we just aren’t able to make stable memories of events. A 15-year-old, on the other hand, will be unlikely to remember something that occurred when they were two, even though it happened only 13 years ago. In fact, a 40-year-old adult will usually have very strong memories of adolescence (more about that later) which, for them, happened more than 20 years ago. So why is it so hard to remember being a baby or toddler? Is it simply because our first, third, and even seventh birthdays happened a long time ago, and our memories have naturally faded? Not necessarily. It’s a phenomenon known as ‘infantile amnesia’. Memories: from birth to adolescenceĬan you remember your first birthday? Your second? Adults rarely remember events from before the age of three, and have patchy memories when it comes to things that happened to them between the ages of three and seven.
Let’s wander down memory lane and take a look. And, as our brain develops, so does our memory. Our brain is not fully developed when we are born-it continues to grow and change during this important period of our lives. The answers to these questions may lie in the way our memory system develops as we grow from a baby to a teenager and into early adulthood. Have you ever wondered why you can’t remember being a baby? Or why you can easily remember all the words to a song you learnt as a teenager-even if that was 20 (or more) years ago?
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