Exceptional memory - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Hyperthymesia

Hyperthymesia
Hyperthymesia
Hyperthymesia, also known as piking or hyperthymestic syndrome, is a condition where the affected individual has a superior autobiographical memory. "Thymesia" comes from the Greek word θύμησις thymesis, meaning "memory"...

or hyperthymesitic syndrome is superior autobiographical memory

Autobiographical memory

Autobiographical memory is a memory system consisting of episodes recollected from an individual's life, based on a combination of episodic and semantic memory.-Formation:Conway and Pleydell-Pearce proposed that autobiographical...

, the type of memory that forms people's life stories. The term thymesia is derived from the Greek word thymesis, meaning "memory".

The capabilities of the affected individuals are not limited to recalling specific events from their personal experience. Hyperthymesia has both enhanced autobiographical and episodic memory

Episodic memory

Episodic memory is the memory of autobiographical events that can be explicitly stated. Semantic and episodic memory together make up the category of declarative memory, which is one of the two major divisions in memory...

There are two important characteristics of hyperthymesia:

Persons with the syndrome spend much of their time thinking about their pasts.
Persons with the syndrome have an unusual, amazing capacity to remember as well as recall any specific personal events or trivial details, including a date, the weather, what people wore on that day, from their past.

Unlike other people with advanced memory abilities, such as autism

Autism

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...

or savant syndrome

Savant syndrome

Savant syndrome , sometimes referred to as savantism, is a rare condition in which people with developmental disorders have one or more areas of expertise, ability, or brilliance that are in contrast with the individual's overall limitations...

(who tend to use calendrical calculation

Calendrical calculation

A Calendrical calculation is a calculation concerning calendar dates. Calendrical calculations can be considered an area of applied mathematics.Some examples of calendrical calculations:* The number of days between two dates....

), individuals with hyperthymestic syndrome rely heavily on their personal “mental calendar”, which is an automatic and obsessive process. Moreover, individuals with hyperthymesia do not focus on practiced mnemonic

Mnemonic

A mnemonic , or mnemonic device, is any learning technique that aids memory. To improve long term memory, mnemonic systems are used to make memorization easier. Commonly encountered mnemonics are often verbal, such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something,...

strategies. For example, "AJ", who has the first documented case of hyperthymesia, has difficulty consciously applying her memory strategies to help her memorize new knowledge, making her rote memorization abilities about average.

Neuroscience

Because it is a recently discovered memory capability, neuroscientific explanations of hyperthymesia are scarce. McGaugh, who coined the term, provides mostly speculation in “A Case of Unusual Autobiographical Remembering”. He suggests that "AJ"’s superior autobiographical memory is largely the result of specific impairments rather than enhancements. Her sensitivity to cues that trigger her memories suggest that "AJ" has trouble inhibiting episodic-retrieval mode, which is the neurocognitive state required for present stimuli to be interpreted as memory cues. Because she is unable to “turn off” her retrieval mode, the smallest associations may bring on detailed recollections of "AJ"’s past.

Inhibition

Memory inhibition

In psychology, memory inhibition is the ability not to remember irrelevant information. Memory inhibition is a critical component of an effective memory system. For example, imagine if, when a person tried to remember where he had parked his car, every place he had ever parked his car came to mind;...

in itself is a type of executive functioning, thought to be associated with the right inferior frontal cortex. Although "AJ" is not autistic, McGaugh and colleagues note that she shares some of the executive-functioning deficits that occur with autism. These deficits, along with anomalous lateralization and "AJ"’s obsessive–compulsive tendencies, point to a neurodevelopmental frontostriatal disorder common in autism, OCD, ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome, and schizophrenia. The frontostriatal system is made up of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Prefrontal cortex

The prefrontal cortex is the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain, lying in front of the motor and premotor areas.This brain region has been implicated in planning complex cognitive behaviors, personality expression, decision making and moderating correct social behavior...

, lateral orbitofrontal cortex

Orbitofrontal cortex

The orbitofrontal cortex is a prefrontal cortex region in the frontal lobes in the brain which is involved in the cognitive processing of decision-making...

, cingulate, supplementary motor area, and associated basal ganglia

Basal ganglia

The basal ganglia are a group of nuclei of varied origin in the brains of vertebrates that act as a cohesive functional unit. They are situated at the base of the forebrain and are strongly connected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus and other brain areas...

structures.

Cases

There are 6 true cases of hyperthymesia that have been confirmed worldwide. Cases of hyperthymesia differ from related cases of savant memory in that savants have an extraordinary memory for specific hobbies, and events of a narrow basis, whereas cases of confirmed hyperthymesia show surprisingly detailed memory for specific and general events. One example is the case of AJ (revealed, since May 2008, to be the school administrator Jill Price) who, given any date in history, can recall what the weather was like on said date, personal details of her life at the time, and other news events that occurred at that time. Details of what AJ recalls may be significant to her in some way, but they may not. Personal meaning does not seem to affect AJ’s memory – she simply recalls everything. Brad Williams, another confirmed case of hyperthymesia, displays similar remarkable memory abilities. For example, when shown a photograph from his past Brad can recall the date it was taken, where it was taken, what he had done that day, and even more detailed information such as the temperature on said day. Rick Barron has also been diagnosed with hyperthymesia and shares the same superior abilities of AJ and Brad. Individuals with hyperthymesia clearly have a superior degree of recall ability.

Drawbacks

AJ, one of the most famous cases of hyperthymesia, describes her memory as a “running movie that never stops”. She views the world in “split screen,” with the past constantly playing at the same time as the present. She explains that although, “most have called it a gift,” she calls it a “burden.” AJ’s superior memory does not seem to be due to a desire to apply memorizing techniques, her memorization

Memorization

Memorization is the process of committing something to memory. The act of memorization is often a deliberate mental process undertaken in order to store in memory for later recall items such as experiences, names, appointments, addresses, telephone numbers, lists, stories, poems, pictures, maps,...

of autobiographical information is non-conscious

Unconscious mind

The unconscious mind is a term coined by the 18th century German romantic philosopher Friedrich Schelling and later introduced into English by the poet and essayist Samuel Taylor Coleridge...

. It is possible that AJ’s memory could stem from the traumatic experience of having her family move when she was 8, at which point she began to “organize her memories” and think about the life she had left behind a great deal. AJ reports years of migraine

Migraine

Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by moderate to severe headaches, and nausea...

s lasting from childhood into her late thirties. She had other health problems (sore throats and ear infections) in childhood, as well as being on medication for anxiety

Anxiety

Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...

for many years, and a long period of depression

Depression (mood)

Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...

in her mid to late twenties. She battled insomnia

Insomnia

Insomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...

up until her thirties and complains of various phobias.

Eidetic memory

Eidetic memory
Eidetic memory
Eidetic , commonly referred to as photographic memory, is a medical term, popularly defined as the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision and in abundant volume. The word eidetic, referring to extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall not limited to, but...

, photographic memory, or total recall refers to the ability of an individual who can accurately recall a large amount of images, sounds and objects in an unlimited volume. Eidetic has a meaning of “related extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall of visual images” in Greek.
The term eidetic memory can become more clinical when the memory experts use the picture elicitation method to detect the ability. In the picture elicitation method, children are asked to study an image for approximately thirty minutes, and then the researchers remove the picture, it has been found that children with such ability are able to recall the image with perfect accuracy after the picture has been removed. It has been suggested that children with eidetic memory can maintain the image in their memory as vividly as if it were still there.

Criticism

Marvin Minsky

Marvin Lee Minsky is an American cognitive scientist in the field of artificial intelligence , co-founder of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AI laboratory, and author of several texts on AI and philosophy.-Biography:...

has argued in his book The Society of Mind that the reported cases of eidetic memory

Eidetic memory

Eidetic , commonly referred to as photographic memory, is a medical term, popularly defined as the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision and in abundant volume. The word eidetic, referring to extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall not limited to, but...

should be considered as “unfounded myth[s]”. This view was supported by an experimental study conducted by psychologist Adriaan de Groot

Adriaan de Groot

Adrianus Dingeman de Groot was a Dutch chess master and psychologist, who conducted some of the most famous chess experiments of all time in the 1940s-60...

. The experiment was intended to investigate chess Grandmasters’ ability to memorize positions of chess pieces on a chessboard. When those chess experts were provided with arrangements that were inconsistent with a real chess game, their performance was about the same as non-experts. These results indicate that the eidetic ability of those chess Grandmasters' were not innate, but a learned strategy with certain types of information. Also Wilding and Valentine held a search for people claiming to have an eidetic or otherwise superior memory via public media. Out of the 31 people who called in only three actually had a significantly above-average memory - and none of those three had an eidetic memory.

Further cause for skepticism is given by a non- scientific event: The World Memory Championships

World Memory Championships

The World Memory Championships is an organized competition of mental sports in which competitors memorize as much information as possible within a given period of time. The Championship has taken place annually since 1991 and has been staged by various organisations...

. Held since 1991, this is an annual competition in different memory disciplines and is nearly totally based on visual tasks (9 out of 10 events are displayed visually, the tenth event is presented by audio). Since the champions can win interesting prizes (the total prize money for the World Memory Championships 2010 is $90,000), it should attract people who can beat those tests easily by reproducing visual images of the presented material during the recall. But indeed not a single memory champion ever reported to have an eidetic memory. Instead without a single exception all winners consider themselves mnemonists (see below) and rely on using mnemonic

Mnemonic

strategies, mostly the method of loci

Method of loci

The method of loci , also called the memory palace, is a mnemonic device introduced in ancient Roman rhetorical treatises . It relies on memorized spatial relationships to establish, order and recollect memorial content...

Cases

Cases of eidetic memory have been reported for generations, with a 1970 study on a woman named Elizabeth being called the most convincing documentation yet. Elizabeth’s memory was extraordinary in that she could see an image once and retain it in memory for years to come. The classic study of Elizabeth’s memory documents her writing out poetry in a foreign language, of which she had no prior knowledge, years after seeing the original text. This suggests that Elizabeth’s memory retained the image of the foreign words vividly enough to recall years later. Reports also suggest that Elizabeth’s memory was so vivid that she could obscure other parts of the present visual field with these past memories.
However, Elizabeth remains the only person to have passed such a test, and the credibility of the findings about Elizabeth are highly questionable given that the researcher married his subject, and the tests have never been repeated. Elizabeth refused to repeat them. The study fueled strong skepticism about studies of eidetic memory for several decades thereafter. Recently there has been a renewal of interest in the area, with more careful controls, and far less spectacular results.

Andriy Slyusarchuk

Andriy Slyusarchuk

Andriy Tychonovych Slyusarchuk Andriy Tychonovych Slyusarchuk Andriy Tychonovych Slyusarchuk (born May 9, 1971 in Zhytomyr. He claims to be a neurosurgeon, medical doctor and professor. He claims to have set a number of world records in memorizing data, figures, and claims to be able to perform...

, a Ukrainian professor from Lviv

Lviv

Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...

, has been reported to have memorized up to 30 million places of pi

' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...

.http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=uk&u=http://tsn.ua/ukrayina/ukrayinski-geniyi-prohodyat-podviynu-shkolu-vizhivannya.html&ei=LRJnTYSmFIHksQO52d2mBA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://tsn.ua/ukrayina/ukrayinski-geniyi-prohodyat-podviynu-shkolu-vizhivannya.html%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DQo8%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26prmd%3Divns] Although he did not recite them all, the reports stated that he could recite any randomly selected sequences.

Hungarian-mathematician John von Neumann

John von Neumann

John von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...

could recite exactly word for word any books he had read, including page numbers and footnotes - even of books he had read decades earlier.

Unusual cases of eidetic memory

People claimed to possess an eidetic memory

A number of people claim to have eidetic memory, but no one has been tested and documented as having a memory that is truly photographic. Most people showing amazing memory abilities use mnemonic strategies, mostly the method of loci. This includes all winners of the annual World Memory...

include: Sergei Rachmaninov, a composer and pianist can recall a musical score after sight reading twice, savant Stephen Wiltshire

Stephen Wiltshire

Stephen Wiltshire MBE, is an architectural artist who has been diagnosed with autism. Wiltshire was born in London, England, to West Indian parents. He is known for his ability to draw a landscape after seeing it just once. He studied Fine Art at City & Guilds Art College.-Early life:Wiltshire was...

is able to draw a skyline in detail after a single helicopter ride, and philosopher Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...

was able to memorize ten volumes of the encyclopedia

Encyclopedia

An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....

in only a few days. Many more cases of eidetic exist are claimed, but mostly unfounded (see above).

Drawbacks

Eidetic imagery

Eidetic Imagery

Eidetic Imagery is a psychotherapy model based on the pioneering work of Akhter Ahsen, Ph.D.- History and Theory :Eidetic Imagery is a fast moving method that identifies areas of need quickly and generates change by using revolutionary tools...

can be so vivid as to mimic actual perception of stimuli, which can be much like a hallucination

Hallucination

A hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid,...

. Some researchers of eidetic imagery have proposed a link between this ability and psychosis

Psychosis

Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...

, such as in schizophrenic populations.

Mnemonists

Mnemonist is derived from the term mnemonic
Mnemonic
A mnemonic , or mnemonic device, is any learning technique that aids memory. To improve long term memory, mnemonic systems are used to make memorization easier. Commonly encountered mnemonics are often verbal, such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something,...

, it refers to the individuals with the unusual ability to recall long lists of information including names, numbers, etc. It has been suggested that individuals with such ability may possess eidetic memory. However, although it is not uncommon that such individuals frequently become the subjects of scientific studies, it still remains controversial on whether such ability is inborn or acquired it through learning.
A mnemonic device is said to be a memory aid that used to help an individual remember and recall information. Mnemonic devices are usually verbal, such as a special phrase or word or a short poem that individuals are familiar with.

Each individual has two types of memory, one is “natural memory” and the other one is “artificial memory”. Mnemonic strategy is said to help develop artificial memory through learning and practicing memory techniques

Art of memory

The Art of Memory or Ars Memorativa is a general term used to designate a loosely associated group of mnemonic principles and techniques used to organize memory impressions, improve recall, and assist in the combination and 'invention' of ideas. It is sometimes referred to as mnemotechnics...

.

Common mnemonics for memorizing lists of words is through the use of acronym, which is the abbreviation that consists of the initial letter in a phrase or word. For example, HOMES is often used to help remember the names of the Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

of North America. Most techniques for memorizing numbers involve turning the numbers into visual images that are then placed along points of an imaginary memory journey

Method of loci

. The mind has difficulty remembering abstract concepts like numbers, but can easily remember visual images. The imaginary memory journey orders the images in the correct sequence. One of the most common techniques for converting numbers into visual images is the Mnemonic major system

Mnemonic major system

The Major System is a mnemonic technique used to aid in memorizing numbers....

Neuroscience

No structural differences have been found in the brains of accomplished memorists, who have achieved superior memory with the practiced use of mnemonic devices. One study that sought to locate the neural differences between these and people with typical memory abilities using fMRI, was unable to find any differences. For memorists, the right cingulate cortex

Cingulate cortex

The cingulate cortex is a part of the brain situated in the medial aspect of the cortex. It includes the cortex of the cingulate gyrus, which lies immediately above the corpus callosum, and the continuation of this in the cingulate sulcus...

, ventral fusiform cortex, and left posterior inferior frontal sulcus

Inferior frontal sulcus

The inferior frontal sulcus is a sulcus between the middle frontal gyrus and the inferior frontal gyrus....

were more active for digit span memorization

Piphilology

Piphilology comprises the creation and use of mnemonic techniques to remember a span of digits of the mathematical constant . The word is a play on Pi itself and the linguistic field of philology....

(a feat memorists are often very good at). However, all superior memory participants reported the use of mnemonic

Mnemonic

Cases

One well known case of excellent recall ability is the case of Solomon Shereshevskii

Solomon Shereshevskii

Solomon Veniaminovich Shereshevsky , also known simply as 'Ш' or 'S.', was a Russian journalist and mnemonist active in the 1920s.-Studies:...

also known as "S". "S" had synaesthesia, a condition in which the stimulation of one sense prompts a reaction in another sense. He had the unique ability to recall almost everything he heard or saw. There are several reports of "S" recalling a speech word for word without taking notes along with his peers. "S" is one well known case of superior recall.

Another interesting case of recall is of the subject S.F., who began testing with an average intelligence and average memory capabilities. With the use of mnemonic strategies (practice sessions in the laboratory) he was able to increase his digit span from 7 to 79. Using mnemonics for memory recall may also have played a part in Akira Haraguchi

Akira Haraguchi

Akira Haraguchi , a retired Japanese engineer, currently working as a mental health counsellor and business consultant in Mobara City, is known for memorizing and reciting digits of Pi....

's world record citation of mathematical pi. Cases such as these suggest that superior memory can be achieved with the proper mnemonic techniques.

Also all competitors of the annual World Memory Championships

World Memory Championships

name mnemonic strategies the source for their performances (including performances like memorizing a list of more than 2000 digits in an hour, 280 words in 15 minutes or the order of a deck of cards in under 25 seconds).

Drawbacks

Solomon Shereshevskii

Solomon Veniaminovich Shereshevsky , also known simply as 'Ш' or 'S.', was a Russian journalist and mnemonist active in the 1920s.-Studies:...

or 'S', was viewed by peers as disorganized and unintelligent. His extreme case of synesthesia, causing highly detailed and recallable memory traces, made understanding abstract concepts not based on sensory and perceptual qualities very difficult for him. His personal life is described as being lived in a “haze,” and eventually he was confined to a mental institution because of the burden of his exceptional abilities. But S is a rare exception and drawbacks are not normally associated with the acquisition of an exceptional memory by using mnemonics.

Savants

Savant syndrome

, also known as savantism, is a condition in which individuals with a developmental disorder

Developmental disorder

Developmental disorders occur at some stage in a child's development, often retarding the development. These may include,psychological or physical disorders. The disorder is an impairment in the normal development of motor or cognitive skills that are developed before age 18 in which they are...

are exceptional in one or more areas.

Neuroscience

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by difficulties in reciprocal social behaviour and communication, stereotyped patterns of behaviour, and restricted interests. They are also associated with typical and atypical functioning in memory. Structural abnormalities have been found to affect the hippocampus

Hippocampus

The hippocampus is a major component of the brains of humans and other vertebrates. It belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory and spatial navigation. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in...

, with the perirhinal, entorhinal, and parahippocampus less affected (these are areas in the medial temporal lobe outside of the hippocampus). The hippocampus is thought to be involved in domain-general relational processes, with surrounding areas mediating more domain and item-specific and contextual processing. This is consistent with observed memory effects of ASD which shows superior low-level and item-specific processing, at a cost of having impairments in higher level relational processes.

One example found in the literature is J.S., with high functioning autism. J.S. has no episodic memory

Episodic memory

(which is highly associative or relational in nature) and must rely on memorizing facts. He will memorize entire conversations, so as to remember even general content later. He also remembers events by memorizing A-B-C predicates – item-specific memory with a memorized (specific) association connecting them.

Cases

Savant syndrome

is elaborate abilities (including memory) in specialized areas such as a hobby or event, or a certain type of information. One of the most well known cases of savant memory is Kim Peek

Kim Peek

Laurence Kim Peek was an American savant. Known as a "megasavant", he had a photographic or eidetic memory, but also social difficulties, possibly resulting from a developmental disability related to congenital brain abnormalities. He was the inspiration for the character of Raymond Babbitt,...

, the man on which the movie Rain Man
Rain Man
Rain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...

was based. Peek had a reported savant memory for most information, not just specialized pieces, and was able to memorize large pieces of information from the age of 16 months. Tony DeBlois

Tony DeBlois

Anthony Thomas "Tony" DeBlois is a blind US autistic savant and musician.-Biography:Tony DeBlois was born blind on January 22, 1974. He began to play piano at the age of two. At first DeBlois studied in the Perkins School for the Blind but in 1989 was awarded a summer scholarship at Berklee College...

and Derek Paravicini

Derek Paravicini

Derek Paravicini is a blind English autistic savant and a musical prodigy. He lives in Surrey.-Biography:Paravicini was born extremely prematurely, at 25 weeks . His blindness was caused by oxygen therapy given during his time in a neonatal intensive care unit...

also show superior memory for music. Deblois can play 8000 songs from memory on 20 different instruments, and Paravicini can play a piece of music after only hearing it once. Another case of savant memory is that of Richard Wawro

Richard Wawro

Richard Wawro was a Scottish artist notable for his landscapes in wax oil crayon. He was an autistic savant.-Life:...

. Wawro is known for his paintings of landscapes and seascapes, all done in elaborate detail. What is interesting about Wawro's art is that he paints from seeing a scene only once and does not use a model. His memory for the scene is so elaborate that he can also report where he drew the picture and when. Similarities across cases indicate that savant memory may be similar to eidetic memory.

Drawbacks

Autistic individuals are more likely to have savant skills, the obvious drawback here being autism itself. Most cases of calendrical calculation

Calendrical calculation

involve individuals with IQ’s that are below average. Autism spectrum disorders contain criteria for diagnosis based on difficulties with social behaviour and communicating with others, amongst other debilitating criteria Researchers have proposed two hypotheses to explain how autistic individuals may develop advanced skills; the first is the obsession with constricted areas of interest (a common symptom of autism) and central coherence. Central coherence is a style of cognitive processing indicative of an autistic individual, which involves a focus on local features during processing. Researchers feel that this style of processing may aid in the increase of savant skills, but this style also sacrifices global processing in the process.

Emotional memory

An emotional or flashbulb memory refers to the memory of a personal significant event with distinctly vivid and long-lasting detailed information. These events are usually shocking and with photographic quality. Brown and Kulik, who coined the term found that many highly emotional memories can be recalled with very accurate details, even when there is a delay after the event.

A Flashbulb memory is said to be less accurate and less permanent than photographic memories, but its forgetting curve

Forgetting curve

The forgetting curve hypothesizes the decline of memory retention in time. A related concept is the strength of memory that refers to the durability that memory traces in the brain. The stronger the memory, the longer period of time that a person is able to recall it...

is less affected by time in comparing to other types of memories. One important aspect of flashbulb memory is that it involves emotional arousal when the event is being remembered. Therefore, this kind of memory does not have to be accurate, and the accuracy usually decreases during the first 3 months and goes up again at about 12 months.

A study conducted by Sharot et al. (2006) showed that the rating of vividness of terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, by the participants is related to the physical location of the person when the event happened.

Finkenhauer et al. (1998) provided an outline of important criteria that can help form flashbulb memories:

The event needs to be novel.
The event has to be important to the person experiencing or witnessing or hearing about it, and it has to have a significant effect on the person.
The surprising event needs to be intense enough in order to significantly trigger the person’s emotional reaction.
A person needs to have an affective attitude to help understand and elaborate the event, in other words, the more background information the person has learned before the event, the more elaborate the person’s memory of that event would be.
When people engage in overt rehearsal of the event by talking about it with others.
When the information of the public event is heard frequently from the media, this process can leads to overlearning of the information.

Neuroscience

The focus of the research on emotional memory is on the role of the amygdala

Amygdala

The ' are almond-shaped groups of nuclei located deep within the medial temporal lobes of the brain in complex vertebrates, including humans. Shown in research to perform a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions, the amygdalae are considered part of the limbic system.-...

. In one study participants watched either an emotionally arousing film or a neutral film. Results of a PET scan showed correlation between right Amygdaloid Complex

Archistriatum

The arcopallium refers to regions of the avian brain which partially overlap regions homologous to the amygdala of mammals. These regions have formerly been referred to as archistriatum, and before this epistriatum or amygdaloid complex, and a recent change of nomenclature has divided the region...

(AC) activity and recall for emotional elements of the film when participants were asked to remember the film a few weeks later. Although this study demonstrates the involvement of the AC, it offers no insight as to the specific role of the amygdala. McGaugh

James McGaugh

James L. McGaugh is an American neurobiologist working in the field of learning and memory. He is currently a Research Professor at the University of California, Irvine....

and colleagues posit that although electrical and pharmaceutical stimulation directly to the amygdala can enhance or decrease memory, the amygdala is not the main site for any long-term memory

Long-term memory

Long-term memory is memory in which associations among items are stored, as part of the theory of a dual-store memory model. According to the theory, long term memory differs structurally and functionally from working memory or short-term memory, which ostensibly stores items for only around 20–30...

storage. Rather, the amygdala acts as a modulator for storage processes occurring in other areas of the brain. Long-term memories are not created automatically, they must be consolidated over time. Research indicates that it is this consolidation process in which the AC plays an assisting role (there is no evidence that it aids in retrieval). Specifically, McGaugh suggests that emotional arousal activates the amygdala, which regulates the strength of a memory, lending to enhanced memory for emotionally charged events.

The amygdala itself is a collection of nuclei

Nucleus (neuroanatomy)

In neuroanatomy, a nucleus is a brain structure consisting of a relatively compact cluster of neurons. It is one of the two most common forms of nerve cell organization, the other being layered structures such as the cerebral cortex or cerebellar cortex. In anatomical sections, a nucleus shows up...

with distinct functions, the basolateral AC the most involved with memory. The BL projects into the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex

Entorhinal cortex

The entorhinal cortex is located in the medial temporal lobe and functions as a hub in a widespread network for memory and navigation. The EC is the main interface between the hippocampus and neocortex...

and stimulation of the AC functioning activates both of these areas. Further indication that the amygdala works to modulate other areas of the brain is supported by the fact that AC stimulation is mediated by the stria terminalis (ST), a major AC pathway. Lesions of the ST block AC stimulation effects.

AC and ST lesions also appear to block hormonal and adrenaline enhancements. Stress hormones produced by emotional situations influence memory storage. Memory can also be selectively enhanced by post-training administration of drugs and hormones. It is also well known that emotional situations produce an “adrenaline rush

Adrenaline Rush

An adrenaline rush is the fight or flight response of the adrenal gland, in which it releases adrenaline . When releasing adrenaline, one's body releases dopamine which can act as a natural pain killer. An adrenaline rush causes the muscles to perform respiration at an increased rate improving...

”. This adrenaline, as well as cortisol

Cortisol

Cortisol is a steroid hormone, more specifically a glucocorticoid, produced by the adrenal gland. It is released in response to stress and a low level of blood glucocorticoids. Its primary functions are to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis; suppress the immune system; and aid in fat,...

(adrenocortical hormone) serve to influence an organism’s response to stress, but also may aid future responding by enhancing declarative memory of them.

Many people feel that they have better memories for negative emotional experiences. This may in fact be accurate. Goddard

Ben Goddard

Ben Goddard is a founding partner of the public affairs firm Goddard Claussen. He is widely regarded as the godfather of issue advocacy advertising and is credited with creating the genre of national issue advocacy advertising with the Harry & Louise campaign in the early 1990s.-Career and...

found that retention was disrupted with electrical stimulation of AC after aversive learning, but not with appetitively motivated learning.

Drawbacks

An experience must be very arousing to an individual for it to be consolidated as an emotional memory, and this arousal can be negative, thus causing a negative memory to be strongly retained. Having a long-lasting extremely vivid and detailed memory for negative events can cause a great deal of anxiety

Anxiety

, as seen in post traumatic stress disorders

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Posttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...

. Individuals with PTSD endure flashbacks to traumatic events, with much clarity. Many forms of psychopathology

Psychopathology

Psychopathology is the study of mental illness, mental distress, and abnormal/maladaptive behavior. The term is most commonly used within psychiatry where pathology refers to disease processes...

show a tendency to maintain emotional experiences, especially negative emotional experiences, such as depression

Depression (mood)

and generalized anxiety disorder. Patients with phobias are unable to cognitively control their emotional response to the feared stimuli.

Although, not having the ability to use emotional memories for guiding future behaviours can be detrimental, as has been hypothesized as a potential cause to the lack of goal oriented behaviours in schizophrenic individuals.

External links

http://www.unforgettabledoc.com/ - Brad Williams, Documentary "Unforgettable"

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Hyperthymesia

Neuroscience

Cases

Drawbacks

Eidetic memory

Criticism

Cases

Drawbacks

Mnemonists

Neuroscience

Cases

Drawbacks

Savants

Neuroscience

Cases

Drawbacks

Emotional memory

Neuroscience

Drawbacks

See also

External links