To understand what autobiographical memory is, the first thing we have to take into account is the word autobiography. This narration of our own life It is present in the name of this type of memory because autobiographical memory is the name given to the ability to retain in memory the episodes that have happened to us in the past.
With autobiographical memory we are able to remember what has happened to us in the past. These memories refer to an event that occurred at a specific time and place, although they do not have to be specific events, as this memory also helps us retain (and recover) general memories.
In this PsychologyOnline article, we will develop the concept of autobiographical memory.
Some memories remain in our memory… and others go away
It is not possible to remember everything that has happened to us in our past. Some events from our past will form part of our autobiographical memory while other events, which may not have marked us with such intensity, will be erased from our minds and will not become part of our autobiographical memory.
Why do we remember some events and forget others?
A type of memory that we do not usually remember is any of our very early childhood. It is difficult to remember events prior to the third year of our life, for example, because we have infantile amnesia. We will remember some events from when we were little but we will have many more memories from our adolescence. Another significant fact is that we remember more events from our later years, and therefore recover fewer memories of events that have happened a long time ago. We have more memories from last year than from ten years ago, for example.
The brain of people with good autobiographical memory
It is curious that people with an amazing autobiographical memory, and people with a more limited autobiographical memory, have notable differences in terms of your brain.
As the researchers from the University of California Irvine (UCI) study were able to conclude, the mental processes of people who have a noticeably above-average autobiographical memory are different compared to the mental processes of those of us who have a better than average autobiographical memory. modest
The scientists were able to conclude that the people in the study, who had a superior autobiographical memory, remembered many more events that took place after their ten years of age. These people with a surprising autobiographical memory not only had more memories from the age of ten, but also They remembered many more details.
James McCaugh, one of the people who was part of the team of scientists, explained that people who have a superior autobiographical memory than the rest of the population have a greater amount of white matter dense robust in the connections of the brain that connect the frontal and middle areas.
The co-author of this study, Aurora LePort, concluded that hyperthymetic people have a surprising autobiographical memory but, however, we cannot compare these people with those who have a special ability to memorize many facts, for example. These are completely different skills.
This research has helped us understand in greater detail how significant autobiographical memory is for us, as it allows us to return to moments experienced in our past. However, these moments will be, for the majority of the population, limited.
What are people with a surprising autobiographical memory like?
When a hyperthymesic person is mentioned a specific date, such as June 5, 2010, a total of 99 times out of 100 they will be able to tell you what day of the week said date fell on. Hyperthymetic people often collect objects such as stamps, postcards, magazines or shoes.
Autobiographical memory is part of episodic memory
Autobiographical memory collects our autobiographical events (emotions we feel, places we visit or moments we live, for example).
The Episodic memory is part of declarative memorylike semantic memory, and is retrieved explicitly (thereby existing a will to recover the memory). Procedural memory, however, is recovered implicitly (without there being a will to recover the memory).
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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