Incredible memory skill lets you relive your life

Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV

Most of us would probably find it difficult to remember everything we did yesterday. But for a small group of people with near-perfect memory, autobiographical events from decades ago can be recalled just as easily as scrolling through a DVD.

Sean Conlon, a food and beverages director from Baltimore, Maryland, and Frank Healy, a counsellor based in Pennsylvania, are two of about 30 people now confirmed to possess highly superior autobiographical memory. In this video, you can watch them recall life events from specific dates without prior preparation. Since the dates coincide with historical events, we were able to check that they weren't making it up.

The two men recently had their brain scanned by memory researcher James McGaugh and colleagues from the University of California, Irvine, whose work is now revealing differences in certain memory regions for people with the ability. The team also found that super-memorisers share some of the hallmarks of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

Conlon claims that he doesn't have obsessive tendencies, other than being preoccupied with his past. Healy, however, admits that he's quite germ-phobic: at restaurants he will go and wash his hands as soon as he places his order.

Both men have found their memory to be advantageous in their jobs. "It helps me if I have a client who stops therapy for a year or two and then returns," says Healy. "I'm instantly able to remember their birthday, their issues and everything about them."

But of course having an incredible memory means that both positive and negative experiences can be relived with as much emotional intensity as if they are happening in the present. According to Conlon, his love life has been most affected. "I don't have much luck with women," he says. "The memories of past failures come back and it puts a damper on my confidence."

For more on the science behind incredible memory, check out our full-length feature, <i>They never forget: The strange gift of perfect memory</i>.

If you enjoyed this post, see how human brain slices are building up a 3D atlas or watch how the brain fires up during female orgasm.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/227beeeb/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cnstv0C20A120C0A80Cincredible0Ememory0Eskill0Elets0Eyou0Erelive0Eyour0Elife0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

black panther party frank martin pink slime eagle cam us soccer trayvon martin case affordable care act