Excessive memory syndrome and the grace of forgetting that some are deprived of

Weather of Arabia - In the syndrome of "excessive recall", lies the blessing of forgetting that some people are deprived of. These individuals suffer from a condition that makes them unable to forget details of their lives and personal experiences, no matter how many years have passed.

Excessive recall

It is a condition that hinders some rare people, as they are unable to forget the daily details and erase them from their memory. We can depict this situation through the statements of these people:

• "I can imagine today as if I'm back there and reliving the moment."
• "There are times when I feel like I'm walking among people who are all amnesiacs."
• "My memory is like a library of video tapes, but it is of scenes from every day of my life from waking up to sleeping."

These phrases reflect the experience of those individuals who suffer from this rare condition, which is distinguished by the exceptional ability to retain all details without exception, which gives them a memory full of details and daily scenes in which they live.

There are people who struggle with their memory, which is never forgotten, as it makes them live every event in every detail as if it were happening for the first time, so that they live the same feeling every time they bring back their memories.

In this case, an exceptional and strong memory is a good but also a challenging aspect. This ability may allow the preservation of beautiful moments and valuable memories, but it may also bring painful and difficult memories that the person tries to forget.

Certainly, this condition can be rare and complex, and requires psychological support and understanding from those close to you, as the constant feeling of reliving memories can be stressful. It is good to remember that dealing with an ever-distinguished memory requires sensitivity and tenderness.

Hyperthymesia

It is a rare condition that makes a person remember the details of his life and personal experiences exceptionally and accurately, without forgetting anything no matter how much time has passed. People with this condition can easily recall events and details as if they were happening in the moment.

This condition is considered rare and not common among people, and the study of this case remains under study. It is thought that strong autobiographical memory may be the result of an interaction between genetic factors and environmental factors.

One of the most significant difficulties that individuals with hypermnesia may face is the ability to deal with the overwhelming amount of details and memories that can be stressful and affect daily life.

A small group of people can recall huge details of their lives every day. For most of us, memory is like choppy, sometimes blurry scenes and snippets, as some parts of our past may fade with time. But for our friends who suffer from "hyperthermia," their memory is like a tape that accurately records all the scenes, and when they bring up their memories, they go back to reliving those scenes as if they were happening in the present moment.

Your strong memory may not necessarily mean that you are a hyper-rememberer, as these people have an exceptional ability to remember.

Their recollection includes minute details such as dates, times, and complex information. For example, Nima Viseh, who is considered a hypermnemonist, has the ability to tell you what the temperature was on a particular day in a date, what he was wearing and who he came across on his way, all over the course of more than 20 years of his life.

This rare ability of hyper-remembering makes them possess an extraordinary memory beyond the ordinary, and they may consider it a blessing or a curse to live with. Of course, these people have to deal with this ability with caution, as it may affect their daily life and psychological. Constantly remembering historical details and past scenes can be stressful and stressful.

However, each hyperthymic person's experience is unique, and they may have their own ways of dealing with this exceptional condition that set them apart from others.

How was "hypermnesia" syndrome discovered?

In the early 21st century, neuroscientist and memory researcher Jim McGough received an email from a woman named Jill Price, born in 1965, in which she spoke of her ability to remember every day of her life since the age of 12, from Tuesday the 5th of February 1980. Jill asks researcher McGough to help him understand her special condition.

This idea was unfamiliar and hard to believe; How can a person remember the details of his life accurately without forgetting? So McGough decided to run tests on Jill to validate what she said. He started asking questions about world events that happened on specific days, and Jill would answer perfectly every time. She also had a diary that helped researchers check her memory of personal events as well, and she was meticulous in her recall.

This initial discovery showed that Jill Price did indeed suffer from "hypermnesia," a very rare condition that gives her the extraordinary ability to retain accurate details of her life without forgetting.

McGough wasn't the only one who tested Price the following times, he was joined by another team and her case continued for years. They decided to complicate the tests by asking her to name the dates on which she visited them, or to compose a list of the researchers' appointments and recall appointments that they themselves did not remember. According to the British network "BBC".

The advantage and disadvantage of the "hypermnesia" syndrome are the same. Where Price cannot forget the day of her husband's death and she faces the bitterness of repeating that scene continuously. But at the same time, she can relive the happy days she gathered with her husband and remember them in detail.

After that, Price became the focus of magazines and documentaries. She published a book, The Unforgettable Woman, in 2008, documenting her experience with hyperthermia. Other rare cases of people with a condition similar to Price's have been discovered, estimated to occur in fewer than 60 people worldwide. Research is currently seeking to understand the reason for this exceptional ability to remember.

What is the scientific explanation for excessive recall?

The cases the researchers are studying are rare, yet there are many unresolved hypotheses. Among these hypotheses, a 2014 study came to the conclusion that the cause of excessive recall may be biological. Researchers believe that people with this condition have excessive activity in specific parts of the brain. Although comprehensive examinations of the brain did not reveal significant anatomical differences that explain the “hypermnesia” syndrome, it was discovered that there are small differences in some frontal lobes of the brain (responsible for analytical thinking) and the hippocampus (responsible for storing memories) that may be the result of development. their skills.

This topic remains under research and exploration, and it is only a preliminary scientific analysis of the situation. Final results and a more accurate understanding require additional research and in-depth scientific studies. The syndrome is still very mysterious, and it may take time to fully unravel its exact causes and mechanisms.

Other beliefs suggest that the cause of hypertrophic recall may be genetic or psychological. This belief is related to scientists linking experiences that began when superior memory began to be associated with intense anxiety and constant thinking about certain events on an ongoing basis. This is attributed to their ability to skilfully retain scenes in all their details.

This theory focuses on the fact that genetic factors may play a role in determining a person's ability to remember exceptionally well. It is believed that there is a genetic influence on the structure of the brain and its neural functions related to memory, which may contribute to this extraordinary ability.

In addition, it is thought that psychological factors, such as intense anxiety and rumination over certain events, can play a role in enhancing this ability to retain detail accurately. Feeling a strong emotional attachment to certain events can have a positive effect on a person's ability to remember them in every detail.

This belief remains under research and analysis, and this theory needs more research and studies to understand the causes of excessive recall more clearly and accurately. However, this theory is an important addition to possible explanations for this rare syndrome.

Is hypermemory syndrome a blessing or a curse?

As for the hyper-memorizers, they have exceptional memory abilities that are different from ordinary humans; When they experience an event and try to recall it after a period of time has passed, their way of remembering will differ from that of most people. In the case of most of us, some details fade and others change when we try to recall the event after a week, a month, or even a year, while the hyper-rememberers narrate the entire scene in front of their eyes as soon as they try to recall it.

Ultimately, whether this ability to maintain an accurate memory is a blessing or a curse depends on the person and their life circumstances. Some hyper-rememberers may find this ability to be a blessing, as they can restore their memories in all its details and benefit from it in their daily lives, while others may consider this a curse, as this ability to remember hard can be harsh on them, and cause them anxiety and stress resulting from Their inability to forget some emotional or painful details.

Thus, a strong memory can be considered a blessing or a curse depending on the personal context and the use one makes of it in one's life.

A story of a woman with hyper memory syndrome

Louise Owen, a hyperthymic patient who was interviewed on 60 Minutes in 2010, had a strong reaction when a reporter mentioned an unhappy day from her past.

Just by mentioning a bad day like the one in 1986 when she learned she had to change schools, Louise recalled the memories with great emotion. "I felt like my whole world was falling apart," she explained. "As soon as I mentioned today, I suddenly felt like I was that sad little 13-year-old girl again."

Even after all these years, she added, the feelings were strong and awful: "I mean, my heart was pounding really hard right now telling you this."

Excessive memory and inferential memory

There is a distinction between "hypermnemonic" and inferential or imaginative memory, whereby "hypermnemonic" is understood as the ability to recall details of a person's life with exceptional accuracy once an attempt is made, while reflective memory includes the ability to recall an image seen only once for a short period.

Despite this distinction, some scientists suggest that understanding hypermnestomic states may help enhance the power of recall by training us to recall scenes in more detail and continuity after they have occurred, so that they become more entrenched in the memory. But it is not easy, as Nima Vesseh - who has visited many countries and entered art galleries - points out that it is difficult to remember the details of the paintings in all the exhibitions among the 40 countries.

This ability isn't always an advantage, it helped Nicole Donohue remember her study information and imagine what the teacher said or what the books were like, making her a history teacher with a strong memory. However, she has trouble forgetting the embarrassing and difficult moments no matter how hard she tries, as she feels the same feelings she experienced and cannot stop the flow of memories no matter how hard she tries.

For Nima, difficult moments are like open wounds, and despite the many advice of Forgiveness and Forgiveness, this is a "luxury that he does not have."

Excessive memory syndrome does not protect against false memories

An article published in the scientific journal PNAS in 2013 indicated that despite their superior memory, people with hyperthymia are still prone to false memories, as those with hyperthymia were prone to recalling news scenes that did not exist, for example.

Sources:

• Arab Post
• Al Jazeera