Infantile amnesia is a type of amnesia caused by a side effect of the normal developmental process of the brain. Almost all of us are not able to remember our childhood, and that’s because of infantile amnesia or childhood amnesia.
According to psychologists, people are generally unable to remember events before the age of four years. A lot of people on the internet ask, why can’t I remember my childhood… infantile amnesia explains a lot related to this topic.
In this blog, let’s take a deep look at infantile amnesia. Let’s get started!
What is Infantile Amnesia?
Almost every one of us is not able to recognize childhood memories, this tells that everyone has infantile amnesia. Infantile amnesia explains why we are unable to remember our childhood, teenage years, or other years. Only a few or rare people can store their memories properly and usually, it happens only during adulthood.
One of the common examples I can provide of infantile amnesia is that… Do you remember your first birthday or do you remember the first day of your preschool?
Infantile amnesia is a situation wherein an adult is not able to remember some specific events or experiences related to childhood. A lot of people have raised their concerns in this matter and some of the theories provided by medical professionals and psychologists were able to solve the problem of some people.
But at a high level, the question remains the same… why?
In order to find the answers, I did some research and found that adults tend to forget memories, especially from early childhood due to the brain’s developmental processes during those years. I could find another study that shows children tend to forget fast compared to normal adults.
Studies show that neglect, trauma, or abuse can have negative impacts on brain development and it can also encompass infantile amnesia. If someone still struggles with childhood abuse or trauma, they might be able to recall the incident or other related events but it is not possible to recall the childhood. In such cases, childhood abuse or trauma often results in mental health issues such as stress, depression, borderline personality disorder (BPD, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood.
The other impacts of childhood trauma or abuse can be learning and cognitive function disabilities in children. Some of these disabilities can be taken care of with the help of proper diagnosis and support through a certified and registered mental health professional. Now, the question is, what happens in our brain during childhood causing infantile amnesia?
What Happens to Our Brain During Childhood?
In order to understand the causes of infantile amnesia, let’s dig deep into the psychology of memory. Here’s how our brain creates or forms new memories:
- Information encoding: To create a new memory, our brain develops a sequence of connections to represent the specific information.
- Information consolidating: In this step, the encoded information is preserved in our brain as a short-term or long-term memory.
- Information storing: In this step, our brain grips the combined memories for further use.
- Information retrieving: In this step, the brain reactivates the original series of connections and remembers the information encoded before.
In this section, I have tried to simplify the process, inside our brain, these processes are more complex. The research shows that these processes are still under development in infants or toddlers which is why we are not able to remember our childhood. This is the most proven cause of infantile amnesia.
Why Can’t I Remember My Childhood- Factors Related to Memory Retention
The vast majority of the population across the globe is unable to recall childhood memories. In general, we remember certain events or experiences that happened after the age of three.
For example, you can remember the birth of your younger sibling, birthday parties, or special picnics. Research shows that memories that are created repeatedly tend to crystalize more and take the place of a preserved memory for longer years. Similarly, a person can remember events that were emotionally triggering or stimulating in adulthood.
This is why adults with childhood trauma, abuse, or neglect are able to remember their childhood events. Scientifically, it is not possible to recognize all the memories related, but a blurry floating picture or scene can be remembered in adulthood.
I hope this blog helps you understand infantile amnesia. If you have more queries or concerns related to, “Why can’t I remember my childhood or teenage years?”, connect with us for assistance. For more such content, connect with us through social media.
Thanks for reading!
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