-
Asked by emmagrace to Dalya, Derek, Sarah, Tim, Tom on 21 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by limah89.
-
Tim Millar answered on 20 Jun 2011:
When we are born our ability to focus our eyes is not developed for the first few weeks and months. Our sense of smell and touch and hearing is usually what we rely on. So any memories of this time will come without “pictures”. Smell is a very strong memory maker because it usually keeps us safe with our mums and away from things which will hurt us. We may well store the information but not be able to find it again later because we don’t have the correct triggers.
Or because the brain is developing so rapidly, there is little need to remember much of what we experience in early life, so its stored in “flash memory” rather than long term so is lost as we age.
-
-
Derek McKay-Bukowski answered on 20 Jun 2011:
Great answer Tim!
Also, memories also fade with time. The older you get, the more difficult it is to remember your early experiences. Although hardly anyone can remember their baby experiences, a young child (say 3½ years) can remember things when they were 3¼ years. But now that I’m old, I can barely remember this time at all!
-
Sarah Thomas answered on 20 Jun 2011:
I really like Tim’s explanation, I think he explains this really well. 🙂
-
Comments