Scientists scratch their heads over hyperthymesia
Have you ever thought how interesting it would be if you could replay in your mind the events of your life like a movie, and in the exact chronological order of its occurrence? Sounds interesting, but wishful right? Well, not really... Neurologists from the University of California (UC) Irvine had conducted studies on a few people who were diagnosed with this extraordinary ability to recall every moment of their life whenever desired!
Neuroscientists James Mc Gaugh and Larry Cahill of UC Irvine had been conducting studies on such cases and it was in 2006 that a case study on a person called AJ (name changed), who was detected with this syndrome, was published for the first time for everyone’s perusal. It was way back in 2000 that AJ had sent a mail requesting for help for her uncontrollably sharp memory that allowed her to recollect the exact events that had happened in her life since the days of early childhood, which intrigued scientists and triggered the study of such brains. Dr JD Mukherjee, a neurologist at Max Hospital explains, “The Super Memory Syndrome, scientifically termed as hyperthymesia allows one to recall even the trivial details of events that have occurred in their lives. Such cases are a rarity and till now only four people with this syndrome have been found. People with hyperthymesia also have the capability to remember the day which fell on a certain date. Basically, they have sharper non-stop detailed memory capacity.”
The mention of ‘sharper memory’ prompted just one question – could such people prove to be of greater utility if trained for advanced research for scientific inventions or the likes? – to which Dr Mukherjee clarified that “memory and intelligence are separate things.” The human brain has three types of memories. Immediate memory, which allows one to register and recall incidences occurred just minutes ago; short-term memory which enables one to recall the events of the previous few days and long-term memory which keeps the happening that had occurred long ago etched in the mind forever.
Have you ever thought how interesting it would be if you could replay in your mind the events of your life like a movie, and in the exact chronological order of its occurrence? Sounds interesting, but wishful right? Well, not really... Neurologists from the University of California (UC) Irvine had conducted studies on a few people who were diagnosed with this extraordinary ability to recall every moment of their life whenever desired!
Neuroscientists James Mc Gaugh and Larry Cahill of UC Irvine had been conducting studies on such cases and it was in 2006 that a case study on a person called AJ (name changed), who was detected with this syndrome, was published for the first time for everyone’s perusal. It was way back in 2000 that AJ had sent a mail requesting for help for her uncontrollably sharp memory that allowed her to recollect the exact events that had happened in her life since the days of early childhood, which intrigued scientists and triggered the study of such brains. Dr JD Mukherjee, a neurologist at Max Hospital explains, “The Super Memory Syndrome, scientifically termed as hyperthymesia allows one to recall even the trivial details of events that have occurred in their lives. Such cases are a rarity and till now only four people with this syndrome have been found. People with hyperthymesia also have the capability to remember the day which fell on a certain date. Basically, they have sharper non-stop detailed memory capacity.”
The mention of ‘sharper memory’ prompted just one question – could such people prove to be of greater utility if trained for advanced research for scientific inventions or the likes? – to which Dr Mukherjee clarified that “memory and intelligence are separate things.” The human brain has three types of memories. Immediate memory, which allows one to register and recall incidences occurred just minutes ago; short-term memory which enables one to recall the events of the previous few days and long-term memory which keeps the happening that had occurred long ago etched in the mind forever.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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