Most of us barely remember anything from our early life. Funny how the brain works. Although children are like sponges, it is at this stage that we have the least memories in our entire lives.
When do children begin to form memories? Why are some so clear and others fuzzy? Are they reliable or are they made up? Let's find out these and more unknowns.
Infantile amnesia
This is how this phenomenon was baptized by Sigmun Freud. Is infantile amnesia it would be divided into 2 phases: a first phase in the first years of life0-3 years) where there are hardly any memories and a second phase between the 3-7 years where there are already some memories but still many gaps.
As babies there is the greatest neural proliferation of our life (neurogenesis) with 700 neural connections per second. Despite this our episodic memory (the one in charge of keeping long-term information about our lives) it does not reach its optimum development until 3-5 years of age. That is why the middle Ages from which we can save certain memories es over 3 years of age.
En rat research it has been shown that during the acceleration phase of neuron birth it is much more difficult to keep memories. Once growth is more progressive, it is easier to save long-term memories. Neurogenesis too promotes the processes of forgetting irrelevant information, reason why the memories do not get to be fixed.
More hypotheses
Another hypothesis is that early ages language and knowledge base are lacking to interpret and encode the information and save it as memories, which would make the work difficult. From 3 years of age, thanks to language, the child is able to classify what he sees, his emotions and experiences, which would facilitate memory. Without narrative capacity it is very difficult to create a story of the experience to store it.
Different studies have shown that deaf and dumb take an average of 6 more months in saving memories, just like children who are not very stimulated in language.
The animals also suffer from infantile amnesia so it cannot be explained in human terms alone.
What you think you remember does not mean that it is true
Believe it or not, many of our childhood memories that seem clearer never happened. Unconsciously we have been collecting information from different sources and we have been generating memories from them.
Surely you have seen it in nearby children. They claim to remember things that happened when they were babies, being impossible because of their young age, or in a totally different way than it was in reality. When we have been told or heard a story so many times, our brain assimilates it as if it had lived it and assumes it as a memory.
Cultural differences
There are cultural differences that affect memories. The cultures Eastern attach little importance to the past, so your memories are less and they are much more vague and imprecise. Instead in the Western culture the past is given a lot of importance, and the memories are more elaborate and long.
There are also differences regarding gender: women remember much earlier than men. By maturing earlier, our ability to store memories is better than that of men.
How to improve memories in children
Despite what we've said before we can do something to favor the memories in the little ones. Memories are always linked to emotions, the more intense the emotion, the more fixed the memory remains.
- Stimulate your senses. You can use your senses (smell is the most developed sense in children) to explore the world. You can put scents that will transport him to his childhood when he is older, such as lavender-scented creams, vanilla air fresheners, the smell of cinnamon from grandmother's cake ...
- Tell him things with pictures. It is easier to remember something if it is accompanied by an image.
- Talk to him / her. Talking about what happened serves not only to save memories but also to establish good communication with your child and help him express his emotions.
- Create family plans. Let the child remember fondly when he is older: Sundays with the family, walks in the park, some activity that you all do together ...
Because remember ... that you do not remember does not mean that it is not in your mind.