We all relish delving into the old memories and remembering ourselves in the past as it is how we know who we are and build a strong self-identity. However, how much do you reminisce about your earliest childhood? Few grown-ups can recall what happened to them before the age of seven. This phenomenon is called “childhood amnesia”. Scientists have found out that most three-year-old children can recall most events happened to them over the past year and these memories can retain in the next two to three years. However, by the age of seven, these episodic memories begin to fade into oblivion.
Such phenomenon is explained by the fact that children lack the neural capabilities to piece together information into a complex autobiographical memory. Their memory abilities have less narrative for time and place. This may lead to a process known as “retrieval induced forgetting”. The action of remembering one piece of information causes some others to be forgotten. As time goes by, most childhood memories are lost forever. Besides, a crucial part of the brain that is involved in memory forming, organising and storing, called the hippocampus, is undergoing neurogenesis. It is a process where the brains are growing with new neurons being formed. This will in effect erase old memories to pave the way for new learning and longer-term memories.
| JPC Monthly Newsletter | |
| Editor： | Police Public Relations Branch, 11/F Arsenal House, Police Headquarters, No. 1 Arsenal Street, Wan Chai, HK. |
| Tel： | 2860 6157 |
| Fax： | 2200 4304 |
| JPC homepage： | http://www.hkpjpc.org.hk |
| Police homepage： | http://www.police.gov.hk |