Scientists have long sought an answer by not being able to remember our early childhood years. But recently, Canadian researchers have found that the problem is related to the production of hippocampal hormones: the brain area that controls memory and learning.
The hippocampus stores long-term memories, but in the early years is the brain so busy with the process of neurogenesis? formation of new cells? that the hippocampus loses storage control.
But since early childhood brain development is complete, our brains gain much more neurons, which means they are better able to store memories.
Doctors at the University of Toronto and Toronto's For Sick Children's Hospital have studied baby rats to see how neuron generation affects memory storage. Just like human babies, baby mice usually remember little of events. But when scientists slowed the rate of neurogenesis, mice were better able to remember the path of a maze.
Study authors Dr. Paul Frankland and Dr. Sheena Josselyn concluded that as neuron production decreases, memory retention increases, which seems to explain childhood amnesia, which is the absence of long-term memory since childhood.
What If You Could Remember EVERYTHING And Never Forget ANYTHING? (March 2024)
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