Why do humans "lose" most of their memories before the age of 3? The answer is beyond your imagination

From the day you were born, to babbling, to learning to eat for the first time, to walking into kindergarten for the first time, do you still remember these precious life memories?

In fact, even though we have perfected our memory, we still have difficulty recalling these early life events. Why is this?

Today, let’s find the answer from this article!

Why can't I remember anything before the age of 3?

One hundred years ago, Sigmund Freud, the father of psychotherapy, had similar confusions. He first proposed the phrase "infant amnesia", also known as "childhood amnesia", which refers to the inability of adults to retrieve episodic memories (memories of situations or events) before the age of 2 to 4 years old, and as time goes by, adults' memories before the age of 10 may be worse than expected.

This also started a research journey that has puzzled psychologists, neuroscientists and linguists for decades.

It is worth mentioning that most adults’ initial memories remain between the ages of 2 and 4, and some people can only remember things after the age of 7.

Do people have memories before the age of 3? Scientists are also puzzled by this question.

Some scientists believe that people have memories before the age of 3, but most of them are forgotten over time. However, other scientists believe that the brains of infants and young children are not fully developed, and the structure and function of the memory cortex cannot maintain the needs of long-term memory. Therefore, most people have no memories of infancy, or have false memories.

Is there a relationship between memory and age?

Actually, there are. The research result recognized by the academic community is "Models of Visuospatial and Verbal Memory Across The Adult Life Span" published by Denise C. Park in 2001. He found that among 345 adults aged 20-90, people's memory began to decline irreversibly from the mid-twenties, whether it was working memory, long-term memory, short-term memory or information processing speed. However, only semantic memory continued to increase, which is a kind of understanding of general knowledge and concepts.

So in general, people's memory reaches its peak in their early 20s.

What causes poor memory?

In fact, there are many reasons for poor memory, such as negative emotions, insomnia, illness, overuse of the brain, over-reliance on tools for memory, excessive stress, and bad habits such as smoking and drinking.

If the memory loss is transient, it is usually caused by alcoholism, smoking, excessive stress or lack of rest. You can try to relax yourself, exercise, go on an outing, get more sleep, and let your nervous system get enough rest, and you will recover.

If it is a long-term memory loss, you should be alert and learn to change your lifestyle, such as not staying up late, quitting drinking, etc. If necessary, go to the hospital for treatment to prevent brain disease.

How to improve memory?

In fact, we can improve our memory through many memory techniques. The most common ones are making memory cards, building memory palaces, visual reinforcement, establishing associations, and memory training.

If you are worried that your memory is not good enough for important tasks, you can try to focus on one task at a time, repeat it continuously during the task, and recall it repeatedly after the task to continuously strengthen this memory.

You can also develop a good habit of recalling in your daily life, rely less on external media to help your memory, and learn to relax your brain and pay attention to brain hygiene (get enough sleep, combine work and rest, quit smoking and drinking, and exercise actively).

Expert of this article: Wang Qiuyuan, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Doctor of Medicine

This article was reviewed by Zhao Wei, deputy chief physician of the Department of Neurology and Sleep Medicine Center, Tianjin University Teda Hospital