For example, someone with Asperger’s syndrome may memorize huge quantities of baseball statistics or exotic flower species. People with this autism spectrum disorder are often fascinated by specific categories of things, and thus retain specific detailed memories. Guinness World Record holders for most digits of pi memorized also provoke a widespread belief in photographic memory.įurthermore, the myth has been extended by accounts of people with Asperger’s syndrome. It was these enhanced language skills that were mistaken as photographic memory. But experiments later showed that he had no corpus callosum to connect his brain’s hemispheres, which allotted him better language-processing skills on both sides of the brain. Similarly, savant Kim Peek was said to memorize every page of the 9,000 or so books he read at astounding speeds. One particular case was studied by a Harvard vision scientist in 1970: Elizabeth could apparently fuse two different patterns of 10,000 random dots in her brain, even though the patterns had been shown separately to her two eyes. Photographic memory is highly coveted by ordinary people who dream of having impressive mental capacities, but who normally have trouble remembering where they left their keys.Ĭertain individuals with amazing memory have also bolstered the myth of photographic memory. The media loves the idea of a young detective who instantly recalls clues, and thus perpetuates the myth of photographic memory to an amenable public. This condition occurs in children, but not in adults, because neurons rewire as children grow up so that memory relies more on using prior experiences, language, or mnemonic devices than it does on pure visualizations. Neurons in these brain areas may have lower potentiation thresholds, meaning they store more sensory information with less stimulation. So far, there is no definite neurological explanation for eidetic memory, but it could involve changes in the medial temporal lobe and hippocampus, which direct storage and retrieval of long-term memory.
Eidetic memories are vivid images that linger in the mind for a few minutes, but fade away quickly and do not capture every detail. Eidetic memory occurs in between two and fifteen percent of children.
#NEAR EIDETIC MEMORY SERIES#
Adler’s famous mystery series for children, has inspired many people to believe in photographic memory.Īlthough photographic memory is unrealistic, it resembles a rare condition called eidetic memory, and the media has often confused the two in sensational stories. Fifth grade detective Cam Jansen, the protagonist of David A. These areas work together to create memory, and in effect, memory is comprised of spliced segments rather than Cam Jansen-style snapshots.
While information about object appearance is stored in areas of the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices in the front of the brain, information about viewpoint is stored in the parahippocampal gyrus near the base of the brain. But people actually retain different visual information in different areas of the brain. In the case of photographic memory, scientists would expect to see people encoding and retrieving integrated, whole memories of visual scenes. A 2010 study showed that visual memories are not simply copies of visual stimuli. Others have practiced techniques to improve their own memories.īut nobody actually achieves photographic memory. Instead, mental peculiarities allow some people to retain extraordinarily graphic memories for short periods of time.
Still, what these individuals have cannot rightly be called photographic memory, because science has revealed that photographic memory is a myth. Some people have definitely come close in real life, performing extraordinary feats of memory. It is what many people, including admirers of Cam Jansen, wish they had. Photographic memory is the ability to take clear mental snapshots of scenes and retrieve them in an instant. Adler, fifth grade detective Cam Jansen captures photographic memories by simply shutting her eyes and saying “click”-but there is a reason why her character is fictional. In the popular mystery series by David A. Unfortunately, no one can actually retain photographic memories. Photographic memory is an intriguing concept, promising the ability to vividly and accurately remember minute visual details.
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