Do you have a highly superior autobiographical memory? Meaning, can you tell your life’s story from childhood to present with effortless ease? Let me give you a quick quiz. Describe your day on March 14, 2002. Unless this day was your birthday or of special significance to you, the likelihood of you succeeding to fulfill my request is rare. However, if you were successful, your brain may be different, not only in your experiences and knowledge but even in functioning and composition.

This unique ability to recall information has been studied by the University of California, Irvine (UCI) Center for Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. A study of eleven people with highly superior autobiographical memory has showed a distinction in nine structures of the brain. More white matter was located between the frontal lobe and the parietal region. Most other differences were in parts of the brain known to have a link to autobiographical memory.  The memories have 99% accuracy beyond around ten years old. Other correlations were found between the study’s subjects. Obsessive-compulsive tendencies, which may or may not be associated with their memory capabilities, were prevalent among the group. Also, a common hobby of the subjects was having incredibly organized collections of a wide range of objects.

Another unusual aspect of these findings is that these people with highly superior autobiographical memory did not have extraordinary memory capabilities in other categories of memory such as mass amounts of facts or intellectual material. This gives a refining to the area of autobiographical memory. The separation of one type of memory from another may lead to a better understanding of the memory processes and how they develop variation from possibly genetics or in linkage and cooperation between brain structures. An exciting alternative explanation is that experiences and training can lead to these changes in the brain.

References:

Cleary, Anne, Ph.D.. “People with Extraordinary Autobiographical Memory | Quirks of     Memory.” Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness + Find a Therapist. Sussex   Publishers, LLC, 9 Jan. 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2013.

University of California – Irvine. “Brains are different in people with highly superior autobiographical memory.” ScienceDaily, 30 Jul. 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2013.