The objectivity of the scientists' findings is based on the use of MRI scans of children's brains. They worked with 26 children aged four months to two years, who were asked to perform a memory task. At the same time, they underwent functional MRI. The scientists primarily assessed activity in the hippocampus, a brain region associated with memory retrieval in adults.
The strongest encoding activity was recorded in the posterior hippocampus, Nature reports . The highest signal was observed in children over 12 months old, but memories were observed in all children. "This suggests a developmental trajectory for the hippocampus's ability to encode individual memories," said study co-author Nick Turk-Brown.
According to the authors, the inability of adults to recall their early years likely indicates a memory problem. "There may be discrepancies between the initial storage of memories and the retrieval cues the brain currently uses," they believe. These discrepancies will be the subject of further research.
Previously, while studying memory function in adults, scientists discovered the negative impact of stress. It turned out that stress disrupts the brain's memory formation mechanism, leading to an unwanted fear response even in safe conditions.
