![]() While memories acquired in adulthood are generally well remembered and persistent (e.g., Gale et al. ![]() Memory, along with most other cognitive abilities, develops across the lifespan ( Ofen and Shing 2013). A greater understanding of the characteristics of this memory trace will provide novel insights into how some memories are left behind in childhood while others are carried with us, at least in some form, for a lifetime. Excitingly, the discovery of this physical trace will allow us to explore previously untestable issues in new ways, from whether forgetting is due to a failure in retrieval or storage to how memories can be recovered after extended periods of time. Instead, there appears to be a memory “trace” that persists in the face of forgetting which continues to affect a variety of behavioral responses later in life. Specifically, we describe evidence showing that these forgotten early-acquired memories have not permanently decayed from storage. This review presents one potential solution to this paradox by considering what happens to an early memory after it has been forgotten. This raises the question of how early memories can be so influential if they cannot be recalled. Nonetheless, decades of research in both humans and nonhuman animals demonstrate the importance of early life experiences on later physical, mental, and emotional functioning. We propose that high neurogenesis levels negatively regulate the ability to form enduring memories, most likely by replacing synaptic connections in preexisting hippocampal memory circuits.Unlike adult memories that can be remembered for many years, memories that are formed early in life are more fragile and susceptible to being forgotten (a phenomenon known as “infantile” or “childhood” amnesia). Interestingly, the decline of postnatal neurogenesis levels corresponds to the emergence of the ability to form stable long-term memory. Infants (humans, nonhuman primates, and rodents) exhibit high levels of hippocampal neurogenesis and an inability to form lasting memories. Here, we propose a hypothesis of infantile amnesia that focuses on one specific aspect of postnatal brain development-the continued addition of new neurons to the hippocampus. Biological explanations of infantile amnesia suggest that protracted postnatal development of key brain regions important for memory interferes with stable long-term memory storage, yet they do not clearly specify which particular aspects of brain maturation are causally related to infantile amnesia. Psychological/cognitive theories assert that the ability to maintain detailed, declarative-like memories in the long term correlates with the development of language, theory of mind, and/or sense of "self." However, the finding that experimental animals also show infantile amnesia suggests that this phenomenon cannot be explained fully in purely human terms. How can these findings be reconciled? The mechanisms underlying this form of amnesia are the subject of much debate. Although universally observed, infantile amnesia is a paradox adults have surprisingly few memories of early childhood despite the seemingly exuberant learning capacity of young children. In the late 19th Century, Sigmund Freud described the phenomenon in which people are unable to recall events from early childhood as infantile amnesia.
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