New Form of Superior Memory Syndrome Identified by UC Irvine Researchers

[PIT2]

Researchers Identify New Form Of Superior Memory Syndrome
Researchers at UC Irvine have identified the first known case of a new memory syndrome – a woman with the ability to perfectly and instantly recall details of her past. Her case is the first of its kind to be recorded and chronicled in scientific literature and could open new avenues of research in the study of learning and memory.

“What makes this young woman so remarkable is that she uses no mnemonic devices to help her remember things,” said McGaugh, a National Academy of Sciences member and a pioneer in the field of memory research. “Her recall is instant and deeply personal, related to her own life or to other events that were of interest to her.”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/03/060314085102.htm

I always thought superior memory is interesting, for instance in people who have detailed flashbacks of their childhood or in people who, during a near-death-experience, have a 'life review' in which they re-experience their life in a matter of minutes or seconds. But what is it that improves memory so dramatically?

 

[PIT2]

Here is another newsstory about the same woman:

Woman With Perfect Memory Baffles Scientists

Like any good scientist, McGaugh was initially skeptical. But not anymore. "This is real," he says. They aren't a lot closer today to understanding her amazing ability than they were when they started.

"We are trying to find out, but we haven't hit 'bingo' yet," says McGaugh.

His initial hypothesis, like several others, has turned out to be wrong — or at least incomplete. Also, her degree of recall is so much greater than any other person's in the scientific literature that it seems unlikely to be the complete answer, McGaugh adds.

She is also quite different from savants who have surfaced from time to time with extraordinary abilities in music, art or memory. "Some of them can remember every single detail about the particular hobby that they have, such as baseball or calendars or art, but they are very narrow," he says. By contrast, AJ is a " fully functioning person," McGaugh says.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1738881&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

So it seems they don't have a clue yet what causes this 'hyperthymestic syndrome'.

 

[quantumcarl]

I always thought superior memory is interesting, for instance in people who have detailed flashbacks of their childhood or in people who, during a near-death-experience, have a 'life review' in which they re-experience their life in a matter of minutes or seconds. But what is it that improves memory so dramatically?

Apparently diet can effect superior memory

1: Zhong Yao Cai. 2000 Apr;23(4):214-6. Related Articles, Links

[Improving memory effects of eel oil capsule on memory obstruction of mice hurt by anisodine]

[Article in Chinese]

He R, Mei X, Gao M, Xu D, Xu S.

Zhongshan University, Guangzhou 510275.

The effects of eel oil capsule on memory obstruction of mice were observed in step-down test, step-through test, Y-maze test and Japanese labyrinth test. The results indicated that the eel oil capsule treating group with dosages of 0.234, 0.702 and 2.106 g/kg markedly enhance the acquirement, strengthing and reappearance of memory, having the functions of improving brain memory hurt by Anisodine.

PMID: 12575128 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

From:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12575128&dopt=Abstract

Also a recent clinical trial (over 5 years) with people over 60, at risk for memory loss and related diseases, were found to improve their memory by over 40 percent simply by excercising for 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week.

I'll look up a confirmation for that.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Give her any date, she said, and she could recall the day of the week, usually what the weather was like on that day, personal details of her life at that time, and major news events that occurred on that date.

My wife Tsu is like this. Give her not only the date, but even the time down to the minute, and she can tell you exactly what I was doing wrong.

 

[quantumcarl]

My wife Tsu is like this. Give her not only the date, but even the time down to the minute, and she can tell you exactly what I was doing wrong.

Ha!
I've encounter a similar efficiency in my wife. Its an example of superior as well as selective memory.

Here's one study on exercise and enhanced memory (in mice)

http://www.sfn.org/content/Publications/BrainBriefings/exercise.html

And another on exercise and better memory functions in humans

When acetylcholine is released at a neuromuscular junction, it crosses the tiny space (synapse) that separates the nerve from the muscle. It then binds to acetylcholine receptor molecules on the muscle fiber's surface. This initiates a chain of events that lead to muscle contraction.

Scientists have shown that muscle fiber contains a scaffold made of special proteins that hold these acetylcholine receptors in place. Research led by Jeff W. Lichtman, M.D., Ph.D., at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, indicates that a loss of nerve signals – due to inactivity – actually disassembles this scaffold and causes a loss of acetylcholine receptors. When the muscle becomes active again, however, the scaffold tightens its grip and catches any receptors that come by.


"So muscle activity is a cue to keep a synapse stable, and synaptic inactivity is a cue to disassemble a synapse," says Lichtman, a professor of neurobiology. "So if you lose activity, you lose receptors. But if you regain activity, you get those receptors back."

from this great site: http://sln.fi.edu/brain/exercise.htm

While searching out articles on the mind-body connection you may run into results like "excercises for the brain" which include regular discussion groups, cross word puzzles and even video gaming for adults. These are also methods of restoring or enhancing memory capacities in humans.

The phenomenon of restoring memory and brain functions relates to my thread on Neuroplasticity (https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=114534) and can apply to seniors who have lost some of their memory capacity. These symptoms can be reversed without drugs or surgery... simply by using neuronal behavioral modification through physical and mental excercises. Certainly, there has to be the will to use these techniques in the subject.

 

[zoobyshoe]

My wife Tsu is like this. Give her not only the date, but even the time down to the minute, and she can tell you exactly what I was doing wrong.

ROFL!
-------------
This woman is extremely interesting. Oliver Sacks often quotes a Russian Neurologist, A.R. Luria, who wrote a study of a man with a super-memory. That man, however, was very different than this woman in that he spontaneously used a wide variety of mneumonic devices. This woman doesn't seem to do that or make any effort whatever. Particularly strange is that she seems to remember things that are of no importance to her whatever. That is the opposite of all memory training programs I've read about, which instruct you to associate the thing you want to remember with some outlandish or shocking image. The rule of thumb is: the more emotional valence the better.

On the other hand, emotional overwhelm is known to cause the hippocampus to fire improperly which is reasoned to be the cause of amnesia for horrible experiences. If you're too emotionally charged up you become unable to form proper memories. Rather than "repressing" bad memories after the fact, they now think people actually can't form them properly in horrible situations to begin with.