Would Perfect Memory Be a Burden or a Superpower?

Would Perfect Memory Be a Burden(ˈbərdn) or a Superpower?

By George(jôrj) Dvorsky

The ability(əˈbilədē) to remember every moment of your life sounds like an amazing proposition(ˌpräpəˈziSHən), but for the very few people who actually have this ability, it comes at a cost(kôst).

Known as Highly Superior(səˈpi(ə)rēər) Autobiographical(ˌôtəbīəˈgrafikəl) Memory (HSAM), or hyperthymesia(ˈhīpər thəmēshə), the condition—such that it is—was first chronicled(ˈkränək(ə)l) by University of California(ˌkaləˈfôrnyə)-Irvine(ˈərvīn) neurobiologist(ˌn(y)o͝orōbīˈäləjē) James(jāmz) McGaugh(māgau) in 2006. In his seminal(ˈsemənl) Neurocase study, McGaugh described “AJ,” a 42-year-old woman “whose remembering dominates(ˈdäməˌnāt) her life.”

Not to be confused with photographic(ˌfōtəˈgrafik) or eidetic(īˈdetik) memory, or professionals who use sophisticated(səˈfistiˌkātid) mnemonic(nəˈmänik) recall strategies, HSAM describes individuals(ˌindəˈvijəwəl) who spend an “abnormally(abˈnôrməlē) large amount of time” thinking about their past, and who have an “extraordinary(ikˈstrôrdnˌerē,ˌekstrəˈôrdn-) capacity(kəˈpasədē) to recall specific(spəˈsifik) events from their personal past,” as McGaugh first defined(dəˈfīn) the condition. But as McGaugh noted in his study, AJ’s superhuman recall abilities have their drawbacks(ˈdrôˌbak).

“Give me the day and I see it,” she told the researchers. “I go back to the day and I just see the day and what I was doing.”

AJ compared(kəmˈpe(ə)r) it to a split(split)-screen television, where she’d be talking to someone and suddenly a vivid(ˈvivid) scene(sēn) would pop into her head.

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https://gizmodo.com/would-perfect-memory-be-a-burden-or-a-superpower-1829146902