Infant Brains: Study Shows Memory Formation in Early Months

A recent study from Yale University, published in *Nature*, challenges existing knowledge about infants' ability to form long-term, recallable memories. The research questions the long-held theory of 'infantile amnesia.' This theory suggests early life memories are erased to make way for more recent and useful memories for adult life. Psychologist Caroline Miles proposed that external sensations are more important to infants than their role in creating reactions. This was supported by the scientific understanding that the hippocampus, the brain area dedicated to memory, is not fully developed until around 3-4 years old. The Yale study by neuroscientist Turk-Brown and psychologist Yates used functional MRI on infants. The scans were conducted while the infants observed unfamiliar objects and faces. The results showed concrete evidence of memory encoding activity in their brains, despite the hippocampus not being fully developed. The researchers hypothesize that infant brains function similarly to animal brains, forming 'statistical' memories. These memories store precise details about experienced events. These events are stored in a different area of the hippocampus, making them more difficult to recall in adulthood. It remains uncertain whether these memories can be consciously retrieved like those stored in the main hippocampus.