College of Charleston and UC Davis psychologists: Photographic memory is a myth
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Developmental psychologists Gabrielle Principe of the College of Charleston and Simona Ghetti of the University of California, Davis say the human brain does not record experiences like a video camera and cannot retain everything. Even rare eidetic imagery reported in children is imperfect and temporary, and recalled memories can include false or imagined details. Forgetting is a prioritization mechanism, not a flaw, they say.
The Limits of Memory
College of Charleston psychologist Gabrielle Principe asks her students to draw a penny from memory; none can do so. Rare eidetic imagery, reported mostly in children, produces mental images that are imperfect and temporary, Principe says. University of California, Davis psychologist Simona Ghetti notes that the ability to retrieve memories of experiences typically starts around age 3, and most early memories are ultimately lost. Claims of remembering birth are common but fall apart under careful questioning, Ghetti adds.
Emotional Filtering and Retrieval Errors
Ghetti of UC Davis says an inability to forget would leave the brain in a cluttered state, unable to prioritize important memories. Principe of College of Charleston says memory is closely tied to mood: positive memories boost mood, while repeated recall of bad ones can worsen depression or anxiety, and negative content is forgotten faster. People also tend to forget experiences that conflict with their sense of self, Principe adds. Retrieval activates nerve cells in at least three brain regions — the hippocampi, the prefrontal cortex, and the cerebellum — and Principe says people sometimes grab the wrong thing, such as a remark, a dream, or an imagined scenario, which can begin to feel real.
What's Next
Further research may test whether eidetic imagery in children fades with age or reflects a distinct encoding pathway. It remains unclear how the brain decides which retrieved fragments — a dream, an imagined scenario, or a remark — become accepted as real memories.
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College of Charleston and UC Davis psychologists: Photographic memory is a myth
