Barbara Condori-Teves

Period B5
English
Oberg
04/07/14
I-Search Essay
Eidetic memory is the ability to perfectly recall images, sounds or objects in memory.
Eidetic memory is very rare and not very well understood. There are people who claim to have
eidetic memory but how do we know these individuals actually posses this rare ability? The
reason I became interested in this question is because I was becoming frustrated in not being able
to memorize a couple of notes on the piano and my mind drifted off to wishing I had eidetic
memory. I then began to question if eidetic memory was even real since very few cases were
ever reported. I began my search with what I knew already about the basic processes of memory.
Then I searched online about eidetic memory to see how normal memory could have been
enhanced in order for the person to be considered to have eidetic memory. I then searched what
cases were there on eidetic memory and if it is real.
In order to understand eidetic memory, there has to be an understanding of how memory
functions in our brain. Memory can be defined as the system in the brain that allows us to retain
information for either long or short periods of time and bring it to mind. Memory has no specific
location in the brain and goes through three basic processes; encoding, storage and retrieval.
Encoding is the conversion of information into a form that can be stored in memory, such as
acoustic, visual or semantic. Storage is the process of retaining information in memory and
retrieval is the accessing and bringing to conscious information stored in memory. People with
eidetic memory should be able to store information in both long and short term memory and be
able to recall it back with little to no mistakes. In order to recollect past events, the brain pieces
together various remembered elements and typically forgets parts of what happened.
Neuroscientists believe eidetic memory must be stored in the very basic sensory level, where
information is stored briefly or if given proper attention, processed further. In order for a
memory to travel further into long term, the memory should have an emotional connection to
them. So how can a person who claims to have eidetic memory be able to recall past events if the
information is believed to be stored in the very basic sensory level and many with no emotional
context behind the memory? Well there are also genetic factors to consider. There must have
been something different in the brains of eidetic memory holders that werent wired normally to
cause these individuals to be able to remarkably remember events for years, though memories do
tend to fade the older you get.
Memories may also prove to be false. When the brain tries to recollect a memory, some
of the information may be lost. The brain tries to fill in the gaps of lost information by providing
false information that will logically make sense. In a study by Lawrence Patihis at the University
of California, the research reported that even people with extraordinary memories are
vulnerable to memory distortions. (Brain Sense). The study included thirty eight people with
typical memory and twenty people identified with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory
(HSAM). The research concluded that HSAM participants and participants with typical memory
were both susceptible to false recognition in a word test. Even though HSAM participants tested
the same as normal participants, the study concluded with the idea that the tests were made with
misleading information that can confuse anyone. It is important to note that HSAM individuals
do truly have exceptional memory, and our study does not contradict this. It is only when we
introduce misleading information do they show similar levels of distortion to ordinary memory
people, [at least] some of the time. Patihis adds. (Brain Sense) Eidetic memory is not a very
well understood phenomenon in the world of neuroscience since very few people have this
ability. Having eidetic memory should have had the HSAM participants score better than the
normal participants but in this test they did not. This causes to question if people with eidetic
memory are truly accurately reciting perfect memory. There would have been no errors.
When researching eidetic memory, genetics and physical properties are also considered.
Marilu Henner, a lady who claimed to have eidetic memory had an MRI taken to show that her
temporal lobe and caudate nucleus; a region deep in the brain that is found in people with OCD,
appeared to be larger than average. She had appeared to have photographic memory but
physicians diagnosed it as hyperthymesia. Many neuroscientist think eidetic memory is fictional
because it is so rare and the result of an uncommon genetic mutation or an unlikely combination
of environmental and genetic factors. Another woman known only as AJ had astonishing ability
to remember with remarkable clarity even trivial events that happened decades ago. (Woman
with perfect memory) Neurologist and psychiatrist McGauh tried to find how AJs brain
functioned in order to recall such events that had little to no emotional content for her, but has
not come close yet.
Overall no one yet knows if eidetic memory is real or fictional. There are very few cases
reported and the ones that are reported are very hard to find out the cause of why the individual
can remember such events. IN order to understand eidetic memory more, there would have to be
more cases and more understanding of the brain and its functions. There are people though with
exceptional memory which was caused by environmental and genetic factors
Works Cited
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro06/web2/agoldstein.html
ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1738881&page=1