Remarkable Memory Abilities: The Hyperthymesia Phenomenon and Its Scientific Discoveries

Individuals with a remarkable ability to accurately recall events from any given day of their lives are known as those with hyperthymesia. This special ability usually manifests towards the end of childhood, although some individuals have reported noticing it as early as five years old. The term HSAM, or highly superior autobiographical memory, has been used to describe this phenomenon since 2006 when an American individual was diagnosed with it.

Nearly a hundred other people around the world have been identified with hypermemory for life events following the recognition of Jill Price in a scientific journal. Individuals with hyperthymesia can remember dates with complete reliability and recall verifiable details with 98 percent accuracy. Their memory of events is quick and automatic and tends to mainly remember events from their own lives. However, they are also adept at connecting names and faces.

Despite their exceptional memory abilities, individuals with HSAM do not stand out in terms of intelligence compared to the general population. Neuroscientist Jessica Talbotin from La Sapienza University has shown that brain imaging studies reveal that their memory network dealing with biographical events is highly overactivated. Additionally, these individuals do not seem to experience the decline in information processing that is typically associated with normal aging.