The people who can remember every single moment of their lives
By ANITuesday, December 21, 2010
LONDON - You might forget who that fellow was you were introduced to at the party yesterday, but for five Americans, memory has a completely different meaning - they can remember every moment of their lives.
The group has a ’super autobiographical memory’ that lets them pinpoint recollections from any given day, reports the Daily Mail.
Doctors believe an insight into this extraordinary ability could treat memory loss and conditions such as Alzheimer’s.
New York-based violinist, Louise Owen, says she can remember every day since she was 11 years old.
“For me, I will often see a calendar in my head, and it’s usually a month at a time. When I hear the date, it’s like my brain immediately goes to a position on a calendar and once I locate it, I see what happened instantly,” she said.
On the show 60 minutes, Owen was able to recall within moments the exact date when Nelson Mandela was freed (Sunday, February 11, 1990) and when the final episode of Seinfeld was aired (Thursday, May 14, 1998).
Owen said, “It’s almost as automatic as if you say, ‘What’s your name’ or ‘Where do you live?’”
She also remembers where she was and what she was doing on any given date. When asked by the New York Post what happened on July 16, 1999, she knew it was the day John Kennedy Jr died in a plane crash.
But she added, “It was also the day ‘The Iceman Cometh’ closed on Broadway. I remember trying to get a rush ticket for the final performance.”
“I know how I felt, I know what happened that day. It’s as if it happened five minutes ago, as opposed to 22 years ago,” she told the newspaper.
The remaining three include Taxi actress Marilu Henner, Brad Williams, a radio news anchor and reporter from La Crosse, Wisconsin, Rick Baron, a researcher from Cleveland who claims to remember every movie he has ever seen; and Bob Petrella, a TV producer and writer from Los Angeles.
Dr James McGaugh said, “It could be a new chapter. These people come and display a kind of memory we’ve never seen before, and we have to say, “What is that about?”"
“We’re going to take a look and see if we can figure that out. And it could be very important,” he added. (ANI)