2023-12-06 08:30:36
It is customary to say that we forget everything that happens before the age of 4 to 5. This phenomenon is called by specialists infantile amnesia. For the B2V Memory Observatory, neuropsychologist Bérengère Guillery returns to this phenomenon which was recently the subject of a study in connection with autism. Lighting.
What is childhood amnesia?
Children generally do not retain memories of what they experience until they are 4 or 5 years old. By this phenomenon called childhood amnesia, the story of our first years of life can only be traced in photo albums or the stories of our parents. How to explain this phenomenon ? Why does memory only retain memories from a certain age? If children are able to remember certain details of the past, a smell, a song, they quickly forget the context and the sequence of events of the past.
Biologically and physiologically, this infantile amnesia can be explained by several phenomena:
- Structural and functional development of the brain and therefore of the memory which continues after birth and until adulthood
- The development of cognitive abilitiesessential skills for forging and preserving memories
- Differences in sensory perception between the child and the adult, what is important for an adult is not necessarily important for a child and vice versa.
Light to rediscover childhood memories
During the first years of life, children gradually acquire all the skills that will allow them to create and preserve memories until adulthood. Among the necessary skills, the child must be able to locate himself precisely in space and time and recognize himself as his own identity. In early childhood, the child perceives
there is no clear boundary between him and others, between him and his environment. Having memories also means having the ability to project oneself into the future and look at the memory as an element of the past.
Finally, infantile amnesia appears to witness the progressive development of the child’s cerebral and cognitive abilities. However, different studies have examined whether it is possible to avoid this stage and remember all the events that have occurred since birth. A few years ago, researchers were particularly interested in the effect of light on childhood amnesia. More recently, a study looked at links between childhood amnesia and brain development in children with autism or autism spectrum disorders.
Childhood amnesia influenced by immunity and autism?
In this study, Irish researchers worked on a mouse model. They showed that activation of the mother’s immune system during pregnancy could modify children’s brain development and act as protection against memory loss. They also showed that forgotten childhood memories could be brought back to life in adults, using light to activate specific neural pathways. Thus, childhood memories would not be completely forgotten, but only buried somewhere deep in our memory.
For researchers, infantile amnesia is due to a failure to recover memories, the neural pathways to access it are not naturally stimulated. Furthermore, the first stages of brain development during childhood could determine this childhood amnesia, in a different way in autistic children and in children without autistic disorders. These steps would be conditioned – at least in part – by the maternal immune environment during pregnancy, and therefore potentially by the occurrence of infections.
Estelle B., Doctor of Pharmacy
Sources
– Autism brain states hold the key to unlocking childhood memories. www.tcd.ie. Consulté le 20 novembre 2023.
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