What is highly superior autobiographical memory, and what is the reason for this extraordinary ability? Read this article by Dominique de Quervain.

Individuals with highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM) have the unique ability to recall almost all autobiographical events, even those that occurred decades ago. Autobiographical memory is episodic memory that is strongly connected to the person’s life. What causes this condition is still unknown.

Through personal contact with James McGaugh at UC Irvine, who first described this condition, we were fortunate enough to receive the genetic material of several HSAM individuals. The availability of sequencing technologies combined with publicly available genomic sequences of hundreds of thousands of individuals opens up the opportunity to study a potential genetic underpinning of this extremely rare memory condition. As part of an ongoing research project led by Andreas Papassotiropoulos and myself, we are currently comparing the sequence of HSAM individuals with the sequence of individuals without HSAM to look for possible genetic variants that may cause the memory switch. Looking for a genetic underpinning is like searching for a needle in the haystack. We do not know yet if we will be successful, but we will keep you updated.

After decades of studying patients with memory deficits, HSAM offers a new way to study memory processes. Understanding the mechanisms related to extremely stable memory has the potential to transform our understanding of human memory and memory-related disorders. Furthermore, if we could one day use pharmacology to target the molecular switch that controls forgetting, we might be able to contribute to developing drugs alleviating both memory loss conditions and conditions characterized by overly strong aversive memories, such as PTSD.

Learn more about the fascinating story of HSAM in part 1 and part 2 of this recommended video about endless memory.

Lizenz