Sep 8, 2025 06:23 PM
(This post was last modified: Sep 8, 2025 06:24 PM by C C.)
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-astonis...ime-travel
INTRO: Life memories for most of us are like grains of sand, slipping through our fingers as we try to hold on to as many as we can. But for a rare few, emotional events stick like cobwebs and are much harder to shake off.
A new case study describes one such extraordinary individual: a female teenager, named TL for anonymity, who can recall an astonishing number of personal events from her life.
Fewer than 100 people worldwide are thought to have her condition, known as hyperthymesia, or highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM).
It was only described for the first time in 2006, and TL's case study is the first comprehensive evaluation of how individuals with the condition retrieve personal events from the past and imagine personal events set in the future.
Her incredible ability to mentally 'time travel' through the days allows TL to feel as though she is re-experiencing what has come and pre-experiencing what is yet to be. Her story could help scientists better understand how the human brain encodes, retrieves, or discards memories from our lives – thereby formulating a sense of identity and continuity.
"In these individuals, known as hyperthymesics, memories are carefully indexed by date," explains neuropsychologist and lead author of the case study Valentina La Corte from Paris Cité University.
"Some will be able to describe in detail what they did on July 6, 2002, and experience again the emotions and sensations of that day." (MORE - details)
https://youtu.be/qoKg5N7ciKI
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/qoKg5N7ciKI
INTRO: Life memories for most of us are like grains of sand, slipping through our fingers as we try to hold on to as many as we can. But for a rare few, emotional events stick like cobwebs and are much harder to shake off.
A new case study describes one such extraordinary individual: a female teenager, named TL for anonymity, who can recall an astonishing number of personal events from her life.
Fewer than 100 people worldwide are thought to have her condition, known as hyperthymesia, or highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM).
It was only described for the first time in 2006, and TL's case study is the first comprehensive evaluation of how individuals with the condition retrieve personal events from the past and imagine personal events set in the future.
Her incredible ability to mentally 'time travel' through the days allows TL to feel as though she is re-experiencing what has come and pre-experiencing what is yet to be. Her story could help scientists better understand how the human brain encodes, retrieves, or discards memories from our lives – thereby formulating a sense of identity and continuity.
"In these individuals, known as hyperthymesics, memories are carefully indexed by date," explains neuropsychologist and lead author of the case study Valentina La Corte from Paris Cité University.
"Some will be able to describe in detail what they did on July 6, 2002, and experience again the emotions and sensations of that day." (MORE - details)
https://youtu.be/qoKg5N7ciKI