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At the age of five, Stephen began drawing - the only pastime he enjoyed. As a child, he was diagnosed with autism and was unable to communicate verbally. Stephen Wiltshire is a British artist who draws incredibly detailed to-scale cityscapes on giant canvases. That doesn’t make eidetic memory any less impressive. But scientists disagree about the existence of true photographic memory and argue whether or not humans are capable of creating mental snapshots with perfect precision. The term “photographic memory,”- also called eidetic memory - describes the ability to recall visual information by taking a quick mental snapshot that can be reviewed later. Researchers aren’t sure if the brain structures are the cause - or the result - of the condition, Some wonder if HSAM individuals share the same memory capabilities as the average person, only they have a much better way of retrieving them. Other HSAM’ers are known to be germaphobes or to compulsively categorize their closet. Hickenbottom, for example, remembers the ID numbers of every garbage truck he has ever seen, records them on video and shares them on YouTube. Researchers know that these same brain areas are also linked to compulsive behaviours, something HSAM subjects exhibit. What is the secret to their incredible memory?īased on MRI brain scans, the parts of the brain associated with autobiographical memory creation are enlarged in HSAM subjects. Since then, more than 50 other people have been identified as having HSAM, including Taxi actress Marilou Henner. She became the first person to be diagnosed with HSAM. When offered a particular date, Jill was able to recall what she did that day and what day of the week it fell on, with incredible accuracy. The condition was first identified by neurobiologist James McGaugh when a woman named Jill Price approached him with questions about her unusual memory abilities. It allows him to remember every day of his life like it was yesterday. Teenager Tyler Hickenbottom has a rare condition known as ‘HSAM’ (Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory) and is featured in The Memory Mirage. Our brains change our memories, altering details and adapting them over time.īut what if you could remember everything from your life - from what you ate for breakfast every single day to how you felt during every painful moment? While most humans have limitations around recalling and retaining details from their past, there are some people who have unusual and seemingly perfect powers of memories. In the Nature of Things documentary The Memory Mirage, we learn that even our most precious memories may not be as accurate as we thought.
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