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Infantile amnesia: a neurogenic hypothesis

Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.), 2012-09, Vol.19 (9), p.423-433 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

ISSN: 1549-5485 ;ISSN: 1072-0502 ;EISSN: 1549-5485 ;DOI: 10.1101/lm.021311.110 ;PMID: 22904373

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  • Title:
    Infantile amnesia: a neurogenic hypothesis
  • Author: Josselyn, Sheena A ; Frankland, Paul W
  • Subjects: Amnesia - history ; Amnesia - pathology ; Amnesia - physiopathology ; Brain - pathology ; Brain - physiopathology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; History, 19th Century ; History, 20th Century ; Humans ; Infant ; Memory, Long-Term - physiology ; Mental Recall - physiology ; Models, Biological ; Neurogenesis - physiology
  • Is Part Of: Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.), 2012-09, Vol.19 (9), p.423-433
  • Description: In the late 19th Century, Sigmund Freud described the phenomenon in which people are unable to recall events from early childhood as infantile amnesia. Although universally observed, infantile amnesia is a paradox; adults have surprisingly few memories of early childhood despite the seemingly exuberant learning capacity of young children. How can these findings be reconciled? The mechanisms underlying this form of amnesia are the subject of much debate. Psychological/cognitive theories assert that the ability to maintain detailed, declarative-like memories in the long term correlates with the development of language, theory of mind, and/or sense of "self." However, the finding that experimental animals also show infantile amnesia suggests that this phenomenon cannot be explained fully in purely human terms. Biological explanations of infantile amnesia suggest that protracted postnatal development of key brain regions important for memory interferes with stable long-term memory storage, yet they do not clearly specify which particular aspects of brain maturation are causally related to infantile amnesia. Here, we propose a hypothesis of infantile amnesia that focuses on one specific aspect of postnatal brain development--the continued addition of new neurons to the hippocampus. Infants (humans, nonhuman primates, and rodents) exhibit high levels of hippocampal neurogenesis and an inability to form lasting memories. Interestingly, the decline of postnatal neurogenesis levels corresponds to the emergence of the ability to form stable long-term memory. We propose that high neurogenesis levels negatively regulate the ability to form enduring memories, most likely by replacing synaptic connections in preexisting hippocampal memory circuits.
  • Publisher: United States
  • Language: English
  • Identifier: ISSN: 1549-5485
    ISSN: 1072-0502
    EISSN: 1549-5485
    DOI: 10.1101/lm.021311.110
    PMID: 22904373
  • Source: Geneva Foundation Free Medical Journals at publisher websites
    MEDLINE
    PubMed Central
    Alma/SFX Local Collection
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