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  • Hey there and welcome to Life Noggin.

  • Have you ever tried to remember something but couldn't?

  • Just the other day, I was trying to remember where I hid Triangle Bob's birthday present.

  • I searched the whole house but still couldn't find it!

  • It would be so much easier if we all had perfect memories and never forgot anything.

  • But is that possible?

  • What would life be like if it was?

  • Before we get into that, this video was sponsored by our friends over at LastPass, they helped make this video possible!

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  • And that's awesome because I can't stand one more security question about my grandmother's maiden name or my high school crush.

  • How many times do I have to tell you I am not a robot.

  • I'm an animation.

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  • Okay, now back to the video - Well, without cybernetic implants in your noggin,

  • a perfect memory might be out of reach, but there are conditions that greatly increase a person's memory.

  • One of them is called hyperthymesia.

  • Hyperthymesia is a rare mental state or neurological condition where a person has a very detailed autobiographical memory.

  • Basically, they remember a lot about their past, much more than the average person.

  • Some even claim to be able to remember every day of their life since childhood!

  • What's super interesting about this condition is that

  • people with hyperthymesia typically don't have an exceptional memory about everything:

  • it's mainly restricted to what happened in their life and their own personal experiences.

  • Hyperthymestic recall also seems to be an unconscious effort,

  • where a person often remembers things without even trying.

  • Just looking at an old calendar might trigger a detailed memory of something that had happened on that specific date.

  • Nope. We are not gonna talk about what happened that Saturday.

  • All I'm gonna say is I bought this goat suit for NO REASON!

  • So how can someone have such an exceptional memory about their life?

  • Well, the answer might lie within your amygdala.

  • According to a recent study on hyperthymesia,

  • your amygdala may play a bigger role in your autobiographical memory than we once thought.

  • Compared to those without the condition, the researchers found that HK, a man with autobiographical hyperthymesia,

  • had an enhanced amygdala-to-hippocampus connection and greater right amygdala hypertrophy, approximately 20 percent.

  • Based on these findings, the researchers believe that

  • your amygdala may charge your autobiographical memories with emotional, social, and self-relevance.

  • This may very well allow you to store more autobiographical information, so not bad!

  • Now if I could just remember where I put Triangle Bob's present.

  • Oh yeah!

  • It was a doughnut.

  • I ate it.

  • Well, sometimes things just happen.

  • While we don't know for certain what it would be like if we never forgot anything,

  • we can look at what life is like for people with hyperthymesia and extrapolate a little bit.

  • Though it may seem really useful to be able to remember so much, hyperthymesia has its downsides.

  • It can sometimes feel like a burden,

  • causing people to be lost in a stream of memories that they don't always have control over.

  • Having this type of uncontrollable recall can make a person spend a lot of their time

  • focused on the past rather than moving on and worrying about the future.

  • This could be even worse if you had a perfect memory.

  • Hyperthymesia can also feel pretty isolating.

  • Some with the condition have even described it like they were fluent in a language no one else spoke

  • or that it felt like everyone else has amnesia compared to them.

  • These feelings could be intensified for someone who never forgot anything.

  • It makes sense since you'd be able to remember so many things that your friends couldn't.

  • Oh. Right. Your present. Um.

  • Here's a hug from me?

  • Okay! Too long. That's too long! We're done!

  • So what do you think?

  • Would you want to have a perfect memory?

  • Let me know in the comment section below!

  • Enjoyed this video?

  • Check out the one we did on what it's like to have no memory.

  • Research shows that losing your memory to a disease like Alzheimer's isn't just about forgetting facts you learned in school,

  • or the name of the street you grew up on.

  • It can progress into forgetting how to go through your daily routines like eating and getting dressed.

  • As always, my name is Blocko, this has been Life Noggin, don't forget to keep on thinking!

Hey there and welcome to Life Noggin.

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