Buzz
For the majority of people, memories are often dominated by the small, everyday moments of personal life. We might vividly recall a seemingly trivial trip to McDonald’s with our grandmother, while crucial details like high school lessons on the U.S. Constitution fade away within months—or even sooner. However, for those with highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM), this contrast is even more pronounced.
Individuals with hyperthymesia, as the condition is commonly known, possess the extraordinary ability to recall nearly every minor event from their lives. They can remember experiences as far back as infancy and recount every detail of their lives from around the age of 10 or 11. For instance, they can recall that the U.S. invaded Iraq on a Wednesday in March 2003, along with what they ate for breakfast that day and how they felt. Here are nine lesser-known facts about this rare phenomenon.
1. IT’S A FREQUENT TOPIC IN DOCUMENTARIES.
Hyperthymesia has been featured in a 60 Minutes special, a Channel 4 documentary in the UK, and numerous articles in newspapers and magazines (including our own). In 2010, Brad Williams, a former Jeopardy! contestant, became the focus of a documentary titled Unforgettable, directed by his brother.
Exceptional memory is also a recurring theme in fiction. A notable example is Jorge Luis Borges’ short story “Funes the Memorius,” where the protagonist gains the ability to remember every detail after a head injury. Hyperthymesia has also appeared in young adult novels, served as a plot device on House
2. SCIENTISTS ONLY RECENTLY DISCOVERED IT.
The first documented case appeared in the journal Neurocase in 2006. It detailed the story of “AJ,” a woman capable of recalling events and dates from her life with remarkable precision. Researchers from the University of California, Irvine, spent five years studying her abilities before publishing their findings. The subject, later identified as Jill Price, released a memoir in 2009 about her experiences with hyperthymesia.
3. IT’S INCREDIBLY RARE.
Currently, only a small number of people worldwide have been diagnosed with hyperthymesia, and scientists are still uncertain about its exact mechanisms. Some research suggests that individuals with hyperthymesia may have structural differences in their brains, while others propose that it could involve behavioral factors. However, due to the rarity of HSAM, studying the condition remains challenging.
4. IT’S A HIGHLY SELECTIVE ABILITY.
Price, who can effortlessly recall the day of the week and her activities on nearly any date since she was 14, informed researchers that her exceptional memory didn’t help her academically. She struggled with rote memorization, explaining, “It doesn’t work that way. I had to study hard. I’m not a genius.” During one experiment, researchers asked her to recall the clothes she was wearing that day with her eyes closed, but she couldn’t remember.
5. IT OFTEN INCLUDES AN EXCEPTIONAL MEMORY FOR DATES.
Hyperthymesia isn’t just about recalling every life event; it also involves remembering the exact timing of those events. For example, Price can identify the day of the week for almost any date. A 20-year-old hyperthymesiac named HK, when given a date like “March 19, 2003,” can recall that it was a Wednesday, describe the weather, and recount his activities from morning to night. When asked how he remembers so vividly, he explained to researchers, “It just comes to me. I can visualize it as if I’m reliving it. Especially on anniversaries, I think back to what I was doing, the weather, who I was with, and so on. It’s all clear in my mind.”
6. IT MAKES THE PAST FEEL AS VIVID AS THE PRESENT.
HK experiences most of his memories in the first person, as if he’s reliving them through his own eyes—despite being blind. “I can recall countless details,” he explained. “But when I think about a past event, it feels like I’m right back in that moment. There’s no distinction between when it happened and when I remember it.”
7. IT MAKES OLD MEMORIES FEEL EMOTIONALLY POWERFUL.
Louise Owen, a hyperthymesiac interviewed by 60 Minutes in 2010, had an intense emotional response when the reporter mentioned a difficult day from her past:
Simply mentioning a sad day, such as the one in 1986 when Owen found out she had to switch schools, makes her relive the emotions. "I felt like my entire world was falling apart. And now, talking about it, I feel like that heartbroken 13-year-old all over again," she said. She described the sensation as vivid and distressing, even decades later. "My heart is actually racing right now as I tell you this," she told [reporter Lesley] Stahl.
8. IT CAN SOMETIMES FEEL LIKE A BURDEN.
Owen shared some of the challenges of her extraordinary memory with 60 Minutes. "At times, having such an intense memory can feel very isolating," she explained. "It’s like I’m fluent in a language no one else understands, or as if I’m surrounded by people who have forgotten everything."
Price, as researchers noted in 2006, “is constantly tied to her past memories.” She relives moments from her personal history endlessly. Cognitive psychologist Gary Marcus, who spoke with Price for WIRED magazine, observed that individuals with superior autobiographical memory often exhibit traits similar to those with OCD, such as fixating on dates and events.
9. IT DOESN’T PROTECT YOU FROM FALSE MEMORIES.
A 2013 study published in PNAS revealed that even with their exceptional recall, people with hyperthymesia are not immune to false memories. They were just as likely as the control group to mistakenly recall fabricated news footage, for example.
