Why We Forget Baby Memories: The Brain Science Explained

Fun fact: Babies start forming memories as early as four months old—yes, even before they can talk or walk!

Ever tried to remember your first birthday? Or the moment you took your first steps? Chances are, you can’t recall a single detail—and you’re not alone. This phenomenon is known as infantile amnesia, and it’s puzzled scientists and parents alike for decades. In the recent article “Babies do make memories — so why can’t we recall our earliest years?” by Chris Simms, groundbreaking research sheds light on this mystery, suggesting that babies do make memories—but adults simply can’t access them.

Let’s dive into what’s going on inside those adorable little heads and why the memories we formed as babies seem to vanish as we grow up.

The Brain Behind Baby Memories

The star of the memory show is a part of the brain called the hippocampus. This region is essential for encoding and storing episodic memories—the kind that lets us remember events like a birthday party or a trip to the zoo.

For a long time, scientists assumed that a baby’s hippocampus was too underdeveloped to store such memories. But new research from Columbia University (a prestigious private Ivy League university in New York City) and Yale University (another Ivy League university known for its research in cognitive psychology) is proving otherwise.

The Study That Changed Everything

Scientists used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)—a technique that tracks brain activity by monitoring changes in blood flow—to scan the brains of 26 children between the ages of 4 months and 2 years.

Here’s what they did:

• Showed babies pictures of new faces, objects, or scenes.
• Repeated the same pictures about a minute later.
• Measured how long the babies looked at the images.

Why does this matter? Because babies tend to look longer at familiar things. So, if they spent more time looking at the repeated images, it meant they remembered them.

And that’s exactly what happened.

More importantly, the brain scans showed hippocampal activity, especially in the posterior hippocampus—an area closely tied to memory retrieval in adults.

So… Where Did All Our Baby Memories Go?

If the memories were stored, why can’t we access them now?

According to Nick Turk-Browne, a cognitive psychologist at Yale and one of the study’s authors, the issue isn’t memory storage—it’s recall. Our brains might be like well-organized filing cabinets, but the “search terms” we use as adults don’t match how those memories were originally stored.

Imagine trying to find a childhood diary written in a language you no longer understand. The diary’s still there—you just can’t read it.

The Role of Development

As we grow, our cognitive frameworks change. For example:

• A crawling baby sees the world from the floor. Once they start walking, their entire perspective shifts.
• Infants don’t have the language skills to attach words to experiences. So, while the memory might exist, it’s hard to recall without verbal cues.

This developmental mismatch might be why the earliest years of our lives feel like a blank slate.

Animal Experiments Add More Clarity

This idea isn’t limited to human babies. In a fascinating 2016 study, researchers used optogenetics (a method of using light to control neurons) to activate early-life memories in adult rats. They found that the memories were still stored in the brain, even if the rats couldn’t naturally recall them.

Although we can’t ethically use such techniques in humans, it’s a strong hint that our baby memories are just tucked away, not erased.

Real-World Example: A Parent’s Perspective

If you’re a parent, you’ve likely seen your toddler recognize people or routines they haven’t encountered in weeks or months. Maybe your baby cried at the sight of a certain toy or giggled at a familiar tune. These are signs that memory encoding is happening—even if your child won’t remember it 20 years later.

In fact, many parents report that their toddlers can recall experiences from as early as 18 months, especially emotionally charged ones like doctor visits or family holidays.

What This Means for Parents, Educators, and Everyone Else

Knowing that babies can form memories gives even more weight to early childhood experiences. From nurturing relationships to enriching environments, what we do and say around infants can leave a lasting (if subconscious) mark.

Here’s how this research matters in everyday life:

Parenting with Awareness

Even if they won’t remember the bedtime story or the lullaby, it helps shape emotional security and trust.

Early Education

Programs that stimulate sensory and emotional development aren’t just “fun”—they’re helping wire the brain for future learning.

Mental Health and Therapy

Understanding that early experiences are stored (even if not consciously remembered) can inform therapies dealing with childhood trauma.

Could We Ever Unlock Those Baby Memories?

It’s a tempting idea, right? To somehow “download” those hidden memories and relive your first steps or hear your mother’s lullaby again.

While we’re not quite there yet, advances in neuroimaging and AI-based brain decoding may eventually help us reconstruct early-life experiences. Until then, we’ll have to rely on home videos, baby books, and stories from our loved ones.

Final Thoughts: A Childhood Remembered Differently

So the next time someone says, “You won’t remember this anyway,” when speaking to a baby—think again. They might not remember it in the way adults do, but their brains are certainly paying attention.

Memories made in infancy may not be accessible later in life, but they could be silently shaping who we are—our emotions, instincts, and even the way we interact with the world.

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Author’s Note

This blog was written to help simplify cutting-edge neuroscience for everyone—because we all deserve to understand how our minds work, no matter our age. If you found this helpful or intriguing, feel free to share it with others or drop your thoughts in the comments!

G.C., Ecosociosphere contributor.

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References and Further Reading

1. Babies do make memories — so why can’t we recall our earliest years? – Nature
2. Infantile Amnesia – Psychology Today