Amnesia when I was three.

[zule]

When I was three years old, something odd happened to me and perhaps someone in this forum could explain it.

 

I got up one morning and I couldn’t remember anything that had happened to me, neither the previous day, nor any day in my life. However, I knew my name, my age, who my father, mother, brother and rest of my family were, I could talk… Nobody could say that anything was different in me, but I wasn’t remembering anything. And I have never remembered again anything previous to that day, although I remember that day and I also remember more things than most of people do of the time I was three years old after that day.

[iNow]

Hi Zule,

 

My first thought is that there was some sort of trauma, either physical or emotional, which led to the amnesia. Does that seem like a possible explanation, or no? It's completely a "shot in the dark."

 

 

In the meantime, here are a few resources to get you up to speed on amnesia itself. I apologize if they are too elementary (as you've proven that you have knowledge of a great number of neural issues). I hope that maybe reviewing this will help point you in the right direction.

 

 

Search term: Trauma induced amnesia

 

 

http://core.ecu.edu/psyc/grahamr/DW_3311Site/LectureF/Lect3.2.html

http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~kihlstrm/Gleaves_.htm

http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma/art3v2i2.html

http://psy.ucsd.edu/~pwinkiel/belli-winkielman-read-schwarz-lynn-PBR-1998.pdf

[swansont]

What's the level of "permanence of memory" of a three-year-old? i.e. how unusual is it not to remember such stuff at that age? I have no persistent, clear memories of before I was ~ age 6.

 

Anyway, the November 2007 issue of "National Geographic" has an interesting article (nontechnical) on memory. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2007-11/memory/foer-text.html

[Phi for All]

I've heard most of us only remember extremely eventful details of our lives prior to about 5-6. Traumas and delights that leave an impression are all that's usually retained, and usually not in any meaningful way.

 

I don't think the OP's experience counts as amnesia. How aware can a 3-year-old be of suddenly not remembering the past? Toddlers are notoriously self-centered and it wouldn't surprise me a bit to hear that one couldn't remember having played with so-and-so last week. And if you don't remember it, how do you know it's a memory that's missing?

[iNow]

Those are very good points.

[zule]

Thank you iNow and swansot for the links. I have had a look at them now, but I will look at them better. And iNow, the only thing I know a little is about biochemistry, but I am totally lost in Psychiatry or Psycology, so it’s very difficult that you find something too elementary for me…

 

I think that if I had had a physical trauma, for example, I had fallen down from the bed and injured my head, the most probable is that the following day my head hurted, and I don't remeber that happening.

 

 

And if you don't remember it, how do you know it's a memory that's missing?

 

I know, as swansot also have said,that most people don't remember almost anything has happened to him before the six years old.

 

But the strange thing is not that I don’t remember anything before three years old. The strange thing is that I remember that day getting up and don’t remembering anything of my short existence. I remember I was perfectly aware of having lost my memories and about the oddness of not remembering anything of my life. I remember the following days thinking about the strange it was that I couldn’t remember anything previously to that odd getting up. I knew that I had had some memories before and those ones were missed for ever.

 

I even remember vividly a dream I had some days after that.