ELI5: Why can’t we remember our lives as toddlers?

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ELI5: Why can’t we remember our lives as toddlers?

Comments

  1. Dark_Foggy_Evenings Avatar

    Because cognitive function and memory weren’t fully developed yet. That being said I’ve got snatches of memory from around 2.

  2. shotsallover Avatar

    Human brains aren’t fully developed at birth. They’re still growing along with our heads. So the part that remembers your childhood doesn’t get fully functional in most humans until they’re about 4 years old, give or take.

  3. B3eenthehedges Avatar

    In addition to other answers about development, the older you get, the more you lose old memories because they weren’t relevant enough to repeat to memorize and store.

    Some even pop when your other senses remind you, but otherwise, it’s just not relevant to the person you are now.

  4. WhipplySnidelash Avatar

    Generally speaking, between the ages of 10 and 12 we experience someting called early life amnesia and we lose most of our early childhood memories. Some of us have retained more than others but this is something we all pretty much experience.