A highly superior memory: One of Lynne Malcolm's favourite programs
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What is Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) and who is Becky Sharrock?
This is an ABC podcast. Hi, it's All In The Mind on RN Summer. I'm Lynne Malcolm. And to celebrate my years as host on All In The Mind, we bring you some of my favourite programs. And how could I forget this one from 2018?
What's
your earliest memory? Could it possibly go back to when you were a newborn baby?
It was the 23rd of December 1989 when I was 12 days old. I was lying down on the sheepskin car cover of the four-wheel drive and my parents were taking a picture of me and I was just looking up at the camera wondering what it was, looking up at the steering wheel of the car because I was on the driver's seat wondering what it was and at that age Every sight I heard, every scent I smelt, just everything was a novelty then and I was just curious to keep learning. Are
you really feeling and experiencing that 12th day as you're speaking to me?
Yeah, just emotionally and just how busy my mind was back then when I was... a 12-day-old baby.
Do you think you remember anything about, say, your birth?
I don't remember leaving the womb, but I remember being in a bed with glass walls around me and I was on a cotton blanket and my head was up just looking at just mainly the ceiling above me and the heads of the people who were putting blankets on me and dressing me. And I can't say for certain if that was the day I was born because I didn't know calendars at that young age, but I'm guessing that it was on or around that time.
Becky Sharrock remembers every one of her 28 birthdays. In fact, she can't forget any single day of her life. She's one of approximately 60 people in the world and the only known person in Australia with this kind of exceptional memory. It's known as highly superior autobiographical memory or HSAM.
Yes, this is a very rare and very selective type of memory ability. And really it's that skill that allows someone to accurately recall an exceptionally high number of personal experiences and perhaps dates from events occurring throughout their life. So this is the autobiographical or personal memory ability. that one holds. So this is not very common and often people are unaware that they have an exceptional ability to do this until they hear about it, say, on the radio or perhaps on a TV program.
Associate Professor Gail Robinson in Health and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Queensland. HSAM was first identified in 2006 at the University of California, Irvine. This group is still working to understand the underlying neural basis of the condition. Gail Robinson is conducting HSAM research in Australia with a single participant, Becky Sharrock. Becky thought her memory was completely normal until she was in her early 20s and she and her family saw a TV doco describing HSAM. Then they realised that this is what Becky has experienced. I asked Becky how good she is at linking dates to events throughout her life.
Every morning since I was 14 years old, I've crossed dates off on my calendar each morning. So I know what days of the week certain dates fell on. Any date from 2004 onwards, I can tell you what day of the week it fell on.
How did Becky’s childhood memories reveal her HSAM ability?
Can I give you some dates and let me know what you remember about those dates? Yeah. The first one, 4th of September 2006.
The 4th of September 2006 was a Monday. And on that particular day, I was going to my therapist who I was seeing for my autism. I was on my way to see him when my stepdad called my mum and said, did you hear Steve Irwin died from a stingray? Yes. And I couldn't believe it. I said, no, I didn't hear of that because Steve Irwin, I looked at him as invincible to any animal attack. He'd done so many daring things with crocodiles. I thought there's no way on earth Steve Irwin could have died. But then I saw the news afterwards and it was true and it was sad. And especially since he had two young children at the time and it was sad for him. It was sad for Terry and it was sad that little Robert, who was only two years old at the time, that he didn't get a chance to spend a lot of time with his dad,
yeah. Wow, it is a Monday too.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) and who is Becky Sharrock?
0:02–4:28
2
How did Becky’s childhood memories reveal her HSAM ability?
4:28–7:30
3
What research is being done on HSAM and what are the leading theories?
7:30–10:20
4
How might OCD and anxiety contribute to Becky’s extraordinary memory?
10:20–13:46
5
What does brain imaging show about the neural basis of HSAM?
13:46–17:12
6
How could Becky’s memory insights help dementia research and interventions?
17:12–21:18
7
Is remembering every day a blessing or a curse for Becky?
21:18–25:53
8
What is Becky’s upcoming autobiography and what does it reveal about living with HSAM?
25:53–29:03