need to add title here

Endless Memory, Part 1

December 19, 2010 5:00 PM

Lesley Stahl reports on the recently discovered phenomenon of "superior autobiographical memory," the ability to recall nearly every day of one's life.

The Gift of Endless Memory

60 Minutes OverTimeMarilu Henner's Super-Memory Summit

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by jazrobean September 10, 2012 8:48 AM EDT
When I was a teenager I realized that I could remember - in order - things that happened for at least 2 - 4 YEARS back - - in detail. It FRIGHTENED me. I did NOT consider it to be NORMAL. I told NO ONE about it, and, in time, by IGNORING it, it went away.

Sometimes, for some young people, just GROWING UP is a HARD ENOUGH EXPERIENCE without having a "recognizable difference" from other people.
A lot of growing up is "trying to learn how to fit it." - - and - - THAT DID NOT! The people with whom I wished to be friends ALREADY THOUGHT I WAS STRANGE ENOUGH.

NOW I think you should SEARCH for similar young people with what I NOW believe to be a LOST SKILL.
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by _SpOoNeR_ March 3, 2012 3:54 PM EST
chat
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by _SpOoNeR_ March 3, 2012 3:51 PM EST
http://www.kraldost.com thanks you admin
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by dougfromeagan February 8, 2012 1:09 AM EST
I loved this story when it first appeared. I really enjoyed it all over again :)

My bad memory has ruined or retarded my life experience, learning ability and earning potentials. I used to work for CBS, but my bad memory ruined my abilities to move forward in the company and several companies. If I had they're memory I know I would be a billionaire several times over - no question. I feel like I have a weird form of life long Alzheimer's disease. Any help? LOL
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by melmarl June 19, 2011 10:21 PM EDT
My son has an incredible memory. He was born in 1969, and literally remembers every day of his life. My wife and I are always asking him when things took place, even minor things like when we saw the doctor, etc., he always knows the day, date, and sometimes the time of day. He says he remembers back to when he was just 18 months old. He is not a savant, but he is a college graduate, and unlike the subjects on the show, he is right handed and not left handed. I told him about the show, and he said that he would be willing to participate in the study if the study were interested.
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by jeff in slc February 21, 2011 5:16 PM EST
I'm curious if any or all of these gifted persons have been tested

to see if there are higher than normal levels of the brain enzyme

PKMzeta. As I understand it, this enzyme plays an important role

in long term memory.
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by ManWithTheTruth December 28, 2010 4:46 PM EST
I was wondering: I've heard of people who seem to know what time it is even if they've not seen a clock for hours. Did anyone see or ask these people if they had that kind of quality? Since they seem to remember everything that happened, can they keep track of time like that? Could you show them the time, then keep them in a room for an hour or two, some odd amount of time, and then would they know to the minute what time it was? Just curious.
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by tiffany316 December 26, 2010 5:41 PM EST
I saw this when it aired on 60 minutes and I feel that they gave a false impression of autism. I do believe that the panel of people could be on the spectrum. While "Rain man" has given the public a false image of what autism is, so does this news segment. They are not autistic because they can tie their shoes?!?! There is a very wide spectrum on which I believe these people probably fall. There are people with autism who can tie their shoes! Autism affects areas of communication, social and behavior. These people have OCD, extreme interests or collections in certian areas, poor eye contact and had difficulty maintaining relationships. I'm not so sure you could rule autism out. Even if they do not fall on the spectrum I believe CBS should not generalize people with autism as "rain man" or people that can not tie their shoes. Now hundreds of thousands of people could have another misconception of what autism is. Please review your facts before airing such information to the masses.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
A teacher and masters student of people with autism.
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by Superbatone December 25, 2010 8:43 PM EST
The great pianist Arthur Rubinstein was precisely like the people profiled in this amazing piece.

In the 1970s, when he was nearly ninety, he wrote a two-volume autobiography which reads like a novel. A real page-turner, told with great zest and humor, every day of his life unfolds just as it happened, down to details of meals, hotels, what music and exact piano he played at which concert; anyone's name, what they said and did, ad infinitum, going back to his childhood in the 1890s.

And with all this detail, the narrative strands never become tangled or stray. At the beginning of volume one he says:

"I have never kept a diary, and even if I had, it would have been lost with all the rest of my belongings in the two world wars. But, it is my good fortune to be endowed with an uncanny memory which allows me to trace my whole long life almost day by day."

Rubinstein would have fitted right into this story. I'm surprised he wasn't mentioned, even in passing.
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by Luscious868 December 24, 2010 11:57 PM EST
Thank you for discovering people with a photographic memory. It's such a shocking and new discovery that I had no idea it really existed until I was 7 or 8 years old, and I was born in the 80's. I mean come on. People with photographic memories are amazing, but it's not like it's some new amazing thing that only Leslie Stall has clued the world into. Let's get serious people.
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