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For most of my adult life, I've felt that I have a problem with my memory. I cannot recall much of my past life. I can know things happen, and there are a few c

For most of my adult life, I've felt that I have a problem with my memory. I cannot recall much of my past life. I can know things happen, and there are a few circumstances that I can recall visually. The visual recollections are retrieved as a series of photos, not like a video. A few years ago, I discovered that I had a vitamin B12 deficiency. B12 is a contributor to memory, so I was hopeful that by clearing up the deficiency, my memory would improve. I'd have to say I don't think so, but it's a pretty subjective question. At least, I can say it was not dramatic, if improved at all. Otherwise, I am quite introverted, on the spectrum. I focus on my thoughts much more than what is going on around me, and that strikes me as a more likely cause. The events are not imprinted because I am not paying attention.

callesgg 7y ago
If you are not paying attention. How could you become good at it. You have to be exposed to stimuli to be able to learn from it. While it would not go so far as say there is causality to things. I would say that your description is better more useful model.
jcims 7y ago
I'm pretty much in the same boat. I have an experiment for you. If you listen to podcasts regularly while doing other stuff, pull one up that you've listened to in the past 3-5 days and listen to it again. When I do this, I will periodically get a stream of vivid movies of what I was doing when I listened to it the first time. I'm talking an intrusive replay of the sensory experience I was having previously. My next step is to fire up a dash cam and listen to podcasts while I'm driving, then re-listen a few days later and record myself describing what I see as I'm listening. Then sync the two videos and see how close my description is describing what I saw the first time.
- meowface 7y ago
  I listen to podcasts very frequently, and I just tried this. It's pretty effective for me. It also made me a little more aware of how boring and repetitive my life's been in the past few weeks... I now have some impetus to try to do more interesting things.
- gorbachev 7y ago
  When I was a teenager I used to read (fictional) books while listening to music at the same time. For years afterwards listening to the same music would make my mind imagine events in the books I was reading listening to the same music. I'm not sure exactly when it stopped happening though.
  - macintux 7y ago
    There’s a song that eludes me at the moment, but it always conjures memories of my telescope as a child. I must have heard it one night as I was looking through a star chart waiting for it to get darker.
  - krisgee 7y ago
    Final Fantasy 4 and Stairway to Heaven are inextricably linked in my mind for a similar reason.
    - o-__-o 7y ago
      For me it’s Stunts and Bone Thugs n Harmony, E. 1999 Eternal. Listened to that CD on repeat building tracks on an IBM ps/2 as a kid. Also Biggie’s Warning and anything Visual Basic 3.0. I don’t know why
cableshaft 7y ago
I remember things similarly to you. My high school memories are mostly just a handful of images that I can recall at any given time. But I've found a few ways to jog my memory in those a bit: * Rereading old journal entries - I didn't do a ton back then, but I did them periodically. Some things in them I'm surprised happened to me, because I didn't remember them * Rereading old emails and chat logs and forum posts and look at old photos - I'm kind of a digital packrat, and still have a lot of that * Meet with friends and family and reminisce - I don't do much of the reminiscing, they do, and they remind me of things I had forgotten about. I also think part of my problem for remembering things is I don't orally tell stories about myself that often, especially repeatedly. It seems that people who do that can recall them that much more easily. Journaling and rereading the journals helps me recall stories about my life though, and tend to be the stories I do tell others when I do. I was pretty introverted and inward thinking too, especially back then. It's possible they didn't get imprinted but I think it's also possible that memories are fleeting and can go away if you don't actively record them. I got better for awhile about writing things down right when they happened, and the amount of detail in those journal entries are much, much, more detailed than when I try to record things even a month after the fact. Memories can slip way too easily, I think. Speaking of which, I've gotten way behind on journaling and need to get back on that.
coldtea 7y ago
>A few years ago, I discovered that I had a vitamin B12 deficiency. B12 is a contributor to memory, so I was hopeful that by clearing up the deficiency, my memory would improve. I'd have to say I don't think so, but it's a pretty subjective question. At least, I can say it was not dramatic, if improved at all. Note that for many vitamins taking supplements doesn't cut it the same way as taking them naturally through regular old food (fruits, vegetables, legumes, meat, fish, etc). And besides B12 deficiency there could be other aspects to memory problems, including good sleep and less stress, than might even be dominant...

callesgg 7y ago

If you are not paying attention. How could you become good at it. You have to be exposed to stimuli to be able to learn from it. While it would not go so far as say there is causality to things. I would say that your description is better more useful model.

jcims 7y ago

I'm pretty much in the same boat. I have an experiment for you. If you listen to podcasts regularly while doing other stuff, pull one up that you've listened to in the past 3-5 days and listen to it again. When I do this, I will periodically get a stream of vivid movies of what I was doing when I listened to it the first time. I'm talking an intrusive replay of the sensory experience I was having previously. My next step is to fire up a dash cam and listen to podcasts while I'm driving, then re-listen a few days later and record myself describing what I see as I'm listening. Then sync the two videos and see how close my description is describing what I saw the first time.

meowface 7y ago
I listen to podcasts very frequently, and I just tried this. It's pretty effective for me. It also made me a little more aware of how boring and repetitive my life's been in the past few weeks... I now have some impetus to try to do more interesting things.
gorbachev 7y ago
When I was a teenager I used to read (fictional) books while listening to music at the same time. For years afterwards listening to the same music would make my mind imagine events in the books I was reading listening to the same music. I'm not sure exactly when it stopped happening though.
- macintux 7y ago
  There’s a song that eludes me at the moment, but it always conjures memories of my telescope as a child. I must have heard it one night as I was looking through a star chart waiting for it to get darker.
- krisgee 7y ago
  Final Fantasy 4 and Stairway to Heaven are inextricably linked in my mind for a similar reason.
  - o-__-o 7y ago
    For me it’s Stunts and Bone Thugs n Harmony, E. 1999 Eternal. Listened to that CD on repeat building tracks on an IBM ps/2 as a kid. Also Biggie’s Warning and anything Visual Basic 3.0. I don’t know why

cableshaft 7y ago

I remember things similarly to you. My high school memories are mostly just a handful of images that I can recall at any given time. But I've found a few ways to jog my memory in those a bit: * Rereading old journal entries - I didn't do a ton back then, but I did them periodically. Some things in them I'm surprised happened to me, because I didn't remember them * Rereading old emails and chat logs and forum posts and look at old photos - I'm kind of a digital packrat, and still have a lot of that * Meet with friends and family and reminisce - I don't do much of the reminiscing, they do, and they remind me of things I had forgotten about. I also think part of my problem for remembering things is I don't orally tell stories about myself that often, especially repeatedly. It seems that people who do that can recall them that much more easily. Journaling and rereading the journals helps me recall stories about my life though, and tend to be the stories I do tell others when I do. I was pretty introverted and inward thinking too, especially back then. It's possible they didn't get imprinted but I think it's also possible that memories are fleeting and can go away if you don't actively record them. I got better for awhile about writing things down right when they happened, and the amount of detail in those journal entries are much, much, more detailed than when I try to record things even a month after the fact. Memories can slip way too easily, I think. Speaking of which, I've gotten way behind on journaling and need to get back on that.

coldtea 7y ago

>A few years ago, I discovered that I had a vitamin B12 deficiency. B12 is a contributor to memory, so I was hopeful that by clearing up the deficiency, my memory would improve. I'd have to say I don't think so, but it's a pretty subjective question. At least, I can say it was not dramatic, if improved at all. Note that for many vitamins taking supplements doesn't cut it the same way as taking them naturally through regular old food (fruits, vegetables, legumes, meat, fish, etc). And besides B12 deficiency there could be other aspects to memory problems, including good sleep and less stress, than might even be dominant...