Childhood amnesia: Why can't we remember the early years?

大脑会删除2岁前的记忆？网友：那些糗事，忘记也罢……

Childhood amnesia is the inability of adults to retrieve episodic memories (memories of situations or events) before the age of 2 to 4 years.

“童年失忆症”指的是成年人无法回忆起自己2岁或者4岁之前的情景记忆；

It may also refer to the scarcity or fragmentation of memories recollected from early childhood, particularly occurring between age 2 and 6.

也指在2-6岁之间，童年早期记忆的碎片化。

Childhood amnesia is a normal part of brain development. Episodic memories involve the hippocampus, a part of the brain found in the temporal lobe, which is not fully developed at birth. The hippocampus should be ready at about the age of 4.

童年失忆症是大脑发育的正常现象，情景记忆涉及海马体，是大脑颞叶的一部分。而婴儿刚出生时，海马体尚未发育完全，会慢慢随着婴儿长大逐步发育，在四岁左右渐趋成熟。

Memories that are not repeatedly re-told and strengthened become lost over time.

没有被反复讲述和强化的记忆会随着时间的推移而消失。

For a long time, scientists thought childhood amnesia occurred because the brains of young children simply couldn't form lasting memories of specific events.

长期以来，科学家们认为童年失忆症是因为幼儿的大脑根本无法形成对特定事件的持久记忆。

More studies provided evidence that at some point in childhood, people lose access to their early memories.

更多的研究提供了证据，表明在童年的某个时候，人们失去了对早期记忆的访问。

And they found that children as old as 7 could still recall more than 60 percent of those early events, while children who were 8 or 9 recalled less than 40 percent.

研究者们发现，7岁的孩子仍然可以回忆起自己3岁时期60%以上的事件，而8、9岁的孩子只能回忆起不到40%。

On average, this fragmented period wanes off at around 4.7 years.

平均而言，童年失忆症的覆盖范围在4.7年左右。

Around 5-6 years of age in particular is thought to be when autobiographical memory seems to stabilize and be on par with adults.

当儿童到了5、6岁之后，他们的自传记忆逐渐稳定，几乎与成年人相当。

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