Hyperthymesia or hyperthymesitic syndrome is superior autobiographical memory, the type of memory that forms people's life stories. The term thymesia is derived from the Greek word thymesis, meaning "memory".
The capabilities of the affected individuals are not limited to recalling specific events from their personal experience. Hyperthymesia has both enhanced autobiographical and episodic memory There are two important characteristics of hyperthymesia:
- Persons with the syndrome spend much of their time thinking about their pasts.
- Persons with the syndrome have an unusual, amazing capacity to remember as well as recall any specific personal events or trivial details, including a date, the weather, what people wore on that day, from their past.
Unlike other people with advanced memory abilities, such as autism or savant syndrome (who tend to use calendrical calculation), individuals with hyperthymestic syndrome rely heavily on their personal "mental calendar", which is an automatic and obsessive process. Moreover, individuals with hyperthymesia do not focus on practiced mnemonic strategies. For example, "AJ", who has the first documented case of hyperthymesia, has difficulty consciously applying her memory strategies to help her memorize new knowledge, making her rote memorization abilities about average.
Read more about this topic: Exceptional Memory