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Empirical Evidence Supporting Neural Contributions to Episodic Memory Development in Early Childhood: Implications for Childhood Amnesia
Author(s) -
Riggins Tracy,
Canada Kelsey L.,
Botdorf Morgan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
child development perspectives
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1750-8606
pISSN - 1750-8592
DOI - 10.1111/cdep.12353
Subject(s) - psychology , childhood amnesia , forgetting , episodic memory , hippocampus , childhood memory , neuroscience , autobiographical memory , amnesia , cognitive psychology , dentate gyrus , developmental psychology , cognition
Memories for events that happen early in life are fragile—they are forgotten more quickly than expected based on typical adult rates of forgetting. Although numerous factors contribute to this phenomenon, data show that one major source of change is the protracted development of neural structures related to memory. Recent empirical studies in early childhood reveal that the development of specific subdivisions of the hippocampus (i.e., the dentate gyrus) is related directly to variations in memory. Yet, the hippocampus is only one region within a larger network supporting memory. Data from young children have also shown that activation of cortical regions during memory tasks and the functional connectivity between the hippocampus and cortex relate to memory during this period. Taken together, these results suggest that protracted neural development of the hippocampus, cortex, and connections between these regions contribute to the fragility of memories early in life and may ultimately contribute to childhood amnesia.