A woman who has baffled doctors with her ability to remember every detail of every day has broken her anonymity to speak of her condition. Jill Price, 42, can remember every part of her life since she was 14 but considers her ability a curse as she cannot switch off. She described her life as like a split-screen television, with one side showing what she is doing in the present, and the other showing the memories which she cannot hold back. Every detail about every day since 1980 - what time she got up, who she met, what she did, even what she ate - is locked in her brain and can be released to come flooding back by common triggers like songs, smells or place names. Mrs Price, a widow who is a school administrator, sometimes struggles to sleep because the vivid memories crowd her mind and stop her relaxing. Her condition is so rare that scientists had to coin a term for her condition - hyperthymestic syndrome from the Greek thymesis, for remembering, and hyper, meaning well above normal. For years she remained anonymous, referred to only by initials in scientific journals while experts at the University of California-Irvine tested her ability. Mrs Price said her memory started working overtime after her family moved to Los Angeles when she was eight and from the time she was 14, in 1980, she can remember absolutely everything. Neuroscientists say a trauma such as moving the family home can trigger major, lingering changes in the brain, especially in children who cling to memories of how their life had been. Mrs Price said: "Some memories are good and give me a warm, safe feeling.

"But I also recall every bad decision, insult and excruciating embarrassment. Over the years it has eaten me up. It has kind of paralysed me." Mrs Price was so worried by her condition that in 2000 she asked neuroscientist Professor James McGaugh, a world expert on memory, what was wrong. She wrote to him: "My memory is too strong. It's like a running movie that never stops. "Most have called it a gift. But I call it a burden. I run my entire life through my head every day and it drives me crazy!"

View: Full Article | Source: The Telegraph

this means that with a certain "tune-up" we could all access every memory we once had. If scientist could figure this out, it would be a MAJOR change in our lives...

Maybe she should drink more....

LOL
(They had this show "medium" a while back where the psychic suggested she could drink her way to becoming a lawyer instead of receiving visions)

That would be a curse, wouldn't it? Well, for me it would anyway. It'd drive me nutz in no time

As a widower I can understand that would be a curse. There are many things in my life I would like to forget, but to have it playing everyday like a movie would be the worst.

I agree. Some memories can be incapacitating if they aren't tucked away.

I am constantly wishing that I was mentally retared or at least on the lines with Forrest Gump so there would be things that I did not understand or know about. I have always felt as if thinking is a curse upon itself and upon reading about this poor woman's ordeal, I can seriously say that her life would be a horror movie to me if I watched it as a documentary.

this condition would be good for passing exams.

There are good things that happen in our lives everyday too. It would be interesting to know how she views the good/bad times. Do the good outweigh the bad? Could she train herself to only remember all of the good times and allow the difficult ones to just pass by without a thought? For some reason it seems to be easier to remember the bad times than the good ones, at least for me anyway.

Imagine being married to her...

NO!!!!

I totally agree, but think of all the negatives. How would it feel to have every stupid thing you ever said or did constantly in mind? It'd kill me.

the human mind is amazing! think of the possibilities!

Oh man... a simple "What did you do today?" would be a serious commitment

reading this news make me happy that I not the only person with this ability . I don't think a normal person like you all will understand the pain in remember every things for the rest of your life . if you had done something bad , you will be guilty for the rest of your life . compare to her , at least I able to control my ability .



my is more than a running movie , more than a photo . I don't know how to explain , the memory that play out , it render everything . from sound ,smell, wind, temperature , emotion, feeling, taste . all recorded .
for example today I had a fight with my friend . when this event is recorded , everything from the conversation , my friend emotion , my emotion , the level of sound , the smell, sound ,temperature of the place .

so when the memory is play back , it's give me feeling like i time travel back to that time and place.

thats a shame...she's sounds pretty well broken and is not enjoying her "gift/curse" at all.........

Well i seem to be able to recall incredible detail from my life as well going back to 3-4 years old.

All jokes about being married to her aside - figuring out why she can remember would be wonderful for people suffering from dementia, Alzheimer's or even brain injuries that affect the ability to form new memories. It would give them and their families their lives back.

LOL!!!


Gee i don't know whats worse, her having that ''gift/curse'' or doctors & scientists probing & experimenting on her like some kinda lab rat?

I read somewhere in a book having to do with the mind memory, the author was saying that we can remember everything in life its our ability to recall that sucks.
So really I see her condition as total recall
food for thought

I've been married for a while now, believe me... All women have this uncanny memory ability once the gold goes on the finger.

Does it also mean that she remembers everything she reads??? My, she could be almost anything like a lawyer, doctor anything and recall it perfectly.

Damm, is that where it goes?!

i would see it as a boon to have.
seeing as my abilities are already in the same boat. it probally balance me out. [i tend to get distracted]

although i beleive it is the fact of replaying the memories that keep her memory sharp.

if you smell something
some know [snap] its bacon
others have to figure it out.

i seem to have good memory for any smell.
its placing the differences i hate.
like maple bacon
its bacon but it smells waxy and sweet as well.


anyway shes blessed by one detail:
she must accept reality [a problem we all have]
her memory keeps things as is perfectly. every good every bad.

her solution is to control or re educate her triggers.

For me I don't think nuts would be a good enough description as to how i would feel.

In an uncontrolled state like she describes I could see that easily becoming a miserable existence. But if we could harness that kind of thing in everyday life as a species, average human intelligence would begin to skyrocket. Memory training has recently been linked to improving areas of intelligence that were previously thought to just be preset in each individual. And besides any of that research, its common sense that remembering a certain subject matter well makes it easier to learn the intricacies of it.

Imagine being back in High School Algebra or Calculus and being able to just immediately recall all your formulas as you need them. How much easier would that class have been?

It doesn't matter who you're married to. For some reason women ALWAYS remember every detail about the bad things we've done... and if they can't, they certainly have many friends that will remember for them.

Soooo true Biff......

Seriously though, I think it would be definitely a curse IMO.....She can't relax and enjoy the here and the now........There's no clean slate , so to speak and I'm surprised she hasn't ended up in a psych ward yet......

We're devious little devils aren't we

lol!
Theres devices that usually help them to forget, temporarily anyway Biff.....Credit Cards.

My memory is so good I can remember going to a party with my Father and going home with my Mother!