Question: Why do some people have terrible memory while some others have amazing memories?

Alex Reid answered on 14 Nov 2018:

Hi this is a great question, I answered a similar question previously so I am going to give a similar answer here 🙂 In the same way there are lots of different physical differences between people (some are tall, some short, some thin) many aspects of the brain and psychology also naturally differ between people. Like height or weight a lot of these things are on continuums which we all lie on. Lots of factors might both directly and indirectly influence this. For example genes probably have a big role, but also diet and the environment you grew up in. Some people may practice different memory techniques or tasks to help them remember things better, which can produce individuals with ridiculously good memories. As you get older your memory might also naturally get worse for various reasons (some of the other scientists here will know far more about this than me). Also, unwanted environmental factors such as brain damage through trauma or disease can really do a number on your ability to remember things. Lastly, it is also worth bearing in mind there are also lots of different types of memory. For example your ability to remember facts and information (known as episodic memory) might be really good, but you could be not that great at learning to ride a bike (which relies more on motor memory). Someone else might be the opposite. As you can see the answer to your question is surprisingly complex! In short: there are lots of different reasons for the variation in memory we see between people. This is why when we run memory studies we will get many people to take part – not just one. That way we can build up a much better idea of what the average memory is like in a general population of people.