Science Ask Us Anything Why don't we remember being babies? Yet we never forget how to ride a bike. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Are our childhood memories lost or locked? Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Was it a birthday party? Even though little kids remember plenty, most of us lose access to key memories as we get older. It's something scientists call childhood amnesia. We explore just that in a recent episode of the Ask Us Anything podcast, delving into the science behind why our brains forget our earliest memories. 's Ask Us Anything podcast (as well as our written series of the same name) answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions--from the everyday things you've always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. My earliest memories are more like nostalgic flickers. The candle I burned my finger on. The plastic toy set that occupied my playtime. These disparate and vague recollections are all most of us can remember of our first years of life.

Our earliest childhood memories start from the age of two - far earlier than previously thought. Scientists have found the area of the brain responsible for memories can be triggered before toddlers even learn to speak. Researchers had previously thought our earliest memory formed at around the age of three-and-a-half. The breakthrough may lead to earlier diagnosis of developmental brain disorders such as dyslexia and autism. Our earliest childhood memories start from the age of two, according to new research.

From getting lost in the supermarket to going on the rocking horse at playschool, memories from before the age of five are few and far between for most people. This is due to'childhood amnesia', which refers to the inability of people to remember anything from before the age of of around three and a half. During childhood, brains are more limber, which means they are able to absorb lots of information in a small space of time. However, parts of the brains that retain this information are still under construction, scientists say. From birth until our early teens, essential circuitry in the brain is still being laid down, as electric pathways become lined with fatty tissues to become more conductive, meaning we are able to retain these memories.

When Jon was born prematurely at 26 weeks, he weighed around two pounds and had trouble breathing on his own. For two months he lived in an incubator and eventually grew into a healthy baby and toddler. At age four, he had two epileptic seizures. About a year later his parents began to notice that Jon couldn't remember things that happened in his daily life. He didn't recall watching TV or what happened at school or what book he read. Jon's IQ was normal, he could read and write, and did well at school.