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.