Suffer from CRS Disease? This Guy Sure Doesn’t!
Admit it. There are days when your CRS (Can’t Remember Shit) Disease rears its ugly head more so than others. But if you’re Brad Williams, those days are pretty much, well…never!
See, Mr. Williams is one of only three people in the world with an extreme autobiographical memory called hyperthymestic syndrome. This condition - its name derived from the Greek words for excessive (hyper) and remembering (thymesis) - is characterized by lifetime memories forever being etched into one’s mind. Most folks, of course, have memories which fade over time.
Mr. Williams, 51, lives in Wisconsin and joins a man in Ohio and a woman in California as the only documented hyperthymestic people in the world.
Naturally, scientists are anxious to study this super-memory phenomenon, in hopes of helping those with failing memories. Researchers at the University of California-Irvine are heading up studies, quizzing Mr. Williams and the two other hyperthymestics about a series of dates and events.
Said Larry Cahill, a fellow at the university’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory:
“The speed with which they do this is part of why I find this so amazing because it seems to indicate there’s no — or not much — intentional calculation going on. It’s boom, boom, boom, there’s the answer. Remember, these are questions they had no idea what we’re going to ask them.”
Fascinating, indeed! I have a hard enough time remembering last week with any clarity, you know?
Furthermore, researchers are now using an MRI to create three-dimensional pictures of the hyperthymestic brain to see whether there are any differences in size or structure, compared with the average brain. Results are still being considered, but at this pint it seems as though some structures in the prefrontal cortex are significantly larger in hyperthymestics. This is the area of the brain that is associated with complex thinking, rather than learning or memory.
Surprisingly, Mr. Williams and the other hyperthymestics didn’t do any better than average on standard memory tests, nor did they prove to be savants, a condition where one extraordinary mental ability is accompanied by deficits in other areas.
Researchers hope others with extraordinary memories come forward so they can be learned from as well. I can tell you right now, that sure as heck isn’t going to be me. But maybe you? If you have a remarkable memory, let us know, even if you’re not quite up to hyperthymetic status.
Source: CNN.com
Tags: Brad Wiliams, Healthbolt, Hyperthemestic Syndrome, Remarkable Memories, Super MemoriesRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Extreme, Oddities, Science, Your Mind, men's health
2 opinions for Suffer from CRS Disease? This Guy Sure Doesn’t!
Scott
May 27, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I remember a lot of things from My childhood that my brother doesn’t…but that could be due to his many years of “Wake and bake”. But I do seem to remember an aweful lot that my other family members don’t. Or shit…I could just be dilussional, I don’t know.
Liberty
May 28, 2008 at 11:55 am
Probably delusional, Scott.
KIDDING!
Yeah, I remember TONS of stuff that other people don’t, but that stuff tends to be the ridiculous and minute details which are completely arbitrary to the overall memory.
BUT, important stuff like “School T-Shirt Day” and the dates of Goodie Sales? Totally lost on me.
*Sigh*
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: