In infancy, the human brain is unable to combine information into complex neural structures known as memories. This is due to the immaturity of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Psychology professors Patricia Bauer and Nora Newcombe told Live Science about this.
Patricia Bauer from Emory University (USA) explained that children have developed semantic memory, the ability to associate certain words or actions with the subsequent result. However, it is only after the age of two that a child’s brain becomes capable of combining disparate details of specific events into complex neural structures and recreating a holistic picture. This is due to the maturation of the cerebral cortex. Bauer noted that the memory of sounds is processed in its lateral areas, while visual memory is controlled by the posterior part. The hippocampus is used to link all the elements of memories together. This process involves the work of episodic memory.
Nora Newcomb, a professor of psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia, added that for children under two to four years old, the use of episodic memory is too difficult. In addition, it can distract from the acquisition of semantic knowledge used in everyday life.
