Why can't I remember my early childhood?

Some of our biggest achievements happen in the first years of our lives. Taking our first steps, picking up a complex language from scratch, and forming relationships with some of the most important people we’ll ever meet. But when we try to remember this period of great change, we often draw a blank.

After losing his Dad aged four, CrowdScience listener Colin has grappled with this. Why can’t he recall memories of such a monumental figure in his life, yet superficial relationships from his teens remain crystal clear in his mind? Colin takes presenter Marnie Chesterton to visit some of the significant locations of his childhood, places he would have spent many hours with his late father; and he recounts his earliest memories.

On this trip down memory lane, Marnie discovers the psychological mechanisms behind our lack of early childhood memories. Sarah Power from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development discusses the evolution of our memory systems, detecting false memories from real ones, and her world-first study exploring how infants form memories in real time. Elaine Reese from the University of Otago digs into the relationship between environment and culture when our earliest experiences solidify into memories. And Tomás Ryan, neuroscientist at Trinity College Dublin, reveals fascinating new insights from animal studies that hint that these memories could still be lurking inside our heads...

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Julia Ravey Content Editor: Cathy Edwards Production Co-ordinators: Ishmael Soriano & Josie Hardy Technical Producer: Emma Harth

(Photo: Marnie Chesterton and CrowdScience listener, Colin, on the swings in Belfast.)