A Case of Unusual Autobiographical Remembering

TLDR

AJ exhibits an overwhelming autobiographical recall that dominates her life, differing from other superior memory cases that rely on mnemonic techniques for unrelated information. The authors aim to introduce hyperthymestic syndrome as a new diagnostic category and present AJ as its first documented case. They define hyperthymestic syndrome by naming it after the Greek word for remembering and classify AJ as the inaugural case. AJ’s memory is nonstop, uncontrollable, and automatic, allowing her to accurately recall personal events and specify activities and days of the week for any given date.

Abstract

This report describes AJ, a woman whose remembering dominates her life. Her memory is "nonstop, uncontrollable, and automatic." AJ spends an excessive amount of time recalling her personal past with considerable accuracy and reliability. If given a date, she can tell you what she was doing and what day of the week it fell on. She differs from other cases of superior memory who use practiced mnemonics to remember vast amounts of personally irrelevant information. We propose the name hyperthymestic syndrome, from the Greek word thymesis meaning remembering, and that AJ is the first reported case.