Rebecca Sharrock is one of only about 60 people in the world with HSAM (Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory)
It means she is unable to forget any day in her life.
She has written an open and honest piece on Omni about her condition and what it means to her life.
She explains how she remembers being a newborn:
"My earliest memory of which I can date is from when I was twelve days old. My parents carried me to the driver’s seat of the car (my father’s idea) and placed me down upon it for a photo. As a newborn child, I was curious as to what the seat cover and steering wheel above me were. Though at that age I hadn't yet developed the ability to want to get up and explore what such curious objects could be."
Rebecca's insights can now help what we know about early influences on babies and children. She describes how she felt as a very small baby:
"My parents also gave me a Minnie Mouse plush toy, whose face terrified me, though I could not word this. All I could do was cry and push it away whenever I saw it.
When I was about 18 months old (assumably because it was before my second birthday yet I was out of my crib) I began to dream whenever I fell asleep. At that age, I thought that I really was leaving home each night, so I'd always want my mum with me while I was sleeping."
Rebecca is now part of two sleep studies, with the University of California, Irvine and the University of Queensland. She hopes her experiences can help find answers about the way memory works which could help those living with dementia and Alzheimers.
