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Worldnews

Why Cant We Remember Our Early Years? Do Babies Make Memories At All?

For the first time, scientists have observed memories forming in babies’ brains in real time. Have you ever been convinced that you remember being a baby? A moment in a crib, or the taste of a first birthday cake? Chances are, those memories aren’t real. Decades of research suggest that most people cannot recall personal experiences from the first few years of life. However, even though we can’t remember being a baby, a new study has found new evidence that babies do take in the world around them and may also begin forming memories far earlier than once thought. A study published this month in Science by researchers at Yale and Columbia universities has revealed that babies as young as 12 months old can form memories via the hippocampus – a part of the brain that stores memories in adults, too. To observe this, the researchers used a specially adapted brain scan for infants during a single session. It allowed them to watch how babies’ brains responded while they were awake and looking at images of faces and objects. Parents remained close to their babies, which helped keep them calm and alert. In the study, 26 infants aged four to 25 months were shown a series of images. It was found that if a baby’s hippocampus was more active the first time they saw a particular image, they would look at the same image for longer when it reappeared a short time later, next to a new one – suggesting they recognised it. “Our results suggest that babies’ brains have the capacity for forming memories – but how long-lasting these memories are is still an open question,” said Tristan Yates, a postdoctoral research scientist in the department of psychology at Columbia University and lead author of the study. This is the first time scientists have directly observed how a memory begins to take shape in an awake baby’s brain. Previous research relied on indirect observations, such as watching whether babies reacted to something familiar. This time, however, researchers observed brain activity linked to specific memories as they form in real time. Most past brain activity studies have been done while babies were asleep, which limited what researchers could learn about conscious memory-building. The findings suggest that episodic memory – the kind of memory that helps us remember specific events and the context in which they took place – begins to develop earlier than scientists previously believed. Until recently, it was widely believed that this type of memory didn’t begin to form until well after a baby’s first birthday, typically around 18 to 24 months. Although the findings from the Science study were strongest in infants older than 12 months, the results were observed in much younger babies as well. It is now understood that babies begin forming limited types of memory when they are as young as two or three months. These include implicit memories (such as motor skills) and statistical learning, which helps infants detect patterns in language, faces and routines. However, episodic memory, which allows us to recall specific events as well as where and when they occurred, takes longer to develop and requires the maturation of the hippocampus. According to Cristina Maria Alberini, professor of neural science at New York University, the period in infancy when the hippocampus is developing its ability to form and store memories may be “critical”. This window could be important not only for memory but also has “great implications for mental health and memory or cognitive disorders”, she added. Memories formed in early childhood do not typically last very long, it is believed, which might explain why we can’t remember them later in life. In an ongoing study at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Germany, 20-month-old toddlers were able to remember which toy was in which room for up to six months, while younger children retained the memory for only about one month. Humans’ near-universal inability to recall personal experiences from before the age of about three is a phenomenon known as “infantile amnesia”. For decades, scientists believed this happens simply because babies’ brains were too immature to store episodic memories. But the Science study has shown that babies do indeed form memories. The mystery is why those memories become inaccessible as we grow older. One explanation, scientists say, is that babies’ brains undergo rapid neurogenesis – the fast-paced creation of new neurons in the brain. This rapid growth might disrupt or “write over” existing memories. In animal studies, when scientists slowed this process in baby mice, the mice were able to retain memories much longer – similar to adult mice. There is also a hypothesis that episodic memory requires language to describe them and a “sense of self” to relate to them. Since these skills don’t fully develop until around age three or four, the brain might not yet have the tools to organise and retrieve memories in the way adults do. Some researchers also think the process of forgetting might serve a developmental purpose. By letting go of specific early experiences, the brain might be better able to focus on building general knowledge – to understand how the world works, for example – without being distracted by detailed memories which no longer serve a purpose. Some people claim they can remember being a baby, but there is no evidence that what they describe are genuine episodic memories. According to the Yale and Columbia study, this belief typically stems from a psychological process called “source misattribution”. People may remember information, such as that they cried during their first haircut, but not where that information came from. They might unconsciously attribute the memory to personal experience when it actually came from a photo, family stories or a parent’s retelling. Over time, the line between “real” and “reconstructed” has blurred. Research shows that early family stories, frequent photo viewings or cultural emphasis on early development can all contribute to this phenomenon. Yale is currently conducting a new study in which parents will film their babies regularly, either with their phones angled from the baby’s point of view or by using head-mounted cameras on toddlers. Later, as the children grow older, the researchers will show the children these old videos to see if they recognise the experiences, primarily by monitoring brain activity, to find out how long early memories can last, Yates told Al Jazeera. There is debate about whether early life memories are completely erased or have simply become inaccessible and could eventually be recovered. Yates said that while the latest study does not answer this question, preliminary evidence from other research at the Yale lab shows that early life memories can be recalled in early childhood, but not later childhood. “I think the idea that at least some of our early life memories may exist in some form in our brains as adults is fascinating,” she said. Studies of adult rodents have shown that early memories can be brought back through approaches such as optogenetics – activating the specific brain cells which are believed to store those memories. This works by identifying the brain cells involved in forming a memory, then later using light to reactivate those same cells, causing the animal to recall the memory. Techniques such as optogenetics cannot yet be used in humans, but the study of rodents suggests that the process by which we retrieve memories is where the issue lies, rather than whether the memories exist at all, according to Paul Frankland, senior scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. “Perhaps there are natural conditions where these early life memories become more accessible,” he added. Psychoanalysts such as Sigmund Freud believed that early childhood memories are not lost but buried deep in the unconscious, and that psychotherapy might help bring them to the surface by changing mental states. However, Frankland said that this is a “controversial area” as “it is difficult to verify the veracity of recovered memories”. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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News_Naija

Flight Disruptions Likely Over NiMet Workers Strike

Passengers at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, have expressed worry as workers of the Nigeria Meteorology Agency vowed to embark on a nationwide indefinite strike from midnight on Tuesday. The development, according to operators and experts in the sector, could lead to flight disruption across the country should the strike linger. While some passengers are confused about when the strike would begin, many are already jittery about boarding an aircraft. In a letter obtained by The PUNCH, the Union of Air Transport Employees, the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical, and Recreational Services Employees, accused NiMet management of failing to honour agreements aimed at resolving prolonged remuneration issues. “As you are all aware, our unions have strived strenuously over the past few years to alleviate the exceedingly unjust remunerations conundrum that has visited extreme poverty and consequent untold hardship on NiMet workers. These efforts have been largely without substantial results,” the letter read. The unions expressed frustration over management’s failure to implement a partial agreement reached on January 28, 2025. “You are equally aware that the agreement between the management and our unions since 28th January 2025 towards partial amelioration of the above-stated condition has been honoured largely only in the breach.”  The PUNCH understands that all flight operations must get NiMet clearance for favourable weather before taking off from the airports. Passengers who spoke with one of our correspondents at the Lagos airport on Tuesday expressed fear, thinking that the workers might have abandoned their duty posts already. “I have prayed three times today. I am fasting at the moment, and I won’t break this fast until I land at my destination. What I am going to do is very important; if not, I will shelve this journey,” a traveller, Mrs Adedire Airin, stated. She added that she had questioned several airline and airport staff about the development, but none of them had been able to give a convincing explanation as to when the strike would begin. “I have handed everything over to God, but I am calling on the government to ensure that an accident does not happen,” Airin stated. Another traveller, who simply identified herself as Aderinsola, also expressed worry about the development, wondering when the strike would begin, as she prayed for safety. “I should have been flown since yesterday, and I can’t allow any further delay. Some people have said the strike starts today, while some say it will start on Wednesday,” she stated. In Abuja, a passenger, John Thompson, said he was told the strike would begin by midnight on Tuesday, and urged the unions to shelve the plan. “We’ve been told here at the airport that the strike will start on Tuesday by midnight, so we want to plead with the unions to give peace a chance and dialogue more with the authorities,” he stated. However, an industry expert, Muhammed Badamosi, said the strike may not be able to totally stop flight operations considering the level of technology available to the modern pilot. “Nimet information is as important as any other information the pilot needs for operation, but the truth is that technology has made their service almost obsolete now, and it doesn’t stop the pilot from flying. From my house here, through an app, I can check all the weather in the world, including the ones sent to pilots. “Remember that NiMet is using the same technology which is available to pilots, Yes, you need NiMet’s briefing but even without that, you can still operate. We don’t call it forecast per se, because when you have radar, it can give you the position of the weather and aircraft too for you to plan for flight even as a pilot,” he said. Repeated phone calls and text messages to the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency, Abdullah Musa, to ascertain if there would be flight operations at the airport were futile as he didn’t respond to questions. Meanwhile, a source at the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency, who works at the control tower, expressed doubt that the entire agency would be shut down. The source who could not give his name because he was not empowered to address the press on issues relating to the agency, stressed that NAMA would receive skeletal weather reports from NiMet and that would be what the agency would continue to make available to airlines for operations. He said, “I think when agencies declare such a total strike, some key persons still stay back, such as someone from the forecast department, and I think that is where the little information we will be operating with would be coming from.” Efforts to get the President of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, Galadima Abednego, on the possible impact of the strike were unsuccessful as he neither picked up his calls nor responded to text messages. When asked what the situation would look like, perhaps, would airlines be able to operate under the circumstances of the strike, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Michael Achimugu, said he would get back to our correspondent. Also, Tunde Moshood, the spokesperson of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, promised to get back to our correspondent on what the ministry was doing as regards the strike but never got back till press time. Speaking with the Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Ado Sanusi, he stressed that it was the standard operational procedure for airlines to get weather reports for aircraft to either land or take off. He, however, could not confirm if there would be flight operations on Wednesday or not. “It is a standard operational procedure that if there is no weather report there is no how an aircraft can either land at an airport or take, but I cannot confirm if there will be flight operations tomorrow or not, I can not answer that question. “NiMet is responsible for the weather forecast, and we all know that. But whether NAMA has now arranged with them or not, I don’t know! But if there is no weather report, there cannot be flight operations,” he stated.

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Worldnews

Man Utd Reach Europa League Last Four With Maguires 121st Minute Winner

Manchester United score twice in the final minutes of extra time to turn quarterfinal against Lyon at Old Trafford. Harry Maguire scored in the dying seconds of extra time to help Manchester United snatch a place in the Europa League semifinals with a sensational 7-6 aggregate victory over Olympique Lyonnais in their quarterfinal. A thrilling second leg tie was taken into extra time after United threw away a two-goal lead on the night to be pegged back to 2-2 after 90 minutes, with goals from Rayan Cherki and Alexandre Lacazette putting Lyon on the verge of the semifinals at a stunned Old Trafford on Thursday. However, United made their numerical advantage, given to them after Corentin Tolisso’s late red card in normal time, count. Maguire sent Old Trafford into delirium with his 121st-minute header, which sealed a 5-4 victory in the second leg. It was the hosts who took an early lead, Manuel Ugarte slotting home 10 minutes in after a fine team move, before Diogo Dalot added a second just before the break to double the hosts’ lead. As the minutes ticked on, however, the nerves crept in, and two goals in six second-half minutes from Tolisso and Nicolas Tagliafico drew the match and left the tie level in a sensational fashion. Tolisso’s late sending off swung the momentum back in United’s favour, but Cherki’s fine strike and Lacazzette’s coolly-taken penalty seemingly settled the exhilarating contest. Fernandes’s spot kick straight down the other end gave the home supporters hope of another dramatic finale, with Maguire having the final say, with United heading through to face Athletic Bilbao in the last four. Tottenham also put its domestic problems to one side by sealing a place in the last four. Dominic Solanke’s first-half penalty secured a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt and a 2-1 aggregate victory. The win keeps alive the Spurs’ hopes of salvaging a desperate campaign that has left them languishing in 15th place in the Premier League. The deep run in the second-tier competition has provided rare moments of optimism – and triumph would not only deliver a first trophy since 2008, but qualification for next year’s Champions League. Athletic Bilbao also advanced to the semifinals after a 2-0 win over the Rangers following a 0-0 draw in the first leg. Lazio vs Bodo/Glimt also went to extra time. Lazio won 2-0 on the night and levelled the tie at 2-2 on aggregate. Spurs needed the assistance of VAR when awarded a penalty for a foul by Frankfurt goalkeeper Kaua Santos on James Maddison. Solanke fired down the middle for the decisive goal in the 43rd minute. Oihan Sancet and Nico Williams were on target for Bilbao against the Rangers at San Mames. Follow Al Jazeera English:...