You might have heard stories about someone who has a photographic memory. Perhaps you even thought you or someone you know might have one. But is a photographic memory real?
The brain works as a super machine, storing several types of memory. Imagine it as a computer hard drive, where it’s possible to keep large amounts of compartmentalized data. Yet there is a limit to the amount of information we can retain in any given memory. For example, according to German neuroscientist Boris Konrad, “Most people can hold between five and nine new chunks of information in their working memory.” Considering that working memory (the one that allows you to hold knowledge for use at the precise moment) is short-lived, that’s a big undertaking.
So, the pursuit of this remarkable feat has long intrigued scientists around the world. For years, neuroscientists and memory researchers have tried to understand the photographic ...
