Horizon takes viewers on a journey into the human memory – how it emerges in childhood, develops through the teenage years into adulthood, and begins to fade in middle age.
Throughout childhood, the ability to recall the past improves, but this isn’t the case for John Forbes. The “hardware” for his memory was damaged at birth and he is unable to do simple tasks such as catch a bus or cook a meal because he constantly forgets what he is doing.
John’s memory deficit brings another, more surprising, problem – he cannot plan for the future. In most children, this ability develops around the age of five. MRI scanning has shown that some areas of the brain used to process memories also produce our ideas about the future. So, without a past, John is also unable to imagine his own future.
Some adults, however, want to erase aspects of their past. Genevieve Smith-Courtois is haunted by a sexual assault and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. But a pioneering technique may help – by simply taking a pill, she can “tone down” her memory.
Ultimately, forgetting comes to everyone and it’s believed that memory decline begins at 27. For some, the process can be devastating. John Stevenson developed Alzheimer’s at the age of 52. Now he is unable to even get himself a glass of water; the loss of memory is a tragic unravelling of the self. But what puzzles scientists is how well most of us cope: a 90-year-old reminiscing about their childhood is an everyday miracle.
Horizon explores how memory defines every individual and how everyone is little more than their own memory.
Tuesday 25 March
9.00-9.50pm BBC TWO
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