MEMORY WOMAN

Sometimes when we're reminiscing
over "old times" KB has a knack of
remembering names of people and places
that I have no recollection of and I
call the "Memory Woman".

But even she can't beat this lady!

A woman who has baffled doctors with
her ability to remember every detail of
every day has broken her anonymity
to speak of her condition.

Jill Price, 42, can remember every part
of her life since she was 14 but considers
her ability a curse as she
cannot switch off.

She described her life as like a split-screen
television, with one side showing what
she is doing in the present, and the other
showing the memories which
she cannot hold back.

Every detail about every day since 1980 -
what time she got up, who she met, what
she did, even what she ate - is locked in
her brain and can be released to come
flooding back by common triggers
like songs, smells or place names.

Mrs Price, a widow who is a school administrator,
sometimes struggles to sleep because
the vivid memories crowd her
mind and stop her relaxing.

Her condition is so rare that scientists
had to coin a term for her condition -
hyperthymestic syndrome from the
Greek thymesis, for remembering,
and hyper, meaning
well above normal.

For years she remained anonymous,
referred to only by initials in scientific
journals while experts at the
University of California-Irvine
tested her ability.

Neuroscientists say a trauma such as
moving the family home can trigger major,
lingering changes in the brain, especially
in children who cling to memories of
how their life had been. Mrs Price said:
"Some memories are good and give me a
warm, safe feeling. But I also recall every
bad decision, insult and excruciating
embarrassment. Over the years it has
eaten me up. It has kind
of paralysed me."

Professor McGaugh from the university said:
"You could give her a date picked at random
from years ago and within seconds she'd
tell you what day of the week it was,
and not only what she did but
other key events of the day."

From the age of 10 until she was 34,
Mrs Price kept a daily diary, which
allowed scientists to check events as
she remembered them now against
what she wrote down at the time.

Mrs Price, who has written a book called
The Woman Who Can't Forget, blames her
vivid memories for many years of depression.

Professor McGaugh has since discovered
five other adults with similar powers and
50 more "possibles". He said MRI scans
indicated their brains were a
slightly different shape to normal.

Two other patterns have emerged. Mrs Price
and three of the other five are left-handed
and they all compulsively collect things
like TV guides, old films and
theatre programmes.