<p>Depending on what you consider 'photographic memory', there is a documented psychological syndrome called 'hyperthymesia' or 'highly superior autobiographical memory'. People with this condition can recall mundane aspects of nearly every day of their lives, such as what shoes a stranger was wearing 20 years ago. It's not quite the same as what 'eidetic memory' refers to but it does reflect an exceptionally acute memory system.</p>

<p>According to Wikipedia there are 25 recorded cases in peer-reviewed journals. The Wiki article is here: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-24T16:53:42.393Z
2014-03-24T16:53:42.393Z
Adb
<p>Photographic memory is a fairly well known phenomena, but is it theoretically possible?</p>

<p>In Marvin Minsky's <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0671657135"><em>The Society of Mind</em></a> claims it is a <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=LO_LAUFpJ3cC&amp;dq=society+of+mind&amp;q=photographic&amp;hl=en#search_anchor">myth</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"...we often hear about people with 'photographic memories' that enable them to quickly memorize all the fine details of a complicated picture or a page of text in a few seconds. So far as I can tell, all of these tales are unfounded myths, and only professional magicians or charlatans can produce such demonstrations."</p>
</blockquote>

<p>There have been a few claims of photographic memory, but only one person was ever reported to have passed tests supporting that claim: a woman named Elizabeth, who later married Charles Stromeyer, the man who had performed the studies within which Elizabeth demonstrated these purported skills.  </p>

<p>Given the relationship between the researcher and the subject, and <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2006/04/kaavya_syndrome.html">lack of reproduced test results</a>, even that one example is rather suspect.</p>

<p>Are there any evidence to support that perfect long-term visual storage and retrieval of memories are theoretically possible?  By what mechanism would this likely work?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-24T02:31:57.523Z
yes it is possible the perfect long-term visual storage of Stephen Wiltshire: The Human Camera http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8YXZTlwTAU
ivancogsci
<memory><long-term-memory>
Is photographic memory possible?
Beofett
# Is photographic memory possible?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-09-11)

Photographic memory is a fairly well known phenomena, but is it theoretically possible?

In Marvin Minsky's [*The Society of Mind*](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0671657135) claims it is a [myth](http://books.google.com/books?id=LO_LAUFpJ3cC&dq=society+of+mind&q=photographic&hl=en#search_anchor):

> "...we often hear about people with 'photographic memories' that enable them to quickly memorize all the fine details of a complicated picture or a page of text in a few seconds. So far as I can tell, all of these tales are unfounded myths, and only professional magicians or charlatans can produce such demonstrations."

There have been a few claims of photographic memory, but only one person was ever reported to have passed tests supporting that claim: a woman named Elizabeth, who later married Charles Stromeyer, the man who had performed the studies within which Elizabeth demonstrated these purported skills.

Given the relationship between the researcher and the subject, and [lack of reproduced test results](http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2006/04/kaavya_syndrome.html), even that one example is rather suspect.

Are there any evidence to support that perfect long-term visual storage and retrieval of memories are theoretically possible? By what mechanism would this likely work?

**Tags:** memory, long-term-memory

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: yes it is possible the perfect long-term visual storage of Stephen Wiltshire: The Human Camera http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8YXZTlwTAU  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-03-24. Score: 4

Depending on what you consider 'photographic memory', there is a documented psychological syndrome called 'hyperthymesia' or 'highly superior autobiographical memory'. People with this condition can recall mundane aspects of nearly every day of their lives, such as what shoes a stranger was wearing 20 years ago. It's not quite the same as what 'eidetic memory' refers to but it does reflect an exceptionally acute memory system.

According to Wikipedia there are 25 recorded cases in peer-reviewed journals. The Wiki article is here: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia>


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