<p>It all comes down to the type of memory.</p>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood_amnesia" rel="noreferrer">Infantile amnesia</a> is largely associated with the loss of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episodic_memory" rel="noreferrer">episodic memory</a>, a type of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declarative_memory" rel="noreferrer">explicit memory</a> that can be consciously recalled (eg, remembering a past event).  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicit_memory" rel="noreferrer">Implicit memory</a>, such as learned skills (eg, remembering how to tie your shoes), the learned part of personality, and priming associations, are largely unaffected.</p>

<p>Though the reasons for infantile amnesia are not well understood, it has some similarity to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrograde_amnesia" rel="noreferrer">retrograde amnesia</a>, that also affects mostly episodic memory, but not implicit memory (so again, you lose memories of past events, but not your personality).  The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocampus" rel="noreferrer">hippocampus</a>, an area of the brain associated with memory consolidation, is an important factor in both types of amnesia.</p>

<p>PS: The first article you link to is about genetics, or specifically <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics" rel="noreferrer">epigenetics</a>, that is to do with gene expression.  This is a completely different factor that is also immune to amnesia since it is not related to memory, and so far it is only implicated in a very few traits.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-08-26T09:56:28.040Z
2015-08-26T09:56:28.040Z
Arnon Weinberg
<p>Studies with rats have shown that how much a pup is licked during their early childhood predicts their adult personality <a href="http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/rats/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">[1]</a>. Also, many psychologists say that early childhood is the part of our lives where our personality is formed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erikson%27s_stages_of_psychosocial_development" rel="nofollow noreferrer">[2]</a>. However, recent evidence suggests that childhood memories are actively removed, to be replaced with new ones <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/344/6184/598" rel="nofollow noreferrer">[3]</a>. So how can childhood affect us so much?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-12T04:57:53.720Z
Related: [Why do we not remember things from the first couple of years of childhood?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/4516/7001)
Arnon Weinberg
<memory><personality><brain-development><neurogenesis>
How can we be formed by our childhood's environment if we don't remember much of it?
Probably
# How can we be formed by our childhood's environment if we don't remember much of it?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-08-25)

Studies with rats have shown that how much a pup is licked during their early childhood predicts their adult personality [[1]](http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/rats/). Also, many psychologists say that early childhood is the part of our lives where our personality is formed [[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erikson%27s_stages_of_psychosocial_development). However, recent evidence suggests that childhood memories are actively removed, to be replaced with new ones [[3]](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/344/6184/598). So how can childhood affect us so much?

**Tags:** memory, personality, brain-development, neurogenesis

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Related: [Why do we not remember things from the first couple of years of childhood?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/4516/7001)  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-08-26. Score: 7

It all comes down to the type of memory.

[Infantile amnesia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood_amnesia) is largely associated with the loss of [episodic memory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episodic_memory), a type of [explicit memory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declarative_memory) that can be consciously recalled (eg, remembering a past event). [Implicit memory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicit_memory), such as learned skills (eg, remembering how to tie your shoes), the learned part of personality, and priming associations, are largely unaffected.

Though the reasons for infantile amnesia are not well understood, it has some similarity to [retrograde amnesia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrograde_amnesia), that also affects mostly episodic memory, but not implicit memory (so again, you lose memories of past events, but not your personality). The [hippocampus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocampus), an area of the brain associated with memory consolidation, is an important factor in both types of amnesia.

PS: The first article you link to is about genetics, or specifically [epigenetics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics), that is to do with gene expression. This is a completely different factor that is also immune to amnesia since it is not related to memory, and so far it is only implicated in a very few traits.


---

