Taking a picture of good memory

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Many people would give anything to be able to take mental snapshots of life that could be recalled at any moment, but the idea of having a photographic memory is misunderstood, says Dr. Barry Gordon, professor of neurology and cognitive science at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore. He is the author of "Intelligent Memory."

"It's a misconception," he says. "It's a bit overblown, that there are people walking around that remember everything perfectly."

Many people have excellent memories, especially in specific areas, but the common notion of photographic memory is a falsehood. Although some individuals may have better memories than others, their accounts usually are not without error. Further, experts are unsure how human memory works, but most of them believe it can be improved with practice.

"Even people with extraordinarily good memories are usually extraordinarily good in one area," Dr. Gordon says. "One person could remember everything he had ever read, but he couldn't recognize someone's wife."

The most popular example of what is commonly thought of as photographic memory was documented by a Russian neuropsychologist, Aleksandr Romanovich Luria in "The Mind of a Mnemonist: A Little Book About Vast Memory," says Dr. Kimford Meador, professor and chairman of the department of neurology at Georgetown University Hospital in Northwest.

In the book, first published in 1968 by Basic Books, Mr. Luria tells the story of a man identified only as "S" with whom he worked for decades. Most people with this level of memory have never been studied. Mr. Luria documented how S stored vast amounts of information through images. However, even S made mistakes. The book was reprinted in 1988 by Harvard University Press.

Further, although S had a remarkable memory, he had difficulties with daily life. Dr. Meador says the subject ended up working as a taxi driver in Moscow. The skill, which would have been handy during a game of trivia, didn't help "S" with practical activities.

In fact, sometimes, the best way the brain helps individuals is to forget unimportant information or bad experiences. If someone remembered each detail of every day, it more than likely would be enough to drive the person crazy.