03/07/2025
“A sizable amount of memory from infancy is stored in the brain as implicit memory [procedural memory], and this makes up the unconscious mind. The massive growth of the infant brain means that a ton of memories and critical brain areas are formed in babyhood. Lifelong memories are encoded into the structure of the stress and emotional systems, and on top of DNA by epigenetics, which are formed in infancy. In infancy the brain creates non-autobiographical implicit memories like sensory, motor, and emotional memory. So while babies may not remember discrete events from their infancy, they will remember how to eat, how to walk, and, importantly, their DNA, stress systems, and emotional systems will remember how the people they love made them feel. I like to adapt a Maya Angelou quote to illustrate this point: “[Babies] will forget what you said, [babies] will forget what you did, but [babies] will never forget how you made them feel.” Babies do not forget how they were nurtured. We may have limited recollection of early life, but nurturing experiences change our DNA, stress systems, and emotional systems and stay in our brains. So in fact, the reality is that the infant brain has a huge capacity for memory. We can best support our babies when we understand how powerful this period of life truly is. Your presence, relationship, communication, play, laughs, and responsiveness with your baby in their first three years are transformative to the brain they will have for the rest of their life.” - from the Nurture Revolution by Greer Kirshenbaum