People with dementia often remember details from their childhood more clearly than recent events. This happens because certain early memories, especially those tied to strong emotions, stick around longer in the brain even as the disease progresses.
Dementia, like in Alzheimer’s disease, damages parts of the brain that handle new information and everyday memories first. Short-term memory fades quickly, making it hard for patients to recall what they ate for breakfast or where they put their keys. But memories from childhood form differently. They get stored deep in the brain’s emotional centers, which stay stronger longer.
Think of it this way. Childhood experiences, like playing with family or a favorite toy, link to feelings of joy, fear, or love. These emotional tags make the memories tougher to erase. Experts note that emotionally charged autobiographical memories from early life can still surface in people with moderate to severe dementia. For example, a patient might not know the day or year but can vividly describe their old hometown or a lost sibling.
This ties into how the brain works. Early memories build during childhood when the brain wires its core sense of self. As kids grow, they start forming detailed stories of their lives, but the deepest roots from ages two to six often hold firm. In dementia, the brain loses the ability to link new facts easily, yet it keeps access to these old emotional paths.
One real-life sign of this comes from care stories. A woman with advanced Alzheimer’s who had lost her young children years ago calmed down right away when given a doll like one from her past. Her agitation and sleep issues dropped fast, as if the doll woke up buried feelings from childhood grief. This shows how tapping into early emotional memories can even help behavior without drugs.
Not all early memories last equally. Infant memories before age three often vanish for everyone due to how the young brain stores them without full language or awareness. But from early childhood on, key events endure, especially if they shaped who we are.
Roots of later memory loss might even start in those first years of life. Tiny events around birth or early wiring could quietly set the stage for dementia decades later. Still, the fact remains that for many patients, childhood glimpses offer comfort and a window to their past self.
Sources
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12753297/
https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/memory/4-examples-of-autobiographical-memory/
https://www.britannica.com/science/memory-psychology/Amnesia
https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/list/display/546692098/975686749
https://www.comailab.org/05-166843-roots-of-dementia-form-in-the-earliest-years-of-life/
