Events from well before the age of two can be recalled, suggests a Canadian study of around 100 young children aged 4 to 13.
When the same children were interviewed in later life, most of the memories were gone.
Most adults cannot recall much from before the age of three or four.
Experts from the Memorial University of Newfoundland asked 100 children aged 4 to 13 to recall three of their earliest memories and when they thought they had happened.
They found that the younger children could recall memories from as early as 18 months.
They also checked with their parents, who could corroborate many of the events and the times they took place.
Two years later, they spoke to the same children and again asked them to recall three of their earliest memories.
What they found was that the younger children in the survey recalled different memories from those they had given before. Nor did they recall their earlier memories when presented with prompts.
