People possessing the ability to accurately recall events from any given day of their lives are known as individuals with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM). This rare phenomenon typically manifests in later childhood and has been observed in nearly a hundred people worldwide, including an American individual diagnosed with hyperthymesia in 2006.
Individuals with HSAM have an exceptional memory ability that allows them to remember dates and recall verifiable details with complete reliability and accuracy. They also have a quick, automatic memory of events, which tends to focus on their own experiences. Despite their remarkable memory abilities, these individuals do not stand out in terms of intelligence compared to the general population.
Researchers have studied brain imaging data to understand how HSAM individuals process information differently than the rest of us. According to neuroscientist Jessica Talbotin from La Sapienza University, their memory network dealing with biographical events is highly overactivated, while normal aging is associated with a decline in information processing. However, HSAM individuals do not experience this decline.