What is the term for the inability to recall memories from before a certain age, commonly known as the age of three?

The term for the inability to recall memories from before a certain age, often cited as around three years old, is commonly referred to as infantile amnesia. Infantile amnesia refers specifically to the phenomenon where individuals are unable to remember events from early childhood, typically before the age of three. This concept is supported by psychological research that shows that the neural mechanisms required for encoding long-term memories are not fully developed in infants and very young children.

In contrast, childhood amnesia may refer to the broader difficulties in recalling memories from early childhood, but it is not as widely accepted or consistently defined as infantile amnesia, which focuses on the pre-3 years age range. Retrograde amnesia involves the loss of pre-existing memories, usually due to brain injury or trauma, and does not specifically relate to age. Amnestic syndrome refers to specific types of memory loss due to injury or disease, often related to cognitive functions, rather than a developmental stage in early childhood. Thus, the concept of infantile amnesia captures the essence of why early childhood memories are generally inaccessible to adults, emphasizing the developmental aspects of memory formation.