Human self-perception could be the key to retrieving the hidden memories of childhood amnesia, according to new research that provides unexpected insights into how our self-image influences our recollection.
In a new paper published in Scientific Reports, researchers showed subjects a digitally manipulated childlike version of their own face. Intriguingly, the experiment allowed participants to recall autobiographical memories from as far back as early childhood, which are usually considered beyond the bounds of encoding due to physical and cognitive limits at such ages.
Altered Reflections
Anglia Ruskin University neuroscientists led the study, working with a group of 50 adult participants. Placed in front of a computer screen, the subjects were presented with an “enfacement illusion,” where the computer displayed their own face back to them, yet digitally altered to appear more childlike. The illusion mirrored their movements, creating the sense that the participants were looking into a mirror at their own faces. A control group was added, which experienced an actual mirror effect, where their faces were not altered on he screens.
Following a session in front of the enfacement illusion, each subject underwent an autobiographical memory interview. These interviews included questions about the subject’s recent past in the last year and some about their childhood, with the interviewer recording the responses.
Responses collected during these interviews were quantified based on the amount of detail, focusing on episodic autobiographical memories. This category of memory involves reliving past events as a form of mental time travel to earlier portions of an individual’s life.
Uncovering Childhood Amnesia
Participants who viewed a childlike version of their faces recalled significantly more episodic childhood memories compared to adults who saw their true faces. Never before has a study shown a link between memory access and how we see ourselves.
Humans tend to experience a phase of childhood amnesia, where memories from before the age of three or four are typically inaccessible to adults. While the brain’s physical immaturity and undeveloped cognitive abilities at those ages are usually seen as the primary factors in the phenomenon, suggesting that the brain was incapable of encoding the information in the first place, the new research indicates otherwise. Instead, bodily self-perception may be a new tool for recovering memories that are hidden, but do indeed exist within the brain.
“All the events that we remember are not just experiences of the external world, but are also experiences of our body, which is always present,” said lead author Dr Utkarsh Gupta. “We discovered that temporary changes to the bodily self, specifically, embodying a childlike version of one’s own face, can significantly enhance access to childhood memories.”
Exploring the Body-Memory Connection
“When our childhood memories were formed, we had a different body,” explained senior author Professor Jane Aspell. “So we wondered: if we could help people experience aspects of that body again, could we help them recall their memories from that time?
Cues can often aid an individual in recalling seemingly forgotten memories. The researchers suggest that because information about our bodies is encoded in our memories, viewing ourselves as younger may similarly act as a cue, promoting recollection.
“This might be because the brain encodes bodily information as part of the details of an event. Reintroducing similar bodily cues may help us retrieve those memories, even decades later,” Gupta said.
The work represents not just a singular result but an entire new avenue of inquiry. With various memory impairments affecting individuals with certain conditions, distinct from the relatively universal childhood amnesia, the new research may offer a path forward in developing treatments based on body image and self-perception to aid recall.
“These results are really exciting and suggest that further, more sophisticated body illusions could be used to unlock memories from different stages of our lives – perhaps even from early infancy,” Aspell said. “In the future it may even be possible to adapt the illusion to create interventions that might aid memory recall in people with memory impairments.”
The paper, “Illusory Ownership of One’s Younger Face Facilitates Access to Childhood Episodic Autobiographical Memories,” appeared in Scientific Reports on October 9, 2025.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.