A person who recalls things with unusual accuracy is said to have a photographic memory. In the memory of such a person, items such as pages of print, pictures or even sounds can be reproduced exactly. A photographic memory can absorb the details of such items and sounds in under a minute.

Photographic memory is also known as total recall or eidetic memory. Eidetic is a reference to the Greek word, form. For most people, photographic memory remains the most comprehensible description, because the remembered images or sounds so accurate that they can be described as mental photographs.

Only about one tenth of the worlds population is thought to have the gift of photographic memory. Studies show that most of these people are children. As they grow older, the photographic memory ability seems to lessen.

There are adults with photographic memory too. Some famous people have been identified has having a photographic memory. Musical composers and artists are often times the adults that possess a photographic memory which offers the correlation between artist ability and the ability to memorize things visually.

Photographic memory has also become a popular concept to use in fiction such as books and films. The X Files Fox Mulder is credited with photographic memory as is the comic book character, Superman. In the film Rain Man, the role played by Dustin Hoffman was created in part from the experiences of Kim Peek, a savant with a photographic memory.

Many people desire the ability to have a photographic memory. Students could certainly benefit from the powers offered up by a photographic memory, and other people simply want to be able to recall everything they possibly can. People who have jobs that deal with visual items and projects can also benefit from having a photographic memory.

There have been some disadvantages associated with photographic memory, despite all of its supposed benefits. Large amounts of material stored in memory can become overwhelming for the individual with a photographic memory. This overload causes short term memory difficulties and difficulties in terms of memory retrieval.

There are people that clearly assert that a photographic memory is indeed a possibility. In order to explain how certain individuals possess the ability to see something and to recall it so clearly, advocates for the existence of photographic memory assert that such individuals are capable of visually capturing information into a mental image for later recall.

Those who assert that photographic memory is not real argue a different argument. According to some, a photographic memory is merely a display of someone who has a better ability to focus on material and to arrange it in meaningful ways. This talent later allows for super fast, efficient, and precise memory retrieval.

Despite all the memory exercises and taking of memory herbal supplements, if an adult doesn’t have a photographic memory, he or she probably wont get one. While memory improvement is indeed possible, it seems that there may be a genetic component in play for those that have a photographic memory. A photographic memory may also be dependent upon ones learning style.