About Jill Price

Jill Price: The Woman Who Can't Forget

Jill Price is a California woman with a rare and remarkable memory condition known as Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), also originally called hyperthymestic syndrome. She was the first person to be formally diagnosed with this condition, which is characterized by the continuous, automatic, and detailed recall of autobiographical events from her life.

The Unforgettable Life: For Jill Price, memories are not fleeting; they are like home movies that constantly play in her head. Starting on February 5, 1980, when she was 14 years old, she can recall every single day of her life in vivid detail. If given a date, she can tell you what day of the week it was, what she did, and any significant world or cultural event she was aware of at the time.

Unlike people with savant syndrome who can perform specific, complex mental feats, Price's memory is primarily personal and relates to her own life experiences. While her memory is a source of fascination for scientists, she has described it as a burden, as she cannot "unremember" any moment, whether good or bad.

A Scientific Breakthrough

Price's unique case was initially researched by a team at the University of California, Irvine. She was first identified in their research as "AJ" before her identity was revealed. Her case challenged the long-held assumption that human memory reworks and alters past events over time.

Her memoir, The Woman Who Can't Forget: The Extraordinary Story of Living with the Most Remarkable Memory Known to Science—A Memoir, was co-authored with Bart Davis and published in 2008. In the book, she shares her personal struggles with the condition, including the emotional challenges of reliving every memory. Her story has since been featured in documentaries and media reports, bringing her one-in-a-million mind to the attention of the world. Her case has also spurred further research into the nature of memory, including how we forget and how memories are tied to our emotions.