Trinity is right about memory "coding." Here's how it was explained to me; although I have no sources to actually cite. Basically, we have memories from the beginning, and we start to code our memories verbally when we become verbal, around 3 or so. At that time, the recall mechanism becomes verbal as well. So as verbal adults we can retrieve memories back to when we became verbal. Gifted kids who became verbal earlier can retrieve those early memories better because the coding switched from non-verbal to verbal at an earlier date.
The memories from our pre-verbal days are all still in there, but once we become verbal we lack the recall mechanism. Some people who have verbal learning disabilities can also recall the early memories because they never switched over to verbal coding.
I had a friend who had brain surgery and he said that during the surgery and for several days afterwords he very clearly remembered what it felt like to be born. And yes his memory fit with info his mother later told him. Our best guess is that the surgeon must have his the part of the brain that stored the birth memory--it was there but couldn't be recalled.
