Objective
We can remember our first kiss, but not our first birthday. Why are we unable to recall the earliest chapters of our lives, despite the fact that our brains were already learning at a remarkable pace? This phenomenon—known as infantile amnesia—remains one of the longest-standing mysteries in psychology and neuroscience. It is all the more striking because early-life events, including trauma, attachment, and stress exposure, often leave enduring behavioural and neural signatures. Yet we still do not know why these formative experiences fail to register in long-term memory.
Recent evidence suggests that memory encoding in early childhood is surprisingly robust. So where, then, does forgetting set in? In this project, I formulate and test two novel hypotheses: that early memories are lost either due to underdeveloped sleep-based consolidation mechanisms or because they become inaccessible over time as the brain undergoes a profound transformation in how it represents the external world. These hypotheses are not mutually exclusive but have never been systematically tested—nor reconciled—across species, neural scales, and development.
MemOnto brings together paediatric intracranial EEG (iEEG), developmental scalp EEG, rodent circuit manipulation, and representational modelling to answer this question. WP1 analyses >300 paediatric iEEG datasets to track when hippocampal ripples and their cortical coupling emerge. WP2 uses rodent sleep recordings and optogenetic stimulation to test whether ripple–spindle coupling drives memory consolidation. WP3 longitudinally follows 3–6-year-olds, using EEG and behavioural memory testing to link representational drift to recall failure. WP4 provides an adult benchmark using the same neural decoding methods.
By connecting neurodevelopment, systems neuroscience, and machine learning, MemOnto will offer the first integrative account of how and when memory becomes truly enduring in the human brain—and why our earliest memories fade.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences neurobiology
- social sciences psychology
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence machine learning
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.