Ribot's Law

Ribot's Law, as postulated by 19th century French researcher Theodore Ribot, states that during incidents of Retrograde Amnesia (event or trauma-induced) recent memories are more likely to be lost than more remote memories. This phenomenon is due to the fact that the brain stores more distant memories differently than it does recent memories. This law also implies that more distant memories are also less likely to be disturbed by disease or mental decline than short-term memories. For example, you may be familiar with the phenomenon of being able to vividly recall childhood memories while sometimes having difficulty remembering actions taken just a short time ago.