system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Are "core memories" a real thing?

Hey guys! I was recently thinking about the movie Inside Out, and more specifically "core memories". If you don't know, in the movie core memories are basically super important memories that help define your sense of self. So if you really like basketball, your first game may be a "core memory". You also only have a very small handful of them (<10).

Now I'm not expecting a Pixar movie to have 100% accurate neurology, but are there any general concepts that are analogous to "core memories" in Inside Out? Are core memories, in any real sense, an actual thing?
gpt
No, not a thing. As you describe them, these "core" memories would be part of autobiographical memory (memory about oneself). But there is no limited number of particularly special autobiographical memories that define people typically. A possible exception is a highly traumatic event.

Another slightly similar concept is a "flashbulb" memory, where people remember a particular event very clearly (although not always accurately). Classic examples would be the moon landings, Challenger disaster, or 9/11/2001. There are often not autobiographical though, but they might be highly emotional.