The 4400: Eidetic Memory

Eidetic memory is a psychological or medical term popularly defined as the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision. The word eidetic, referring to extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall not limited to visual images, is from Ancient Greek and connected to 'seeing'.

While a person with a photographic memory will precisely recall visual information, a person with an eidetic memory is not limited to merely visual recall - theoretically, they can recall other aspects of the event including sensory information that is visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, and olfactory, as well as other dimensions. It might, therefore, be termed total recall.

Within the confines of the show, this ability leaves it user dependent on writing as an outlet for such vast quantities of information, and, if cut off from writing tools, its user could potentially go insane.