memory

"James L. McGaugh, in his excellent book Memory & Emotion, talks of how memories were recorded in medieval times.  When an important event such as a wedding, a treaty, or a large transaction had to be recorded, adults took a young child about seven years old, had him carefully witness the event and then quickly threw him in a cold river to shock his body so the memory would be imprinted for a life time (McGaugh, 2003).  The cold water probably released excess adrenaline, cortisol, and other neurochemicals, which in turn deeply imprinted the memories on the child's brain (Reuter, Netter, Roqausch, 2002)."

- from one of my textbooks