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Below are some of my favourite unsolved mysteries.

Highly superior autobiographical memory

If you give Jill Price a date, she can easily tell you what day of the week it fell on and what she did that day. Price was reported as the first known case of highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM) in 2006. Since then, more adults and even children have been identified as having this ability. People with HSAM can recall almost anything from their memories in minute detail from events in their life to conversations they’ve had. The true mystery is why some people have this superhuman brainpower and others don’t. Brain images of people with HSAM have shown researchers that some parts of their brain structure are different from people who have a typical memory. But it’s not yet known if these brain differences cause HSAM or if they occur because the person uses areas of the brain associated with memory more.

Water allergy

This may sound impossible – considering that our bodies are around 60% water – but some rare individuals are allergic to water.

They can still drink the stuff, of course. It’s washing that causes the problem. A few minutes in the bath or shower causes their skin to erupt in itchy red weals.

This rare condition (known, medically as aquagenic urticaria), was first described in 1964.

Its cause is still a mystery: it could be due to a toxic response when water touches the skin, or to an extreme sensitivity to ions in the water.

Foreign accent syndrome

If you wake up talking with a strong Jamaican accent, despite the fact that you’ve never even heard a Jamaican accent before, then the chances are you’re suffering from foreign accent syndrome.

The best known case of this syndrome dates from 1941, when a Norwegian woman was ostracised after she was injured during an air raid and began talking with a strong German accent.

This syndrome was once regarded as a psychological disorder, but it’s now thought to be a neurological one, which comes about when a stroke or injury damages the part of the brain associated with speech.

The real mystery is how people talk with an accent they’ve never been exposed to – though recently scientists have come up with a possible explanation. The “foreign-ness” of a sufferer’s accent might simply be due to the listener struggling to interpret the change in the sufferer’s speech patterns.