Can the human spirit remember anything without a physical body? (LDS perspective) I work doing support work for adults with disabilities. I have a friend who recently graduated with a degree in psychology. One day we got talking about all the ways that brain damage (through accident, injury, age, disease, etc.) can affect a person.

Both of us being Christian as well, the conversation eventually shifted into a more spiritual discussion about the consistent/unchanging nature of the spirit and the inconsistent nature of the body. We got stumped on a couple of question, but they can be summarized into this one: There is no question whether or not the human brain can store memories – but is the human spirit able to store memories (without a physical body)?

My friend is Christian, I am LDS. Despite having access to the vast knowledge of both Christian viewpoints, we couldn't find any answer to the question with just the two of us looking.

The Bible didn't seem to have any answers (it's a big book though with only two people looking) and the only things I could find in the Book of Mormon were references to a person remembering all their guilt or joy at judgement (i. e., after the resurrection). I'm no scholar in other canonized Christian literature or in the other LDS books, but nothing we found seemed to specifically reference a spirit remembering something without a physical brain.

Is there anywhere in scripture or LDS doctrine reference to a spirit, outside of the presence of God (i. e., fallen man, those in spirit prison, or Satan and his followers), remembering something? Or a doctrine that clearly suggests spirits can remember things?
Yes.

Gospel Fundamentals Chapter 35: Life after Death 


  In the spirit world our spirits will have the same form as when we lived on the earth with bodies of flesh and bones. We will look as we do here. We will think the same way and believe the same things as we did here. Those who are righteous in this life will still be righteous. Those who were unrighteous will still be unrighteous. We will have the same desires after we die as we had while on this earth.


Pay attention to "We will think the same way and believe the same things as we did here."  What we think and believe stem from our experiences in mortality. Those experiences are stored in our memories. If we couldn't remember until after the resurrection, we wouldn't be the same person as a spirit. We would be a void so to speak until we regained our memories.

Alma 34:34 


  34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.


The same spirit we have now, will remain with us.  This includes our memories.

I hope this answers your question.