

#MAJOR TYPES OF AMNESIA HOW TO#
She was able to remember how to read music and the techniques used in art. For example, LSJ was a patient that had retrograde declarative memory loss as the result of bilateral medial temporal lobe damage, but she was still able to remember how to perform some declarative skills. While a patient with amnesia might have a loss of declarative memory, this loss might vary in severity as well as the declarative information that it affects, depending on many factors. Declarative information ĭeclarative memory can be broken down into semantic memory and episodic memory, semantic memory being that of facts, episodic memory being that of memory related to events. People who recover often do not remember having amnesia. Some people with amnesia show abnormal amounts of memory loss, confusion, and difficulty recalling other people or places. However, in some situations, people with dense anterograde amnesia do not remember the episodes during which they previously learned or observed the information. Individuals with amnesia can learn new information, particularly if the information is non-declarative knowledge. The term is from Ancient Greek 'forgetfulness' from ἀ- (a-) 'without', and μνήσις (mnesis) 'memory'. Individuals with amnesia also retain substantial intellectual, linguistic, and social skill despite profound impairments in the ability to recall specific information encountered in prior learning episodes. In addition, priming (both perceptual and conceptual) can assist amnesiacs in the learning of fresh non-declarative knowledge. People can learn new procedural knowledge.

However, a severe reduction in the ability to learn new material and retrieve old information can be observed. In people with amnesia, the ability to recall immediate information is still retained, and they may still be able to form new memories. Scientists were able to find that mice with damaged memory have a lower level of RbAp48 protein compared to normal, healthy mice. Recent studies have shown a correlation between deficiency of RbAp48 protein and memory loss.

Research has also shown that when areas of the diencephalon are damaged, amnesia can occur. In addition, specific areas of the hippocampus (the CA1 region) are involved with memory. Ĭase studies also show that amnesia is typically associated with damage to the medial temporal lobe. These two types are not mutually exclusive both can occur simultaneously. People with anterograde amnesia cannot remember things for long periods of time. Anterograde amnesia is the inability to transfer new information from the short-term store into the long-term store. In some cases the memory loss can extend back decades, while in others the person may lose only a few months of memory. Retrograde amnesia is the inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an accident or operation. There are two main types of amnesia: retrograde amnesia and anterograde amnesia. The memory can be either wholly or partially lost due to the extent of damage that was caused. Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease, but it can also be caused temporarily by the use of various sedatives and hypnotic drugs.
