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Examples of retrograde and anterograde amnesia
Examples of retrograde and anterograde amnesia
Anterograde amnesia disorder
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Many people enjoy a good film and at the end, they have the potential to judge the film by the content and delivery it had provided. In some films, the screenwriter chooses to portray one of the many psychological disorders. The audience of the film will try to focus on how well the disorder was portrayed and how well the movie played out. Whether the intention of the film maker was trying to expose the public about such psychological disorder or choosing to make a film based on the disorder, some viewers will argue if the film has portrayed the disorder accurately and whether the public has taken notice to the disorder. Screenwriter, Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, portrayed the psychological disorder, Anterograde Amnesia, in their film “Memento.”
Anterograde Amnesia (AA) is commonly known as short term memory loss. It is the inability to form any new memories after a neurological or psychological trauma in the brain. “Current definitions of anterograde amnesia emphasize the presence of severe and permanent deficits for the recall of recent events (typically with poor recognition) that contrast with intact short-term memory, IQ, semantic memory, skill learning, simple classical conditioning, perceptual learning, and priming” (Aggleton, 2008, p. 1442). Also, according to Aggleton, AA causes the inability to recall autobiographical events (episodic memory). Research shows that damage to the diencephalon or frontal lobe can cause AA. Damage to the diencephalon impairs memory performance because it encodes new experiences for future recall and damage to the frontal lobe of the brain weaken memory performance because the it is involved in regulates access explicit memory (Mendev 2007). Duff, Wszalek, Tranel & Cohen (2008) stated...
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...anterograde amnesia: Disconnections and
hidden lesions. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 16(10), 1441-1471.
Aggleton, J. P. & Saunders, J. P. (1997) The Relationships Between Temporal Lobe and
Diencephalic Structures Implicated in Anterograde Amnesia. Memory, 5(1/2), 49-72.
Duff, M. C., Wszalek, T., Tranel, D., & Cohen, N. J. (2008) Successful life outcome and
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Kumar, S., Rao, S. L., Sunny, B., & Gangadhar, B. N. (2007) Widespread cognitive impairment
in psychogenic anterograde amnesia. Psychiatry & Clinical Neurosciences, 61(6), 583-586.
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Hippocampus is a small, curved region, which exists in both hemispheres of the brain and plays a vital role in emotions, learning and acquisition of new information. It also contributes majorly to long term memory, which is permanent information stored in the brain. Although long term memory is the last information that can be forgotten, its impairment has become very common nowadays. The dysfunction is exemplified by many neurological disorders such as amnesia. There are two types of amnesia, anterograde and retrograde. Anterograde amnesia is inability in forming new information, while retrograde refers to the loss of the past memory. As suggested by Cipolotti and Bird (2006), hippocampus’s lesions are responsible for both types of amnesia. According to multiple trace theory, the author suggests that hippocampal region plays a major role in effective retrieving of episodic memory (Cipolotti and Bird, 2006). For example, patients with hippocampal damage show extensively ungraded retrograde amnesia (Cipolotti and Bird, 2006). They have a difficult time in retrieving information from their non-personal episodic events and autobiographical memory. However, this theory conflicts with standard model of consolidation. The difference between these theories suggests that researchers need to do more work to solve this controversy. Besides retrieving information, hippocampus is also important in obtaining new semantic information, as well as familiarity and recollection (Cipolotti and Bird, 2006). For instance, hippocampal amnesic patient V.C shows in ability to acquire new semantic knowledge such as vocabularies and factual concepts (Cipolotti and Bird, 2006). He is also unable to recognize and recall even...
Tate, R. L., & Pfaff, A., Jurjevic, L. (2000)Resolution of disorientation and amnesia during post-traumatic amnesia. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 68, 178-185
One cause is benzodiazepine drugs, which are known to have powerful amnesic affects. This has also been recorded in non-benzodiazepine sedatives which act on the same set of receptors. Another cause is a traumatic brain injury in which damage is usually done to the hippocampus or surrounding cortices. It can also be caused by shock from psychological trauma or an emotional disorder. Illness, though much rarer, can also cause anterograde amnesia such as encephalitis, which is the inflammation of brain tissues do to some foreign pathogen. Lucy is diagnosed as having Goldfield’s Syndrome, which is the exact same thing as anterograde amnesia. She shows signs of short-term memory loss, her brain stores the new memories of the day has she lived however, after falling asleep she is unable to access these
Memory plays a significant role in the everyday lives of people of all ages. It allows them to recall information and remember skills that were learned in the past. Memory also organizes past information to help people make current and future decisions. However, imagine forgetting the names of close family members or not having the ability to find your keys every time you want to leave the house. These are some of the struggles that people with Alzheimer’s disease face daily. Alzheimer’s disease was first identified by German neurologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906, and was discovered to have an overpowering effect on explicit memory loss (Gruetzner, 1988). There are two types of Alzheimer’s disease – early onset and late onset. Early onset occurs in patients who are diagnosed before the age of 65 whereas late onset occurs in patients who are diagnosed after the age of 65. In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, short-term memory is often lost. As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, problems with long-term memory begin to develop, in addition to short-term memory impairments. Although a lot is known about the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, the cause has not been conclusively identified. However, as research continues, new theories about the cause of Alzheimer’s disease are being proposed. This has led to a controversy over whether Alzheimer’s disease is caused by genetics or environmental influences (Gruetzner, 1988).
Director Christopher Nolan′s film Memento (2000), is loosely based from the concept of a short story named Memento Mori written by his brother Jonathan. This story is about a man named Leonard Shelby who is suffering from anterograde amnesia, which is a loss of ability to create new memories after the event that caused the amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long term memories from before the event remain intact. Leonard was hit over the head during an attack which resulted in his wife being raped and murdered. With the help of contact named Teddy and a bartender named Natalie, Leonard set out for revenge. Since the attack Leonard has set out to exact revenge on the man who has caused him suffering. He helps himself by writing notes, taking photographs, and tattooing himself with important notes and facts. An analysis of the film Memento reveals the use of film techniques such as editing, non-linear storytelling, symbolism, director's style, musical score, color, and cinematography that creates an intellectual stimulant that has the viewer deciphering a puzzle in a reversed chronological order.
CHARACTERISTICS AND EPIDEMIOLOGY OF DEMENTIA. (2002). In Encyclopedia of the Human Brain. Retrieved from https://hodges.idm.oclc.org/login?
Nolan attempts to elucidate not only the various complexities involving Lenny’s self-discovery but also the value of life itself through his theatric display of anterograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia is a devastating form of memory loss in which the individual loses the ability to create new long-term memories (compared to retrograde amnesia which affects memory from the onset of the pathology backward) (Emilien 185). This disorder can arise from damage to parts of the brain such as the hippocampus, diencephalon and other structures within the prefrontal cortex (Sano 1). For a long time, neurologists struggled to determine the most fiscally and scientifically efficient way to study amnesia. Electrical stimulation of patients...
Amnesia, a severe long-term memory loss disease, is caused by damaged brain tissue. There are two different types of amnesia. Retrograde amnesia is also known as backward moving. This is when you have a hard time remembering the past, especially episodic memories. This occurs because of memory consolidation. Memory consolidation is the process of a new memory setting until it becomes permanently in the brain. If this process is disrupted, the memory may be lost (Hockenberry and Hockenberry page 265). Anterograde amnesia is also known as forward moving. This is when you are unable to form new
The question then becomes whether declarative and non-declarative memory are in fact separate or different manifestations of the same neural process. From research on H.M., we find evidence for the existence of a declarative memory system that is independent of non-declarative memory and other forms of intelligence. H.M. had the capacity to hold information in his head for a period of time, suggesting that his working memory was intact (Squire and Wixted, 2011). Further evidence that not all memory is the same is the fact that H.M. acquired a motor skill despite not being able to remember actually learning the skill, thus showing the difference between episodic and semantic memory. Amnesiacs are able to acquire the perceptual skill of reading mirror-reversed words at a normal rate compared to controls (Cohen and Squire, 1980), demonstrating that the ability to learn new perceptual skills also remains intact. Of the forms of non-declarative memory, procedural memory involves the cerebellum, motor cortex, and basal ganglia (General Intro the Neurobiology…). Thus, non-declarative memory can, in a way, be seen as a more primitive form of memory that is not acquired through the integration and consolidation of neural events in the medial temporal lobe, but rather through learned associations outside of the
All of the disorders in the Dissociative Disorders category need to be distinguished from conditions which are due to a General Medical Condition or the use of a Substance. Moreover, Dissociative Amnesia is within the diagnostic criteria for Dissociative Fugue, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Acute Stress Disorder and Somatization Disorder; hence, an additional diagnosis of Dissociate Amnesia is not given. Dissociative Amnesia must be differentiated from Age-Related Cognitive Decline and nonpathological forms of amnesia.
Throughout this line of study, Alzheimer’s disease is a specific form of dementia. According to Alzheimer’s Association, dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability that is severe enough to hinder daily life. Memory loss is a symptom of dementia and the most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s. One of the most common and severe symptom of Alzheimer’s is difficulty remembering newly learned information. The changes of Alzheimer’s normally begin in the part of the brain that affects learning (Overview Alzheimer's Association). Some other symptoms of Alzheimer’s include gradual memory loss, the decline in capability to carry out everyday tasks and the loss of their language skills. According to Bialystok the rate of decline in cognitive functioning was significant in the Alzheimer’s disease group compared to Mild Cognitive Impairment during the study of bilingualism and how it is associated with a substantial delay in the onset of (AD) and (MCI) (Bialystok, 2014). Disorientation, mood and behavior changes, some confusion about past events are some severe symptoms. As Alzheimer’s worsens over time, the ability to get dressed or turn off the stove, are some examples of possible decline in ability to perform everyday tasks. Those who suffer with Alzheimer’s disease, could be forgetting to do things that they were supposed to do such as babysitting the children or how to get back home (V. Hill, Personal Communication, March 2014). Disorientation is another one of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, which is having difficulty knowing the date, or what year they are in, or the location they are at. Alzheimer’s has no current cure, and it is a progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years...
According to (Miller, 2009), dementia is the most accurate expression which illustrates the development of cognitive impairment. ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬It exemplifies the diverse brain anarchies which ultimately lead to severe brain dysfunction (Alzheimer Australia, 2011). Dementia is the leading cause of disability in older adults in Australia accounting for 17 percent of the cases (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2004). Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Vascular Dementia (VD), Frontotemporal Dementia (FD) and Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) are the well known forms of this disease. This usually occurs in older adults aged above 65; however it is a disability and not a normal symptom of aging. Chances of inheritability are present but it depends on the individual and the type of dementia (Alzheimer Australia, 2011). The Global Deterioration Scale provides a detailed explanation regarding the seven stages of cognitive decline in Dementia (Alzheimer’s Association of Canada, 2005).
Dementia is defined by the World Health Organization as a syndrome due to damage of the brain cells that most often chronic and progressive in nature. Some of the cortical functions that become impaired include memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language and judgment. Other manifestations that may accompany this disease are deterioration in emotional control, social behavior or motivation (Ouldred & Bryant, 2009) Dementia is not a normal part of aging, however it occurs most frequently in the older population. Fifteen percent of Americans over the age of sixty-five have dementia, and as the average life span continues to increase, so will the number of those affected by dementia (Fredman, James, Johnson, Scholz, & Weuve, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the pathophysiology, risk factors, symptoms, and treatment options for different types of dementia.
Highlighting this concept is the case of Susie Mckinnon, who lacks episodic memory. Though she lacks episodic memory, she does have intact semantic memory, which is another form of explicit long term memory. The WIRED article by Erika Hayasaki, reflects Mckinnon’s unique perspective and how she was able to become aware of her deficiency, as she was not uniquely aware something was wrong with her until high school and further research. By analyzing Mckinnon’s case in respect to the findings of Allen and Fortin, this allows one to understand why episodic memory is evolutionarily important for functionality and interactions in daily life.
Discovery Health. (n.d.). (Discovery Communications ) Retrieved November 23, 2013, from Discovery Fit and Health: http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/neurological-conditions/amnesia.htm