2) Information

Question 1

What happened in the case of HM?

Answer 1

After surgery to treat epilepsy (removal of hippocampus), H.M. developed severe anterograde amnesia — he couldn’t form new long-term memories, but his short-term memory and procedural memory were intact.
This case showed the hippocampus is essential for forming new declarative memories, but not for procedural learning. (Milner, 1969)

Question 2

What happened in the case of Clive wearing?

Answer 2

Due to viral encephalitis, Clive developed severe anterograde and retrograde amnesia.
He could only remember things for a few seconds, yet his procedural memory (e.g., playing piano) and emotional memory (e.g., love for his wife) were preserved.
This shows a clear separation between explicit and implicit memory systems. (Baddeley, 1996).

Question 3

Explain the Consolidation Theory and Ribot’s Law.

Answer 3

Consolidation Theory suggests memories are initially fragile and become more stable over time through a process of consolidation (mainly in the hippocampus).
Ribot’s Law states that older memories are more resistant to disruption than newer ones — in amnesia, recent memories are lost first, older ones are preserved.
Supported by Squire’s work on memory loss patterns in brain injury and disease. (Squire, 1992).

Question 4

What is amnesia?

Answer 4

Amnesia is a loss or disruption of memory, often caused by brain injury, illness, or psychological trauma.
Two main types:
Anterograde Amnesia – inability to form new memories after the onset
Retrograde Amnesia – loss of past memories from before the onset