2) Key questions

Question 1

What different kinds of memory are there?

Answer 1

1. Episodic - memory for things that have happened.
2. Semantic - for facts
3. Procedural memory (implicit) - for skills.
4. Prospective - for planning future events and actions.
5. Short-term/working memory.
6. Long term memory
7. Sensory specific - visual, olfactory, gustatory, kinaesthetic.

Question 2

What are the key features you would expect to see in an Amnesia case?

Answer 2

1. Severe anterograde amnesia.
2. Variable retrograde amnesia.
3. Preserved short-term memory.
4. Preserved general intelligence.
5. Normal procedural memory.
6. Impaired explicit memory
7. Near-normal implicit memory.

Question 3

Damage to which area of the brain are often associated with amnesia?

Answer 3

1. Hippocampus - essential for forming new episodic memories.
2. Medial temporal lobe - includes the hippocampus and surrounding cortex.
3. Diencephalon - particularly the thalamus, mammillary bodies and memillothalamic tracts.
4. Basal forebrain, especially in cases of Korsakoff’s syndrome.
5. Frontal lobes - particularly involved in confabulation and retrieval processes.

Question 4

What is confabulation, and why might it happen?

Answer 4

• When a person creates false memories without intending to lie.
  1. Damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which usually checks memory accuracy.
  2. A breakdown between familiarity and recollection processes (i.e., a strong sense of knowing without context)
  3. Poor monitoring and strategic retrieval (frontal lobe dysfunction).
  4. Overconfidence in memory accuracy, even when memory is false.

Question 5

What kinds of interventions could be employed to help someone with amnesia?

Answer 5

1. Internal strategies (help us use memory more effectively)
   - Mnemonics, chunking, mental retracing, methods of loci.
   - Errorless learning and expanded rehearsal.
   - PQRST technique (Preview, question, read, summarise, test)
2. External strateies (compensatory tools).
   - Memory aids: diaries, alarms, wall planners, labels, phones.
   - Environmental modifications: coloured doors, orientation boards, routine setup.
   - Assistive technologies: apps, pill reminders, cue cards.
3. Therapeutic approaches (Wilson, 1989):
   - Retraining impaired function (neural plasticity)
   - Functional adaptation (using intact memory systems).
   - Compensation (external aids to support deficits).