Memory/Amnesia 1

Question 1

Role of hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus?

Answer 1

Declarative memory facts

Question 2

On way to airport, 58 y/o F behaves in strange way. Husband notices when he talks to her she answers appropriately w/ fluent speech, but seems to have no ability to retain any new info. Repeatedly asks where they are going, even after he has told her many times. Episode lasts for about 6 hrs. Following day she is back to normal, but has no recollection of prior day events.
Dx?

Answer 2

Transient global amnesia

Question 3

Characteristics of alcohol - induced blackouts

Answer 3

Anterograde amnesia for a time while heavily intoxicated but awake

Question 4

Characterizes memory loss w/ dissociative amnesia?

Answer 4

Episodic

Question 5

Example of declarative memory

Answer 5

Retention and recall of facts

Question 6

Pt w/ hx of herpes simplex and seizure d/o undergoing EEG monitoring that recorded no epileptic activity during, after, or before a confused state wherein pt suddenly awoke frightened.
Next day, pt had baseline demeanor and no memory of episode.

Answer 6

Amnestic DO

Question 7

61 y/o pt presents to ED w/ family who report that pt is unable to remember recent events.
Memory probs started 2 hours prior. Cognitively intact before episode. Pt alert, anxious, and frustrated. “Why am I in the hospital?”

Answer 7

Transient global amnesia

Question 8

Surgeon unable to describe anatomical parts involved in one of his common surgeries is experiencing what type of memory impairment?

Answer 8

Semantic

Question 9

Injury to BL hippocampal formation and parahippocampal cortex results in?

Answer 9

Amnesia

Question 10

55 y/o brought to ED disheveled and behaving strangely. Stares blankly and mute. Doesn’t know who they are.
All studies negative.
Vague memory of “walking away from something horrible”

Answer 10

Dissociative amnesia

Question 11

What psychoactive drug produces amnesia

Answer 11

Alcohol

Question 12

Memory loss pattern in dissociative amnesia

Answer 12

Discrete period of time only

Question 13

Amnesia characterized by memory loss of events, occurs after onset of etiologic agent or condition

Answer 13

Anterograde

Question 14

55 y/o after episode of amnesia/bewilderment lasting several hrs.
CVA ruled out. Pt keeps asking what is happening.
Med to administer?

Answer 14

None. Observation only

Question 15

Involves a sense of loss of identity. Often following a traumatic experience and associated with inability to recall one’s past

Answer 15

Dissociative fugue

Question 16

65 y/o pt lives alone. Increasingly forgetful over past yr.
Lifelong difficulty recalling names of acquitances.
Now difficulty w/ phone calls and remembering apps. Lives independently, drives, and prepares meals.
MSE w/ delayed recall of 4 words, otherwise normal.

Answer 16

Amnestic w/ mild cognitive impairment

Question 17

45 y/o w/ nystagmus, ataxia, and short term memory loss.
Believes wife is possessed by demons.
Most appropriate tx?

Answer 17

Thiamine

Question 18

Conscious memory that covers for another memory too painful to hold in the consciousness

Answer 18

Screen memory

Question 19

In pts with pronounced deficits in recent memory, remote memory is

Answer 19

Often deficient on close exam even when it seems well preserved

Question 20

“My father was very involved in my life. I remember going to football games in the snow with him.” Is an example of memory associated w/ what part of brain?

Answer 20

Medial temporal lobe

Question 21

Working memory requires PFC, dorsal thalamus, and what other area of brain to function?

Answer 21

Hippocampus

Question 22

Asking a pt what they ate for breakfast yday tests

Answer 22

Recent memory

Question 23

Question to evaluate immediate recall?

Answer 23

Can you repeat these 6 numbers

Question 24

Asking pt to remember 3 things and repeat them in a few minutes tests?

Answer 24

Short term memory

Question 25

34 y/o pt w/ hx of memory impairment dies of unknown cause.
Path exam: Diffuse & multifocal rarefaction of cerebral white matter accompanied by scanty perivascular infiltrates of lymphocytes and clusters of few foamy macrophages, microglial nodules, and multinucleated giant cells. Dx?

Answer 25

HIV associated dementia

Question 26

Pt brought to ED by family b/c concern of pts ability to recognize them since TBI 1 month ago. +LOC after trauma. Tenderness and swelling over L temporal area. Neuro exam normal. Pt knows their name, but unable to identify family members or events related to family.
Dx?

Answer 26

Dissociative amnesia

Question 27

Which test correlates most strongly w/ pre-morbid functioning in pt w/ early dementia

Answer 27

Wechsler adult intelligence scale IV vocab test (WAIS-IV)

Question 28

Neuropsych test most useful in early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s

Answer 28

10 item word list learning task