Corkin et al. (1997)

Question 1

Type of Study

Answer 1

Case study

Question 2

Aim

Answer 2

To investigate the role of the hippocampus in memory.

Question 3

Procedure

Answer 3

-H.M. suffered from epileptic seizures since he fell off of a bike at age 7, and it was assumed that the seizures were connected to the accident.
-When H.M. was 27, he had brain surgery to control his epilepsy and stop the seizures.
-Scoville + Milner performed a bilateral medial temporal lobotomy on him, in which tissue from the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus, was removed on both sides of the brain.
-HM participated in more studies until he died in 2008 and his brain was donated to science.

Question 4

Findings

Answer 4

-After the operation, H.M. suffered from amnesia.
-He could not create new episodic and semantic memories, but was able to learn some procedural memories.
-H.M. could retain memories of what had happened before the surgery.
-His personality remained unchanged; there was no general intellectual impairment.
-Corkin’s MRI showed that parts of the temporal lobe, including the hippocampus and the amygdala, were missing.

Question 5

Conclusion

Answer 5

-The function of memory storage is localized to the hippocampus and other parts of the limbic system.
-The hippocampus is a temporary rather than a permanent memory store.
-Procedural memories are not stored via the hippocampus.
-The fact that H.M. and other people with amnesia have deficits in some types of memories but not others means that the brain has several memory systems, which are supported by distinct brain regions.

Question 6

Application

Answer 6

-Contributed to the knowledge of how memory processes are localized.
-The diagnosis and treatment of memory-related illnesses and brain damage.

Question 7

Evaluation

Answer 7

-Triangulation: a combination of different research methods were used (e.g. cognitive tests, observations, neuroimaging).
-Supports interaction of cognition and psychology in amnesia.
-High ecological validity.
-H.M. participated in research for more than 50 years (in-depth).

Question 8

Limitations

Answer 8

-Ethical considerations: since H.M. was not able to re-member his participation in research, it may be unethical.
-Lacks replicability (rare phenomenon).
-Low cross-cultural validity because it was a case study.
-Only conducted with a male participant, might not be able to relate to other genders.