Retrograde Amnesia Flashcards
(31 cards)
What is retrograde amnesia?
When someone can make new memories, but cannot remember anything before the accident?
How does organic amnesia occur?
Happens when there is gross structural damage to the brain
What causes psychogenic amnesia?
-psychological trauma/stressor
What are some causes of amnesia?
- head injury
- dementia
- seizure disorders
- stroke
- tumor
- drugs (medications and non)
- depression
- sleep deprivation
What is temporally-limited retrograde amnesia?
- associated with the bilateral ect
- it only covers 1-3 years prior to the start of treatments
What treatment applies electrical current to the brain across the temporal lobes 3x a week for several weeks?
Bilateral ect
What disorder uses bilateral ect as a treatment?
Clinically severe depression
What is temporally-extensive retrograde amnesia?
- Amnesia associated with Korsakoff’s syndrome
- it extends back for decades
What is Korsakoff’s syndrome?
- caused by damage to thalamus & hypothalamus in midline after many years of chronic abuse
What disorder causes Korasakoff’s syndrome?
Chronic alcohol abuse
T or F: Retrograde amnesia caused by tbi cannot shrink
False
- it is initially extensive, but then shrinks and they cannot remember just the recent past
What are the different types of tbi?
- Direct Impact Injury
- Acceleration-deceleration injury
- you hit yourself and brain goes opposite direction - Blast Injury
What are temporal gradients?
-recent memories are more vulnerable to disruption; remote memories are more resistant
What memories do temporally limited RA include?
ONLY Recent past
What memories does temporally extensive RA include?
- can encompass all past time periods, but are worse for recent past
T or F: Recovery for RA starts from recent memories & works towards remote ones
False: remote memories recover faster & recent memories are harder to recover
What disease did Patient Jimmie G have that caused amnesia?
Alcoholic Korasakoff’s Disease
What memory impairment did patient G have?
- Severe anterograde & retrograde amnesia
- RA is complete back to 1945
- speaks in present tense of 1945
What part of his memory was spared in Patient Jimmie G?
- intelligence
- reasoning
- language
What caused Patient Greg’s amnesia?
a tumor
What type of information is affected by real psychogenic retrograde amnesia?
- autobiographical information
T or F: A person with psychogenic RA is not aware of the impairment
False: they are aware of the impairment
How long does real psychogenic RA last?
- lasts less than a month and then they recover
Do people with psychogenic RA have anterograde amnesia?
no they do not:
- their semantic memory intact
- skill memory is intact
