Describe the primary symptoms of anterograde amnesia.

Question 1

Describe the primary symptoms of anterograde amnesia.

Answer 1

Anterograde amnesia is a loss of the ability to create new memories after the event that caused the amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long-term memories from before the event remain intact

Question 2

Present evidence that people with anterograde amnesia (like H.M. or Clive Wearing) retain some residual memory ability:

Answer 2

HM was able to improve on the mirror tracing task even though he doesn’t remember ever learning the task. Being able to learn this skill suggest that his Non-declarative memory was still in tact.

Question 3

What important things does this tell us about the structure of human long-term memory?

Answer 3

H.M. had his hippocampus removed to stop his seizures. Clive had viral encephalitis that destroyed portions of his hippocampus. This is important because it taught us what parts of the brain are responsible for what types of memories.

The hippocampus is responsible for learning and memory. Without it, it is no longer possible to make new memories. Both HM and Clive were able to remember things and or people from before their surgery and illness.

Drugs can also inhibit LTM encoding—such as Versed which causes conscious sedation. You are conscious during surgery, but post-surgery, you won’t remember anything.