Amnesia in general refers to a deficit in memory and it is divided into anterograde amnesia or retrograde amnesia depending on whether the deficit is for information that was acquired before or after the onset of the deficit. Most of the times this condition occurs in relative isolation (Rosenbaum, Murphy, & Rich, 2012, p. 47) and other cognitive domains including reasoning abilities, attention, remote memory and skill acquisition or procedural memory generally remain preserved (Duff, Wszalek, Tranel, & Cohen, 2008, p. 931).
Anterograde amnesia involves the inability to retain new memories and is typically caused by damage in the temporal lobe, particularly in the hippocampus and subcortical region (Burton, Westen, & Kowalski, 2014, p. 281). Individuals with this condition exhibit severe learning and memory impairment and the formation of new declarative memories are often affected. Retrograde amnesia, on the other hand, refers to a loss of declarative memories acquired prior to the brain damage, and even though brain tumours and strokes often cause this form of amnesia, the reasons why this occurs are still being debated (Burton et al., 2014, p. 281-282). …show more content…
This can be observed in instances where John easily recognises his wife and daughter but not remember his six-month-old grandson who was born after he suffered from a stroke. In addition, John is also not able to recall his nursing home staff and repeat the same activities such as playing snooker or watching the same movie over and over again without realising it. All these instances support that John is experiencing anterograde amnesia where he has impaired memory for any event that occurs after the
Anterograde amnesia involves the inability to retain new memories and is typically caused by damage in the temporal lobe, particularly in the hippocampus and subcortical region (Burton, Westen, & Kowalski, 2014, p. 281). Individuals with this condition exhibit severe learning and memory impairment and the formation of new declarative memories are often affected. Retrograde amnesia, on the other hand, refers to a loss of declarative memories acquired prior to the brain damage, and even though brain tumours and strokes often cause this form of amnesia, the reasons why this occurs are still being debated (Burton et al., 2014, p. 281-282). …show more content…
This can be observed in instances where John easily recognises his wife and daughter but not remember his six-month-old grandson who was born after he suffered from a stroke. In addition, John is also not able to recall his nursing home staff and repeat the same activities such as playing snooker or watching the same movie over and over again without realising it. All these instances support that John is experiencing anterograde amnesia where he has impaired memory for any event that occurs after the