Transient Global Amnesia

One of the most popular subjects on the big screen and television that takes our attention very often, is a form of memory loss known as amnesia. People refer to amnesia usually as a mental illness that makes you forget everything about the past. But that is not right, and it is not wrong either. Yes, amnesia has to do with memory loss, but that does not mean that if a person is diagnosed with amnesia he/she will not remember anything at all from the past. Forgetting everything is only the primary aspect of amnesia. The duration, extent and type of that memory loss can vary greatly.
The types of amnesia determine the type and length of the memory loss. There are many different types of amnesia such as: Emotional/hysterical amnesia which …show more content…
Additionally, executive functions are described as diminished. Although it is suggested that various factors, such as migraine, focal ischemia, venous flow abnormalities, and epileptic phenomena, are involved in the pathophysiology and differential diagnosis of TGA, the factors triggering the emergence of these lesions are still elusive. (Smith, …show more content…
In anterograde amnesia, the formation of new memories is impaired, while in retrograde amnesia, the retrieval of previously formed memories is impaired. Research shows that anterograde amnesia results from a failure of memory encoding and storage. New information is processed normally, but almost immediately forgotten, never making it into the regions of the brain where long-term memories are stored. More specifically, in normal use, neurons in the mammillary bodies of the hypothalamus make connections with the thalamus, which in turn makes connections with the cortex of the brain, where long-term memories are stored. Anterograde amnesia can therefore result from damage to the hypothalamus and thalamus and the surrounding cortical structures, so that encoded memories are never stored since connections between hippocampus and cortex are