The 2004 movie 50 First Dates is a romantic comedy about a woman named Lucy who wakes up every morning believing it is October 13, her father’s birthday. After a traumatic brain injury resulting from a car accident, Lucy suffers from a fictional amnesia called Goldfield’s Syndrome. Although there are elements of truth in Lucy’s amnesia, her symptoms are ultimately a poor depiction of amnesia and the movie contains many factual inaccuracies about memory. This paper will analyze the cause, symptoms and treatment of Lucy’s amnesia and compare her experience to what is known about amnesia from neuropsychology.
One year after the car accident that caused Lucy’s memory problems, a man named Henry introduces himself to Lucy in the Hukilau Café and …show more content…
Although the characters in 50 First Dates claim that Lucy’s long term memory is fine, Eichenbaum (2013) states that amnesia is an impairment of declarative long term memory, which includes both episodic and semantic memory (p. 16). Amnesic patients with different injuries can experience different symptoms related to different types of long term memory; the case of K.C., who has no autobiographical memory but does know semantic facts related to his life, exemplifies this (Kolb & Whishaw, 2015, p. 487-488). Episodic memory, or autobiographical memory, is related to a person’s own life experiences (p. 486). Patients with damage to the hippocampus, part of the temporal lobe, have difficulty with daily life because they lack episodic memory and an awareness of self (p. 487). Lucy’s autobiographical memory seems to function appropriately for at least the length of the day, as she can maintain a sense of continuity and recalls events from before her accident. Another process, semantic memory, corresponds to knowledge about the world that is non-biographical in nature (p. 488). This memory also seems to be functional for Lucy for the length of the day. For example, she can recognize everyone she met before the accident and remembers new people she meets until she goes to bed. Once she goes to sleep, however, Lucy’s episodic and semantic memories for the past day are erased; ultimately, …show more content…
Like H.M., Lucy’s anterograde amnesia did not improve (Kolb & Whishaw, 2015, p. 715), so her family was forced to take care of her. After falling in love with Lucy, Henry comes up with an idea to show Lucy a video every morning that tells her about her memory loss and gives her an update about everything she has forgotten. With the help of this video, Lucy and Henry are able to maintain a relationship and eventually have children. Many patients who recover from brain damage make adjustments to their routine to improve their quality of life (p. 716), and this method seemed to work very well for Lucy. However, in a real case of amnesia it is very unlikely the patient’s caregivers would be able to make the sacrifices that Lucy’s family and Henry did. Lucy’s experience differs drastically from the majority of patients who suffer traumatic head injury, who typically experience a chronic reduction in quality of life, especially in the social domain (p. 741). The filmmakers portray the symptoms of Lucy’s head trauma, as well as the outcome, inaccurately. However, the movie does present another character whose symptoms are similar to a real life case: Ten Second Tom, who constantly
One year after the car accident that caused Lucy’s memory problems, a man named Henry introduces himself to Lucy in the Hukilau Café and …show more content…
Although the characters in 50 First Dates claim that Lucy’s long term memory is fine, Eichenbaum (2013) states that amnesia is an impairment of declarative long term memory, which includes both episodic and semantic memory (p. 16). Amnesic patients with different injuries can experience different symptoms related to different types of long term memory; the case of K.C., who has no autobiographical memory but does know semantic facts related to his life, exemplifies this (Kolb & Whishaw, 2015, p. 487-488). Episodic memory, or autobiographical memory, is related to a person’s own life experiences (p. 486). Patients with damage to the hippocampus, part of the temporal lobe, have difficulty with daily life because they lack episodic memory and an awareness of self (p. 487). Lucy’s autobiographical memory seems to function appropriately for at least the length of the day, as she can maintain a sense of continuity and recalls events from before her accident. Another process, semantic memory, corresponds to knowledge about the world that is non-biographical in nature (p. 488). This memory also seems to be functional for Lucy for the length of the day. For example, she can recognize everyone she met before the accident and remembers new people she meets until she goes to bed. Once she goes to sleep, however, Lucy’s episodic and semantic memories for the past day are erased; ultimately, …show more content…
Like H.M., Lucy’s anterograde amnesia did not improve (Kolb & Whishaw, 2015, p. 715), so her family was forced to take care of her. After falling in love with Lucy, Henry comes up with an idea to show Lucy a video every morning that tells her about her memory loss and gives her an update about everything she has forgotten. With the help of this video, Lucy and Henry are able to maintain a relationship and eventually have children. Many patients who recover from brain damage make adjustments to their routine to improve their quality of life (p. 716), and this method seemed to work very well for Lucy. However, in a real case of amnesia it is very unlikely the patient’s caregivers would be able to make the sacrifices that Lucy’s family and Henry did. Lucy’s experience differs drastically from the majority of patients who suffer traumatic head injury, who typically experience a chronic reduction in quality of life, especially in the social domain (p. 741). The filmmakers portray the symptoms of Lucy’s head trauma, as well as the outcome, inaccurately. However, the movie does present another character whose symptoms are similar to a real life case: Ten Second Tom, who constantly