Amnesia A slideshow of familiar faces and people; every frame associated with a particular smell, taste, emotion, or feeling. Our memories are foundational to each of our personalities and influence nearly every decision that is made throughout our days. A network of associates weigh the possible benefits and repercussions of every decision that could influence you in the future at supersonic speed, based on previous experience and recollection. So, how would someone without access to their own past database continue developing and what kind of character traits and decision making would this person have? While it is hard to imagine being unable to remember your own experiences and progression to develop your core foundational values, due to
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retained excellent social skills and could remember people and places he had interacted with before his surgery—only they were those that were not episodic. He could memorize lists and utilize his short-term memory just as his peers could, but he had no sense of “self”. Since H.M. could not recall the chapters of his life, he did not appear to have any sense of personal identity or sense of his own appearance. When confronted with these realizations, he was by no means shocked—which would suggest that he was aware of his own deficit and understood that something such as this sense of identity was important to the average person. This is what differentiates the type of amnesia that patient H.M. suffered from with what is known as “transient global amnesia”. Transient global amnesia is the complete loss of the recall of recent events, with the retention of the ability to understand personal identity as well as those who are important to you. These symptoms are usually relatively short-lived and follow a traumatic event such as a concussion—not a neurological condition such as epilepsy or stroke. In the case of transient global dementia, contrary to Molaison’s memory loss, memory is fully recovered over time and there are typically no long-term
retained excellent social skills and could remember people and places he had interacted with before his surgery—only they were those that were not episodic. He could memorize lists and utilize his short-term memory just as his peers could, but he had no sense of “self”. Since H.M. could not recall the chapters of his life, he did not appear to have any sense of personal identity or sense of his own appearance. When confronted with these realizations, he was by no means shocked—which would suggest that he was aware of his own deficit and understood that something such as this sense of identity was important to the average person. This is what differentiates the type of amnesia that patient H.M. suffered from with what is known as “transient global amnesia”. Transient global amnesia is the complete loss of the recall of recent events, with the retention of the ability to understand personal identity as well as those who are important to you. These symptoms are usually relatively short-lived and follow a traumatic event such as a concussion—not a neurological condition such as epilepsy or stroke. In the case of transient global dementia, contrary to Molaison’s memory loss, memory is fully recovered over time and there are typically no long-term